If They Take Your Products, You Better Do as They Do

Article written by Dan Macuga


That’s the first thing that went through my head after a Team Building exercise that was set up for our management team here at USANA. We have strategic planning meetings every quarter, and one thing that our CEO, Dave Wentz, requires is that there is some element of learning, fun, and team building every time. Well….here’s an idea. Why not partner up with some of the elite athletes that trust their health to USANA?


You got it, head on down to the Utah Olympic Oval and catch up with USANA product enthusiast and good friend, Derek Parra. You remember Derek, he won Gold and & Silver in the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002 and coached the US Speedskating Team during the Vancouver games. He was gracious enough to join us on the ice and show us a thing or two or even a few more….. Watch this video and you’ll see what I mean.

It was an incredible opportunity to see Olympic Speedskaters in action and then have the chance to get out there and try it for ourselves. We had short track skater Jeff Simon and long track skater Patrick Meek join us to try and keep us in line – literally! The bottom line, the US Speedskating Team members have an incredible talent and represent our Country well as they travel and race around the world. It was incredible to see the speed and form as they raced around a space about the size of your garage! Oh, and Derek still has some gas left in the tank, he looked great out there.


So what did we learn, well that’s fairly easy. We learned that it takes years of practice and training to become an Olympic Athlete. We also learned that we see on television or in person may look easy to do, but it is actually very difficult. You have to work hard to achieve your goals, and one thing is for sure in this event, you can’t expect to just jump on the ice and be a world class skater. We all wanted to be one, but as you can see, we all need to keep practicing. The bottom line is that elite athletes work very hard to reach the top of their sport and we all have to have the patience and desire to keep practicing and failing before we will succeed in our desires.


I plan to try this out a few more times, and I know our CEO will (Beat him twice on the track!!) because I will say that it was a great deal of fun to skate around and feel the power and speed on the ice. It also was the perfect place to try it out. I got to skate on an Olympic Oval with an amazing group of people and had so much fun that it’s hard to describe. Life is full of surprises and this was another one to add to the list! Thanks to Derek and the entire staff at the Oval – first class treatment!

Source: USANA Official Blog