VP of Field Development Bob Ulrich with SVP of Viridian Network Meredith Berkich at DSA 2012.

Tuesday night, June 5, 2012, at the Direct Selling Association awards banquet in Dallas, I had the incredible opportunity to accept an award that is the most coveted recognition a young company in the network marketing channel can ever hope to receive: the Rising Star award.

In the surprise and excitement of the moment of hearing Viridian’s name called, going on stage and being asked to say a few words, I don’t think anyone articulates exactly what they would have said, had they had time to prepare for such an honor.

I wish I could say I was as precise as the copy below (what I actually said in those brief moments is definitely in the body of the text below somewhere) but regardless—more than 800 industry peers now clearly have a better understanding of what the Viridian brand represents. I wanted to share the words I would have said had I been given three minutes and a teleprompter, as this award belongs to all of the people of Generation V—our corporate staff, field Associates and customers—and we should not let this moment in our history pass without giving it due reflection:

It is with humility and gratitude that I accept the Direct Selling Association’s Rising Star Award for 2012 on behalf of the Viridian community and our Founder and CEO, Michael Fallquist. I thank the DSA for their continuing efforts to protect this great industry that empowers ordinary people to experience extraordinary results.

I joined Viridian a year and a half ago, over a year after Michael birthed his vision to create a new category in the energy space merging affordable green energy with renewable energy development. Our 7 Continents in 7 Years initiative clearly demonstrates our commitment to global sustainability initiatives, as we annually take our top field leaders on ‘Voluntourism’ trips combining service projects with celebration of their successes. We have planted trees in the Amazon of South America and installed solar panels on schools and clinics in villages in Africa. Next year we’ll take them to Asia.

We believe our Associates have the power to change the world; this is not just a sensational statement but a core belief. To give you an idea, last year the customers that our Associates enrolled made individual choices to switch to Viridian, which resulted in a collective impact of preventing over 208 million pounds of carbon emissions from being released into our atmosphere. This equates to 2.4 million trees being planted, or 18,525 cars being taken off the roads, or 1.1 billion 2-liter plastic bottles being recycled.

Our Associates like to say “We did not inherit this planet from our ancestors; we are borrowing it from our children.” Their belief in us and our mission makes it our sacred trust as direct selling executives to empower these courageous entrepreneurs with steadfast vision, a unique selling proposition, high quality support tools, comprehensive education and a lucrative time/value proposition.

I have been in the direct selling industry for over 20 years now; I know the power of the network—not only for taking products to market or for profitability, but also for the greater good of humankind. Together we can—together we will—make a difference. We are, Generation V.