Today we’d like to introduce you to Sunny Beutler.
Hi Sunny, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My parents started Sunrider in 1982 after immigrating to the U.S. from Taiwan and Hong Kong. They didn’t speak any English or understand the culture. But they really dreamed of a better life, the American dream, so they worked really hard, multiple jobs at a time, to make it work while raising 5 kids. My parents met in college in Taiwan where my father received his degree in pharmacy from Kaohsiung Medical University and my mother received a medical degree. My dad worked odd jobs to provide for us in the U.S. while getting their U.S. education and my mom became a licensed MD. She supported us with her medical practice while my dad started Sunrider. He would make products in our basement to sell. The first product was an essential oil called Sunbreeze balm and oil that he used to soothe his own sore muscles and joints because he was a competitive judo champion in Taiwan and taught judo in the U.S. to university football players. As a child he learned Chinese herbal remedies from his grandfather because he was a weak child with many allergies and ailments. From those humble beginnings he created amazing products that we used all growing up and started selling them to others who in turn shared them with more people. My siblings and I were raised on our products, and we knew that we would be able to help so many more people with their health and wellness through this business than anywhere else. I’m a licensed attorney in California, but I felt that working to improve others’ lives through Sunrider had a farther reach than legal practice, so I decided to join Sunrider in 2006 full time. My mother was the president of the company so when I asked her if I could come and work for her, she said I had to agree to working 24/7 and answer her calls whenever she called, and I agreed. They put their whole heart into the business and so I did as well. I started out helping out with our Eastern European markets and worked my way around the world working with our Asian markets including China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Korea. I moved back to the U.S. with my family in 2013 and started overseeing more operations with my parents and siblings. In 2021 we decided to transition leadership, so my parents joined the Board of Directors, and I became the CEO. My siblings joined the Board as well, one brother became Chief Manufacturing Officer, and one brother works part time as our Chief Medical Advisor while keeping his medical practice. We spent a lot of time as a family discussing this transition and everyone agreed on their different roles and to make me CEO, so it’s been a natural transition. I still call my siblings on a daily basis to get their input and to discuss business. But we always try to have separate family time as well making sure everyone is happy and can help with Sunrider as much as possible.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are daily challenges that happen because it’s impossible to control everything. We had a huge challenge at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 with having to close our offices, but we quickly complied with government regulations while finding new ways to work remotely and communicate to our sales field. It was an all hand on deck time, and I feel so lucky to have a great team who wanted to make our business work during that time. We’ve had supply chain issues with ingredients out of stock, slow shipping, and illnesses in our family and also outside. But throughout we just had to be agile, able to change and adapt, and creative enough to find a different path to the same goal.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I would say I’m the person who looks at all the jigsaw puzzle pieces and tries to create a beautiful vision, constantly shifting and changing while keep the vision. I wear a lot of hats, overseeing manufacturing, global operations, HR, marketing initiatives, special events, sales, and our separate hotel operations. Looking at the big picture and trying to communicate that to all our different departments. I’m most proud of the amazing team I’ve built, all the people whose knowledge exceeds my own in their areas of expertise and whom I can rely on for input, and also the initiatives that they have put into action over the last 2 years. We’re going through a rejuvenation while keeping our mission of helping people around the world through amazing, natural wellness and beauty products. My goal is to keep our business thriving for another 40+ years.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Looking outside the box and being open to new ideas from our leaders, new avenues of distribution or sales, seeing how we can improve ourselves constantly while keeping current with the various markets we’re in. I don’t want to be satisfied with where we are now. I want to keep growing and improving.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.sunrider.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunriderintl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunrider
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sunrider-international
- Twitter: twitter.com/sunrider
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@SunriderIntl
