Appalachian Valley Natural Products (Anatolian Treasures) Changes Hands

[Guest guest]

*Howdy y'all,

 

This might surprise some folks but others figured it was going to happen

soon because for the last two years .. since I returned to the U.S.A. from

Turkey .. I have been saying that after 14 plus years in the business my

life has become too full now and I need time to devote to other

activities. My priorities have changed .. so I decided that I must adjust

my activities.

 

My original plan was to put AVNP to sleep when I decided to retire .. on 31

December 2009.

 

I didn't want to pass to an unknown person the company I had built and the

good name we had earned in 50 U.S states and 90 other countries. At the

same time, I was uncomfortable in that my decision would put my employees

out of work at at bad time .. I had notified them of my decision and they

were looking to be unemployed by the New Year.

 

It was perhaps fate that the future owner learned of my plans to retire ..

and after a lot of on line and telephonic conversation .. and him traveling

from PA to TN to discuss it with me .. it was agreed that instead of closing

the company I had created in April 1999 .. he would take the helm. A

win-win decision this was .. for he and I, for my employees and in my

opinion .. for the AT community.

 

So .. effective 1 October 2009, I will not longer be the owner of AVNP.*

:-)

 

*My feelings on getting out of the business are similar to those I had when

I made some other major decisions in my life .. like:

 

Deciding to retire after 30 years in the Army .. and stay in Turkey in 1989.

Deciding to not renew my management contract with Vinnell, Brown & Root in

1995.

Deciding to not leave Turkey in 1995 .. even though I had a return airline

ticket in hand.**

Deciding to open my Turkish Export and Consulting company in 1995 and sell

it in 2005.

**Deciding to open Appalachian Valley Natural Products in Friendsville,

Maryland in 1999. *

*Deciding to leave Turkey after 19 plus happy years of being a Big Fish in a

Little Pond .. in 2007.

**Deciding to sell rather than close Appalachian Valley Natural Products in

Friendsville, MD .. in 2009. *

*

**All significant decisions these and I had mixed feelings on all but the

last one .. but in all cases I realized they were good decisions and I've

never looked back with regret. The time was right then and the time is

right now .. and **though I will miss a lot of things about this industry ..

especially the good folks I have met and dealt with .. I'm sure that I'll

not look back on this decision with regret.

 

Often folks wonder how things would have been if at certain junctions in

their lives they had turned left instead of right and odds are that if they

had done so their life would be different now. They might have avoided

some pain, suffering, trials and tribulations. Some folks (like me) spend

no time on such thoughts because they **are satisfied with their lives now

and realize that the tough trip was worth the effort. My life is better

than I had dreamed it could be. I could damn sure use more money but I

believe that hitting the Lotto would not change my life much and I know it

would not make me happier than I am now. ;-)

*

*A number of considerations caused me to decide to retire ...

 

**I am healthy and have no plans of going under snakes anytime soon .. but

if I go under prematurely I want to avoid my wife having to close out my

affairs in areas outside Paris, TN. I also plan to sell a lot I have on

Klamath Lake in Oregon. Was a time I considered retiring there but now a

team of mules couldn't drag me out of Henry County, TN. ;-)*

 

*I am going to retire for the THIRD TIME .. but I'm NOT going to sit on my

butt in front of a TV or PC monitor .. or anything else. I have an

aversion to recliners and rocking chairs .. I prefer bass boats and deer

stands.**

 

I turned 67 years on 13 July. I was employed for 54 of those 67 years and

since becoming an adult I can't recall having worked a 40 hour week. While

in the military and as a corporate manager and twice as a company owner ..

60 to 100 hours was the norm. Chronologically I am an Old Fart now .. but

physically and mentally I am a young feller with a young wife and a 3.5 year

old son .. my oldest son will be 49 in December. *

 

*I'm not the average 67 year old .. many 47 year olds can't keep up with me

in the woods .. but if I don't get off my butt and spend more time in the

woods this will change because I have arthritis and I must be more active.

It has already begun to change .. I had planned to hunt the early archery

deer season later this month but last week the doc told me I had a torn

rotator cuff in my right shoulder so drawing a bow this year is not an

option. How did it become torn? I was moving some cross ties to build a

frame. This is not the most strenuous work I have done lately. **Why did

it become torn? Because I have been sitting on my ass too much and have

lost some strength!*

*

**I also need more time to spend with my Son / Sun, Alexander. A little

genius he is and there are many things I need to do with him .. things he

has great interest in doing and learning. He wants to participate in

everything that interests me and considering the expectations for his age,

he masters most anything he does. He is so far ahead of his chronological

age that it is mind boggling. I need time to teach him things he will never

learn in school. He needs more of me NOW!*

*

So .. I'm going to spend more time hunting, fishing, gardening and

landscaping. Tanya and I **have turned our little mini farm into a show

place but we have a LOT more to do. I might even play around the outer

perimeter of County politics.** State or national politics are not a

consideration .. we already have enough fools in Nashville and in

Washington, D.C. Here in the Paris / Henry County area we have

outstanding officials .. transparency in their operations and management

style and a strong sense of fiscal responsibility. D.C. could learn a bit

about government if they came here. We have an outstanding mayor .. that

he is a black man is superfluous information.

 

**I might also sell Organic vegetables, fruits and berries at the farmer's

market here during summer months. This year we gave away dozens of bushels

of produce and canned and froze dozens more.

 

I might even write a book .. but not about Essential Oils or Aromatherapy.

;-)

**

So .. who will be the new owner of AVNP?* *John Croskey! A man I have

known for many years .. a good customer and friend. He and his wife,

Heidi, own and operate a successful natural products company in PA. He has

done much to turn the heads of many Young Living followers. I trust and

respect John. In a few days he will introduce himself.

 

Martin Watt knows John and they are presently coordinating plans for Martin

to assist him with some technical issues on the AVNP web site .. they are

interesting plans that will benefit the public. New blood almost always

results in improvements to current operations.

 

One of the great experts on management was the late William Oncken, Jr. In

one book he described management time as being who had the monkey. When

ownership of AVNP changes the monkey will jump from my back to John's.

But .. I will still be partially responsible for the care and feeding of the

monkey .. I will stay on as a consultant for a while .. hard to say how long

... but for a considerable period of time.

 

How will this Change of Command or Passing of the Monkey impact AVNP?

Current operations in AVNP will continue as they are now .. the company name

will not change .. the company location will remain in Friendsville, MD and

there will be no change in the employees. The sources for our products

will not change .. nor will the quality of our products.

 

A minor change will be in ownership of the monkey .. a major change will be

cutting my work week back from 100 hours or so to 30 hours or so. ;-)

 

And there will be some technical changes .. all improvements. John has

plans to improve the web site and shopping cart and install a bit of

automation in AVNP .. stock control and such.

 

There is one admin change I am dealing with right now. In the last couple

of months I have been negligent in that I let some Essential Oil cost

increases slip by me .. some prices on my Wholesale link are close to our

cost now .. and breaking even is not a good thing. I promised John I would

get them straight before he took over and those adjustments will be made in

the next two or three days. Since you folks are wise consumers, I believe

this notice might do much to reduce the joint stock inventory effort we have

planned for next week. ;-)

 

This is not Sayonara .. just a heads up notification. I'll be around for a

while longer and available to continue to answer off line questions. Even

after I decide to no longer be around for everybody .. I will still be

around for the many loyal customers and friends who are the real reasons I

had the opportunity to build AVNP into a successful and credible company.

I appreciate you all.

 

Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch ... http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/>*