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This is Chris Redgrave for Zions Bank Speaking on Business.
If you ever have a chance to meet Utah's own Jeff Pedersen (Petersen), president and CEO of the international company Del Sol, it will not surprise you that he launched a program for his employees called Live Your Dream.
Live Your Dream is intended to create growth and opportunities for employees. The idea is that nobody wants to be stagnant, so every quarter, Del Sol chooses a top-performing employee, and they make their dream come true. This may include traveling someplace unique or even taking a course to learn how to be a graphic artist. Of course Jeff's 175 employees love it!
During your travels on a cruise ship, you may have seen a Del Sol in one of their 150 stores in 26 countries worldwide. What they're most known for is their color-changing products which include everything from nail polish and sun glasses to t-shirts, flip flops and Frisbees. This is possible because of their patented spectrachrome color-changing crystals.
Del Sol is one of the fastest-growing tourist-based businesses in North America. Of course, the main distinction of the brand is that all of their products change color in the sun. Each store has a sun station, so you can see what your product will look like outside. Del Sol recently secured a license with Disney which includes Disney princesses, Marvel merchandise and even Pixar. Since then, four of the five top-selling Del Sol shirts are Disney designs.
Through the influence of Jeff's father, Robert Pedersen, with his marketing and entrepreneurship prowess, Jeff credits his success at Del Sol with sitting around the dinner table with his dad. While other families talked about daily activities, the Pedersens talked business.
Del Sol has an active intern program to provide overall business experience. Being in 26 countries makes this is a great opportunity. For the intern, it includes transportation, housing, monthly allowances and will last three to six months. Plus, it's flexible with university schedules. This is a strong business practice because 60 percent of Jeff's employees come from the intern program.
For Zions Bank, I'm Chris Redgrave, speaking on business.
Del Sol With 150 stores in 26 countries around the world 801-261-8880 www.delsol.com
