As the CEO and Co-Founder of Sisel International, Tom Mower Jr. has built a global brand committed to creating safe, science-backed personal care and nutritional products. With a foundation rooted in clean ingredients and innovation, Tom continues to drive Sisel's Mower MissionÑeliminating harmful chemicals from everyday products and replacing them with healthier, more effective alternatives.
In this interview, Tom discusses the evolution of Sisel's network marketing model, the company's commitment to sustainability and ethical sourcing, and how scientific advancements continue to shape the future of health and wellness. He also shares insights on leadership, business growth, and the legacy of running a multi-generational, family-owned enterprise.
What is the Sisel mission, and how does the company operating in the network marketing space help you achieve your mission?
Forty years ago, my father and I produced industrial-strength cleaners and detergents. When we realized that many of the same harsh chemicals in those products were also in personal care and household products, we became determined to find alternatives to these potentially harmful ingredients. So, we started creating clean personal and home care products, as well as nutritional supplements. Our mission, which we call the Mower Mission, was and has always been to remove ingredients that pose health risks and replace them with cleaner, better ones. As an extension of our mission, we created Sisel Safe¨ as a standard and promise to our customers that we will always use ingredients in our products that are safe and effective. We do this by conducting research in our own labs and investing in studies. The first ÒSÓ in Sisel stands for ÒScienceÓ and that is our compass. Science can change. There are ingredients that I used 10 years ago that I won't use today because of new research, but we are dedicated to finding the best ingredients we can and eliminating those that prove to be harmful.
We want to share health and wealth with others and the best way to do that is through our network marketing structure. Our distributors are natural entrepreneurs who are innovative and creative in the way they talk about our products. They are out in the field, around the globe, working one-on-one with individuals and having genuine experiences. Because of our business model, rather than paying for advertisements or commercials in stores, we can pay that extra money out in compensation to distributors who really care about our products and believe in our mission. We pay the highest compensation in our industry. Our mission is to improve lives with better ingredients in products, and to help our distributors improve their lives while also being rewarded for their hard work and efforts. For us, it is a win-win situation. We improve health by providing safe products, and our distributors get to enjoy our products and get compensated for sharing them.
As the CEO and Co-Founder of Sisel International, what core leadership principles have guided your journey, and what lessons have you learned from your experiences?
I lead two different groups that make up our
workforce: our corporate team, and our distributors out in the field. I value both equally because our corporate team cannot succeed without the effort and hard work of our distributors and vice versa. I have made it a priority to learn to recognize talent and I have high expectations of my corporate employees. I grew up on a farm and learned as a young man to have a strong work ethic, to be self-motivated, and to look beyond my own needs. I expect these attributes from my employees as well as from myself. With our distributor force, these principles are similar; those who succeed have integrity, they motivate themselves and work independently, they have goals and plans and work hard to achieve them.
I've learned several key things from being a leader. One thing I have always been very careful of is being financially responsible, and it has given our company a sense of security. We are proud that our company is debt free. Our employees and customers feel more confident in our products, knowing that we will be around for generations to come. In my time, I've had some wins, but I've had losses too. I've learned the importance of being focused and allocating my time wisely. I've also learned to be aware of the kinds of products our customers need rather than just coming up with things on my own and hoping they will sell. I think it's important, especially as a leader, to value the wins and the losses. I haven't always made perfect choices, but I learn something 100% of the time from each of my experiences.
Sisel operates in a highly competitive health and wellness market. How do you ensure the company stays ahead through innovation and product development?
To stay competitive, I believe you have to have a niche. 40 years ago, our idea to remove harmful ingredients from common household products was a new idea. No one was really doing that, but we were. Many other companies today will tout that they have the ÒsafestÓ or ÒbestÓ products, and that is open to a lot of opinion. We know we have the best. We have 40 years of experience with research and studies to really understand what we are doing.
Sisel is always going to be ahead because we operate our own manufacturing facilities, which has a huge impact on how quickly we can innovate and develop new products. We are proud to be the most diversified manufacturer in the Mountain West region of the United States. We have the resources to make creams, lotions, shampoos and conditioners, toothpaste, home cleaning products, as well as nutritional capsules, powders, liquid supplements, and even equine and canine products. We have our own laboratory and testing facilities, and research scientists that study the ingredients in our products so that we can always formulate and manufacture them to be the very best. We don't have to rely on outsourcing or third-party formulation or manufacturing to get our work done, we control every aspect of our business, from concept creation to a product shipment on its way to a consumer.
What role does sustainability and ethical sourcing play in your company's production process, and how do you see it impacting the future of Sisel?
Growing up on a farm, my father taught me to love the land and treat it with respect. He created the Earth Stewardship Foundation, and we have contributed millions of dollars to help protect endangered species and fragile environments. We take sustainability seriously.
One of our primary products, FuCoyDon UFG¨, uses an ingredient called Limu Moui which is a seaweed that grows in the oceans off the coasts of Tonga. Limu Moui has incredible nutritional benefits, more than can be found in any land-based plant, so we invest in harvesting it. We are careful to follow sustainability laws to make sure we do not destroy this resource. We take only the top 75% off the long seaweed at a time, making sure we do not remove the roots. Limu Moui also grows at a rate of up to 2 feet a day which makes this an optimal choice as an ingredient. It is always plentiful if we care for it. The seaweed is cut, frozen, and then shipped to us where we break it down and use it in our products.
Because we are a GMP regulated facility, we also have a strict vender certification process for each ingredient or component we use in our formulas that verifies the ingredient's origin, source, and purity. I personally have been intentionally involved in understanding international policies and trade alliances to make sure all our ingredients are sourced in an ethical and authorized way.
How would you describe the company culture at Sisel, and how do you inspire your teams to pursue excellence while maintaining the company's core values?
Sisel is an acronym that stands for our values: Science, Innovation, Success, Energy, and Longevity. We hire quality people who appreciate, respect, and help drive our mission and live our values. It's like I'm being cloned because they help me do the research and it helps to a large degree. We value each of our employees and their input. Right now, we are in a really fun stage of growth in the company. We have had double-digit growth every year for the last four years. Even when we have seen an economic downturn, Sisel has stayed steady, and this has helped our employees feel like they have hitched their wagon to a company that is reliable and cares about them. This growth has led to the addition of new team members, but we still know each other's names and celebrate when someone has a birthday. We have an elbow-to-elbow, family-fun mentality in both our corporate teams and within our networks of distributors.
I believe that our employees and distributors are most successful at achieving our values when they serve each other. Each year we celebrate a day of service in my father's memory, whether it is clearing weeds or cleaning beaches, or some other kind of project. Through corporate donations and donations from our distributors, we are able to give back with our SiselNUTRIFYª Nutritional Meal Supplement, which is a food supplement that provides essential nutrients to undernourished children around the world. Through our partnerships, this product has fortified over 3 million children's meals in feeding programs across 26 countries. We continue to serve each other in large and small ways throughout the year and it really helps each of us feel like we are contributing to something larger than ourselves.
What are the key challenges you've faced in leading a global company, and how do you overcome them while maintaining consistent growth?
This is a great question after our recent pandemic. We saw unprecedented supply chain issues. We are fortunate to have our own manufacturing facilities, so we control a lot of our destiny. We were able to weather the pandemic so much better than anyone I know of in our industry because of how much control we have. We had to make spur-of-the-moment changes, but because we have an incredible network of people and we have our own facilities, we were able to quickly pivot and adapt, including many instances where we delivered the same great product in different packaging because that's what was available to us.
We also sometimes face issues when it comes to our international markets. We have an office in Tokyo and in Slovakia and service many countries throughout the world. Sisel takes great care to follow international laws, including ingredient requirements. Again, we are lucky to have our own lab and facilities because we can tailor make products for specific regions of the world. We also have to rely on our international offices to help us refine the organoleptic attributes of our products. What works in the US may not always work in other areas of the world and so we have to be flexible.
Sisel is a family-owned business with a multi-generational impact. How do you ensure the company's legacy continues while adapting to changing market demands?
We talked about sustainability with our product development, but our company as a whole is sustainable in the sense that it is set up to last for generations. Not only are my sons, Thomas and Kaden, and my sister, Leisel, helping to run the company, but we have set up a Dynasty Trust which ensures that our company will endure for many years to come. None of our family will ever be forced to work here, but Sisel and its philosophy are available to those who do want to take part in the work. As a father and a CEO, you bet we talk about Sisel not just in the office, but at night, and on the weekends, during travel, and in meetings. Growing up in Sisel and in the Mower Mission gives you the flavor for what it really is to work here.
I grew up with the Mower Mission before Sisel even existed. I worked with my father on our farm, and he would experiment with the things we grew in our garden. That really spurred our interest in the science behind nutrition. I am thrilled that my sons and my grandchildren are now growing up in it. Our family values good education as well. My sons have received degrees in marketing and biology and are great contributors to our business. I expect the same from my grandchildren in the future. From a family standpoint, I see longevity not just in my generation but in future generations. We have created a company that is debt free, and each product is controlled from start to finish. Future generations will be able to focus and put their energy into innovation, marketing strategies, and improving and growing the company well into the future.
What is your long-term vision for Sisel International, and how do you see the company shaping the future of health and wellness?
My long-term vision for Sisel is continued growth which relies on the principles and values that have taken us to this point. We don't lose sight of what's happened in the past, but we look forward to the future, understanding that what lies ahead may not be what we see right now. We must remain agile and adaptable to a changing industry, embracing new opportunities that align with our Mower Mission of empowering individuals to live a healthy lifestyle and achieve success. By creating pathways to health and wealth, we foster personal growth and open doors to a brighter future.
