Recognized For What, Exactly? Inside The Awards Nobody Saw Coming

You’ve built the spreadsheet nobody sees. You’ve answered the same question for the fourth new person this week, jumped on the webcast nobody wanted to host, handed off credit that could have been yours. Most recognition in this industry goes to whoever posted the biggest number this month. This particular award segment made a point of doing the opposite, and the room’s reaction to it said everything about what people actually want to be seen for.

What actually earns you recognition when everyone in the room is already successful?

Chris Jones, hosting the segment, was specific about what the company wanted to honor before he ever announced a name. Not the biggest producer in the room. He named the quieter, more common alternative directly: you can just sell things and recruit and keep it easy. The people being honored had chosen a harder road instead, one defined by a specific, repeatable pattern he laid out for the room.

• Taking what you’ve earned and giving it back to your team instead of guarding it.
• Building systems and structure that help other leaders succeed, not just yourself.
• Rarely taking credit, even while everyone assumes you’ve got it handled and don’t need the recognition.
• Showing up for every webcast and every ask, without being chased down for it.

As Jones put it, “those that go above and beyond the call of duty are amazing in their hearts, because they want to see you all succeed.”

Why does the person who built the system get honored, not just the person who used it?

The first award, International Affiliate of the Year, went to Silvio Fortunato, and Jones made a point of explaining exactly why. He’d recently sat down with Silvio for the first time to actually see the structure Silvio had built for his own region, and what struck him wasn’t the technology behind it. It was that the system was built around people, not automation, functioning more like a roadmap than a machine designed to replace human support. Jones credited that same thinking as the genius behind the club levels the whole company was now rolling out, calling Silvio’s country one of the strongest regions in the business specifically because his team stuck to a working system instead of chasing shortcuts.

What does it mean to be tested when the chips are down?

The second award, for most valuable leadership, went to Alex and Anna Zubarev, and Jones framed the honor around an old idea: you find out who someone really is under pressure, not when things are easy. He described the couple as the ones who stay the course and keep people focused when a team could easily lose momentum, calling it a rare mix of grit and the discipline to stay positive on command rather than by accident. The couple had already reached one of the company’s highest recognition milestones, and Jones made clear this particular honor wasn’t about that number. It was about loyalty, shown consistently, to their team and to each other.

Why did the loudest reaction come from an award that had nothing to do with money?

Anna took the microphone visibly unprepared, and what she said next explained more about the room than any acceptance speech usually does. She’d spent years in a corporate leadership development role before ever finding this industry, and she talked about the very first recognition she ever received in network marketing, being named Rookie of the Year at a completely different company, long before Empower Network.

it wasn’t about how much money I made it wasn’t about anything other than I wanted to become an entrepreneur

She said receiving this new award, alongside her husband, meant more to her than anything she could have imagined walking in, more even than accepting a major milestone recognition at a previous event. Not because of what it represented financially. Because it was the first time she felt fully acknowledged for who she’d become, not just what she’d produced. She thanked her team by name, credited their consistency and loyalty for keeping her going through the hard stretches, and turned the moment back toward her husband, calling out his energy and his ability to lead people through difficulty as the actual reason he deserved the recognition.

That’s the real thread running through both awards. Nobody on that stage was being celebrated for a number. Silvio was honored for building something that served people instead of replacing them. Alex and Anna were honored for showing up, staying loyal, and holding a team together specifically when it would have been easier not to. If you’re building something right now that nobody else can see yet, that’s the part worth remembering. The recognition that actually means something was never about the biggest month. It was about who you were when nobody was applauding yet.

The full session includes the complete presentations and both couples’ full remarks. Watch it in full, free, when you Create your free account.

The full session transcript follows below.

Transcript

Now, let's have some fun, do a little bit of quick recognition. There's a few people we want to point out and give their proper due, but to help me do that, please help me welcome to the stage today for the first time, Mr. Chris Jones. Can I get a mic, second mic, get under the microphone guys, I think they're happy you're here, one, two, three, five, all right.

So, what we're going to do now is, first off, Mr. Jones, how are we doing today? You know, I just got off the phone with Dave, I said, we got a really important thing, you need to be down here, he said, oh, you know, I haven't taken a shower yet, I said, you know what, why don't you do everybody a favor, get cleaned up, we know you smell, I got this. So, I'm doing you all a favor by allowing Dave to take a shower, but no, he was actually working on the next presentation that we have coming up shortly about the comp plan, so, best leave him alone, because his brain is in the zone, so.

All right, are we ready? Let's do it. I'm excited about this, I really think this is important. So, we have an award that we want to give out, and this one is for what we call, I'm going to wait on the name, I'm going to set this up, open loop.

So, for someone who, the type of affiliate that we want to exemplify, make an example of. We see would be an amazing affiliate that sets a better example than anything, not just in their business and what they're producing, but also in their life, and also in what they do for everybody else. And so, we really felt it was important to reach out and let this be known that this is what we honor so deeply. And so, for somebody who's willing to take what they've earned, be able to give back to their teams, develop systems, develop things that help their leaders succeed, and oftentimes, don't take a lot of credit when many people think, there are, oh, they've got all this stuff happening, they're just fine, they're making all this money, they can handle it, and more than likely, they're like dumping everything they can into it.

I've been there, and those up front, they know, systems they've built, they're just like, it is a lot more than, you don't want to deal with that if you don't have to. You can just sell stuff and make money and recruit, it's easier, right? So, those that go above and beyond the call of duty are amazing in their hearts, because they want to see you all succeed. They're always willing to jump on and make sure.

Anything's done, they'll jump on webcasts. Anything that's asked of them, they step up to the plate all the time. And they're just picture perfect representation of honestly what an Empower Network affiliate can aspire to be. And so, this is the important thing I want you all to understand, service-oriented leaders are the ones that last, that sustain, and so, for someone to go above and beyond and make that sacrifice for everybody is something we want to recognize and appreciate.

So, with that, thank you. So, with that, the award, where is, did they put it, they didn't put it here? Ah, come on out. So, our first award goes to International Affiliate of the Year.

And that award goes to Silvio Cesarino, afortunato. You know, I want to say a quick something about Silvio, because just recently, I was here in Rigby. I had a chance to sit down, one of the first times actually, you and I have sat down and talked about what you've done, and I actually, for the very first time, got to see the system that you've built and what you've used. And it became very clear to me, it's not about your system at all.

You know, you put the hard work and you created something, but you created a system that even is that much better than iPass was. And it was because it was based around the people. It wasn't trying to automate everything. It just was more like a road map.

And that is why we see… Okay. Okay. Thank you.

The company, though, one of the greatest regions in Empower Network is this guy, his country, his organization, because they stuck to what works. They stuck to a system, and they stuck to just allowing the people to be successful on their own and to support that effort. So I was really excited when we actually got to sit down. I got to see what you did, and, and it honestly is going to reflect greatly into what you have with I pass, because it's his genius, his leadership, is what we pulled in to make this, you know, the club levels and all that available to you. So, congratulations, you deserve it. You're a true leader, you're a champion of champions, and I can only imagine, in the next six months, he will be a diamond, he will be. Everybody stand for Silvio, give it up for Silvio Fortunato, okay? And we have one more.

So there's an old saying that goes, when you're squeezed, that's when you're tested, and that's when your true character comes out. How you do anything, if you watch closely, is how you do everything. Understand that? Make sense? The little things you do, it's like practice, what Tracy was talking about this morning, it's like practice. And how you do it in the game. And so, someone who is willing, at all times, when the chips are down, when they're tested, when things may seem a little bleak, the person who steps up and shines the light and says, no, no, we're going this way, stay focused, stay the course, special person. It takes grit, it takes courage, and an amazing ability to train yourself to stay positive and stay focused on what you're doing. And because of that, it has shown, and it has shown us that we're signed through.

So this award is all about loyalty, dedication to their team, to the company, to themselves and their business and their team. This amazing couple crossed the million dollar mark already, and we look forward to seeing some of the most amazing results from them moving forward. You're even going to be learning from both of them tomorrow during VIP day. And as you know, we haven't told you, we actually have a section that we just threw in for you, extra bonus, even more.

So for those of you who haven't gotten yet, make sure you get all in or your VIP ticket so that you can see that. But this is an important thing that exemplifies leadership and not just a leadership, but the highest level of leadership. So any words before we? Two words.

I pass, bro. Alex and Anna Zubarev. Missed KGB and misses KGB. Alex Zubarev and Anna.

Most valuable leadership award. It's heavy. It's really heavy. Oh, man.

Thank you so much, guys. Thank you. We really appreciate that. Anna next.

You always. Does that even on his webcasts? I'm in a very few words. Let's see.

I wasn't prepared. I wasn't expecting this. So it's going to come from the heart as always. At my last corporate job, I actually worked for leadership development company, not not company department, and they taught how to develop leaders, you know that organizational structure all that.

But I mean, better boom. So today, when we are have been awarded this award, and I don't think before today or before last event, you know, accepting the million dollar rings, we were ever awarded anything or being acknowledged and being appreciated as we who are last event in Vegas? That was just above and beyond, guys, anything? I could ever dreamed of, so this means to me more than even the words I can imagine. So thank you to the Empower Network for being in our lives. Thank you to our team, who were team consistency, who keeps showing up, who is being dedicated, who's been loyal to us for just everything, guys. I mean, like I said, I came completely unprepared, I'm mumbling, but thank you from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

You know, it's, this is my favorite part about this industry, because I've been on your side. And when I first got involved in my first Network Marketing Company, I got Rookie of the Year, and it wasn't about how much money I made, it wasn't about anything other than, I wanted to become an entrepreneur. I wanted to become an entrepreneur, and I was serving people, I was really good at what I did. And you guys exude this confidence in people, right, and it's your energy that people pick up on, and it's honestly, it's your positivity, you're always positive, I talk to you, you're always leading that role. And that's why you are the most valuable affiliate in this company, because you've time and time again just been there, been, been the leader, even though sometimes you're a pain in my ass on Skype. But I love you for it, because without you I don't know what's going on, right?

And so, and without you, I think you bring an aside to Alex that makes him a better man and her a better woman, and it's due to tango, that's right. And so, for me, as an affiliate, as a company owner, as somebody that looks to have a spouse, I look to have a relationship like this, because if you guys want to see a power couple, they are the definition of a power couple. Thank you, guys. Relations, guys, looks in Anna Zubrov, everybody, another round of applause, incredible.