Success is built on great people, which equates to great teams that ultimately can make a difference. That’s the leadership lesson of Doug Reader, president and CEO of Arizona Nutritional Supplements.
“Greatness is achieved through the right people in the right role, at the right time, engaged and committed to excellence every day,” he said. “It is essential to always be looking for fresh ways to engage the team to a common goal. In my career I have come to better understand daily that it is so true that great people make great teams. Having a transparent relationship, where all parties understand how they can add value, leads to greatness.”
Founded in 1996, Arizona Nutritional Supplements is a privately held manufacturing company with facilities in Chandler, Arizona, and Miami Lakes, Florida. “ANS exists to create and deliver products of such unimpeachable quality and worth that they positively shape and improve the lives of all individuals, families and businesses that rely on them,” the company said. “Our products are ideal for those who value quality above all else.”
Under Reader’s leadership since 2021, ANS has reduced safety incidents by 56%, improved customer satisfaction by 13%, increased top-line revenue by 13%, reduced past- due customer orders by 74% and implemented an annual awards program to recognize the successes of the team.
Reader got his start at ANS as CFO before rising to COO and then CEO. The company now operates under this mantra: There is only one boss, THE Customer.
The company has moved away from contract labor and committed to only full-time employees. . There were 31 leadership roles hired in 2021 plus 24 internal promotions, creating a new team by merging new talent while leveraging institutional knowledge of longtime employees.
In the coming years, the company aims to create new products while improving service levels and efficiency. ANS will also invest in its employees through training programs and expand its environmental social governance around sustainability, water reclamation, solar energy and waste reduction.
Reader also serves on several advisory boards, including Palm Beach Atlantic University, College of Business at Northwest Nazarene University, Manning School of Business at University of Massachusetts-Lowell and TAG (Together Achieving Greatness) a start-up dedicated to mentoring college students. He also serves on the Board for Natural Products Association and established the Reader Family Endowed Scholarship at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
“My intention is to continue staying engaged with the current generation while leveraging [my] several decades of business experience,” Reader said. “It will be important to me to always be looking for ways to give back or pay it forward, building off the great people that came before me and being a foundation that people today can build off of to become even greater.”
