Marc Ashley: Creating a System for Entrepreneurs to Supplement Their Income

Meet Marc Ashley, the President & COO of Market America Worldwide, a global digital marketing company and the parent company of the award-winning global e-commerce brand, SHOP.COM, ranked No. 19 in Newsweek magazine’s 2021 Best Online Shops and currently ranked No. 80 in Digital Commerce 360’s 2022 Top 500 & 1,000 Online Retailers.

Since its inception in 1992, Market America has always preferred people over profit, resulting in Market America Worldwide, a globally successful entrepreneurial business. The organization has designed its products, services, technologies and training resources to empower its clients in a way that very few companies have ever attempted. It has built an all-inclusive UnFranchise^® Business model that unifies and strengthens entrepreneurs in a team atmosphere, allowing everyone to grow as business owners at their own pace and not in a competitive environment.

Alongside its inclusive business model, the company also offers an exclusive range of in-demand products sourced from premium ingredients. Every brand it develops and brings to the market is fully designed to deliver maximum results for both the consumer and the UnFranchise Owner’s business. Market America Worldwide’s well-known product lines include health and wellness, weight management, skincare, beauty, jewelry, auto care, pet care, household cleaning products and lawn care, among many others.

The Steadfast Leader

Coming from a working class family, Ashley and his other family members always recognized the value of work. Once legally old enough, he started working at grocery stores and pizza delivery services. At the age of 18, when Ashley was just starting college to pursue a business degree, his mentor, JR Ridinger, now the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM, suggested, “Don’t work six hours today to get paid for six hours. Don’t work four hours tomorrow to get paid for four hours. You’ll be like a hamster on a treadmill. You’ll never get anywhere. No matter how many hours you work, build a supplemental income.”

Later in 1992, Ashley, alongside his mentor JR and his sister, Loren, who married JR and is the Co-Founder & Senior Executive Vice President of Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM, started Market America in the family’s small home. Since the very first day of the organization, Marc believed in its mission and vision and recognized the unlimited potential of his mentor’s revolutionary ideas.

Their team was small so everyone had to wear many different hats and fill in wherever needed. At this point, the founding team wasn’t just making sales; they were also answering phones, packing boxes and doing whatever it took to get the job done. Eventually, this helped them fully understand how all business components operated and interacted.

“I was in the unique position of being a college student learning about business who also went home and applied that knowledge in a real business setting. It was truly a learning process for me, but it sculpted me into the leader I am today, and I’m forever grateful for those memories and experiences which taught me so much,” Ashley said.

30 Years Of Business Success

As an organization, Market America Worldwide holds its annual International Convention (#MAIC) near its global headquarters located in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2019, Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau President Henri Fourrier revealed that since 1996, the Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM International Convention has brought more than $400 million to the local community.

In 2020, when everyone in the U.S. and on the planet saw things change, Ashley and his executive team worked tirelessly to ensure the products customers needed were always available. To achieve this feat, Market America Worldwide spent tens of millions of dollars to increase its staffing and inventory at an unprecedented level, ensuring product availability, regardless of port or manufacturing facility delays.

Recently, the company celebrated its 30^th Anniversary at this year’s #MAIC2022, with thousands of UnFranchise Owners (UFOs) and other entrepreneurs from around the world attending to hear from the founding family, the corporate team, special guests and top UFOs about the latest products, technology and trainings to help them build and grow their own businesses.

“I have been an entrepreneur my whole life, and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was to share what our company has in store for our UnFranchise Owners and what the vision is for Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM for the next 30+ years,” said Ashley.

Helping the Community

Ashley considers himself tremendously blessed to have received several awards, including Entrepreneur Extraordinaire from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Triad Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty awards for his leadership, community involvement and career accomplishments and recognitions from prestigious organizations like the Better Business Bureau (BBB). However, he also realizes that it takes an entire team to work together to make these achievements happen. Ashley said, “Our company wouldn’t be a two-time recipient of the BBB’s Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics if we didn’t have a great team committed to always doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.” Just this year, the company became part of an elite group when Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM was invited to become a BBB National Programs Partner.

Additionally, Ashley loves to celebrate and recognize other people within the community who are working to make a positive difference in others’ lives. “I consider it an honor to serve on the Cone Health Heart and Vascular Center board. Through this relationship, I have had the opportunity to work with a number of Cone Health’s not-for-profit healthcare networks by giving free laptops to at-risk high school teens, in-depth training for the top doctors and medical staff and surprising some of the more than 13,000 frontline healthcare heroes with gift baskets filled with health and personal care items for those who continue to make all the difference locally and in ways that extend across the U.S.,” he stated.

Ashley feels humbled to have the opportunity to direct his energy, vision and focus on something that positively impacts the whole community. Working with and supporting local organizations like Cone Health, Backpack Beginnings, Diaper Bank of North Carolina, the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club of Greensboro and many other organizations allows him to give back to the community at large.

Market America Worldwide also supports several non-profit organizations in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia with product donations and funding. An impressive example of this is the company’s partnership with Taiwan’s Forestry Bureau to host the One Tree, One Hope Million Trees Project. The organization and the UnFranchise Owners donated nearly $400,000 to the Forestry Bureau and planted more than 45,000 trees on 64 acres of land in Taiwan.

Creating Immense Value

The business name “UnFranchise” plays on the common meaning of a traditional franchise. Only through Market America’s UnFranchise business, an entrepreneur can access all the benefits and positive aspects of owning a conventional franchise without the headache of having high overhead costs. These entrepreneurs realize that, like any other business, they must put the necessary time and effort into their businesses to grow. Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM provides UFOs the power to turn spending into earnings with its exclusive products, including health and wellness, weight management, beauty, skincare, auto care, pet care, etc… Additionally, the company helps each UFO by supplying the necessary tools, technology, training and mentorship to grow their business.

“Simply put, we make entrepreneurial success a tangible possibility for people who simply want more out of life than what they have found so far,” Ashley asserted.

What Success Looks Like

For Ashley, success is all about helping others. “Our business is truly unique because it’s all about helping others achieve their dreams through entrepreneurial success and developing a supplemental income,” he said. “In a time when so many people need new paths to a better life, I’m confident that our business will continue to thrive and resonate with new waves of entrepreneurs. I can’t wait to see the lives we change and the success stories we help write in the next 30 plus years.”

Advice From A Proven Leader

Ashley advises young entrepreneurs to find a role model or mentor they admire. He said, “Follow your passions and what motivates you most. Immerse yourself in knowledge from experts who have already figured it out. Find out what they did to accomplish their dreams and tweak it to fit your needs. Then, get out there and put in the work to make it happen. Most importantly, never give up on your dreams.”

Earnings depicted are atypical, and the success of any UnFranchise Owner will depend upon the amount of hard work, talent and dedication they devote to building their Market America business. For typical earnings, see www.market-america.info/mais.