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Breaking Barriers and Building Teams: Sam Soyka’s Impact on Amway Manufacturing
At Amway, we take pride not only in our products, but also the people who help create them. This International Women’s Day, we’re shining a spotlight on one of the dedicated individuals behind our Nutrilite™ products: Sam Soyka, Manufacturing Department Manager at Amway.
Sam is an engineer and a manager on Amway’s manufacturing team, which includes 800 employees. In her role, Sam runs the day-to-day operations of the Nutrilite™ Soft-Gel Supplement Department. From overseeing new Amway product launches, to increasing efficiency at the manufacturing lines, to troubleshooting production challenges, Sam’s role as a manager spans the full spectrum of manufacturing operations.
Since joining Amway in 2012, Sam has always had a tendency to—“nerd out about equipment,” bringing genuine enthusiasm and deep technical curiosity to her work. (Ask her about encapsulation of soft-gel supplements and the robots that package them, if you have a spare hour).
Throughout her tenure at Amway, Sam has advocated for and overseen the installation of state-of-the-art equipment that improves product quality and increases manufacturing efficiency. She has been at the forefront of modernizing Amway’s production processes, playing an instrumental role in ensuring that the $300+ million Amway invested in U.S. based manufacturing since 2012 delivers maximum impact—both for Amway’s products and for the people who rely on them.
Sam exemplifies what it means to be an exceptional leader in the manufacturing industry – a field that remains largely male-dominated. How?
By collaborating with and advocating for women in the manufacturing space and in other roles throughout Amway. Being the first female leader in Amway manufacturing that has ever had to breastfeed on the job, Sam and her supervisor created the first breastfeeding pod, a.k.a. “new moms room” within that department.
Even though Sam was the first to go through that process, she had supportive supervisors who went above and beyond to accommodate her as she returned to her work at Amway. Sam now boasts that they have the best “new moms room” on Amway’s Ada campus.
Sam is also a member of Amway’s Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN). As the creator and leader of WIN’s Manufacturing & Distribution sub-group, she ensures its events and activations are relevant and accessible to women in Amway manufacturing, including those working night shifts or alternating schedules. With Sam’s leadership, WIN has evolved to better support and engage women in manufacturing roles.
Continuous improvement is a principle that Sam consistently champions—both as a manufacturing leader and as an advocate for women in the industry. She takes pride in building a team culture grounded in that mindset. Leaders like Sam are instrumental in propelling Amway forward—not only as a global health and wellness leader, but also as a workplace that consistently and genuinely supports the people that work there.
“I love working at Amway because I truly feel valued. I’m grateful to be part of a company that embraces its employees in everything they do,” says Sam.