With LaunchSmart™, the next great success story could be yours!
To learn the truth behind the success, we have studied the origins of the great direct selling companies and the patterns and lives of their founders.
Welcome to our archive of the true direct selling entrepreneurs. These are their stories. We hope you find them to be inspirational! Don’t be afraid to dream big!
| Doris Christopher
The career of Doris Christopher is one of the most inspiring entrepreneurial success stories of the 20th Century. A shy and unassuming person, with little experience in direct selling, Doris was the last person who would have guessed that she herself would someday own a multi-million dollar company.
Born in 1945 to a loving family, in the rural outskirts of Chicago, Illinois, Doris’ younger years were ordinary and simple. Though both of Doris’ parents worked to provide for their young family, when her parents were home, their attention was devoted to their children. Some of Doris’ most treasured childhood memories are of having Sunday dinner together with her family around their dining room table after church.1
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Figure 1: Doris Christopher, founder of The Pampered Chef.13 | |
| During her elementary school years, Doris developed a love for cooking and sewing. Even from this early period, she knew that she wanted to pursue a career in home economics and teaching someday. So, in 1967, after graduating from the University of Illinois, Doris married Jay Christopher and began her dream career, teaching home economics at a high school, and later for the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.2 Doris continued her work as a home economics teacher until her first daughter was born, when she consequently decided to change careers and become a full-time homemaker.
It wasn’t until the late 1970’s, when her second daughter was about to start school, that Doris considered working full-time again. She said, "I wanted to give our daughters as much as possible, including a college education. I knew that we would need more income to pay for that, but at the same time I was committed to being a stay-at-home mother.”3 Doris’ ideal solution to her problem was to create her own business which she could operate from her home. Choosing the type of business, however, was a difficult decision. She wanted it to have something to do with her passion for cooking, as well as allow her to enjoy a sufficient amount of family time, especially for family meals. Soon, she began to notice that her friends and family were requesting to know where she had found her kitchen equipment, and if they could get her recipes. Doris wondered if she could make a business out of bringing these resources to other people.4
After consulting her husband Jay about her business idea and receiving his encouragement, Doris took out a $3,000 loan from a life insurance policy to buy the first products for her new company--The Pampered Chef. Having considered the issue of marketing, and deciding that hosted home parties (where she could do a cooking demonstration and then promote the kitchen tools afterwards) was the best way to conduct her business, Doris gave her first home kitchen show in 1980 after her second daughter started kindergarten.5 | 
Figure 2: Doris Christopher was originally a full-time homemaker.14 | | With over a hundred dollars in sales from her initial home party, and requests from the original participants for four more kitchen shows, the momentum for Doris’ company
had begun. In fact, by the end of 1981, (its first full year in business) The Pampered Chef had 12 Kitchen Consultants and revenues of $67,000. By the end of 1982, sales had grown to $100,000. And, in 1985, with 32 Kitchen Consultants, sales had reached $592,700.6
Today, The Pampered Chef is the premier direct seller of quality kitchen tools and a multi-million dollar company, with approximately 65,000 Kitchen Consultants worldwide that serve over 12 million customers each year.7 It is also now a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of businesses, having been sold to Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO) by Doris in 2002.8 Although The Pampered Chef is no longer under Doris’ ownership, she is currently serving as its chairman of the board, and is still very active in the strategic vision of the company.9 |
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Doris believes that success and purpose are intertwined. She said, "To feel successful, you have to go beyond completing a task or a goal. You have to feel that what you are doing helps others. I think success is giving back and finding ways to create opportunity for others.”10 Thus, Doris’ overall mission of strengthening families and improving lives can be seen in both the structure of her company, as well as in the foundations that she has created through it. Since 1980, The Pampered Chef has provided over 60,000 women the opportunity of being both entrepreneurs and homemakers. Doris’ company also helps bring families together by creating products and recipes that make cooking fast and easy, allowing customers to spend less time in the kitchen and more time with their families.11 In addition, Doris has created several foundations to help families grow. Among these foundations are Round Up from the Heart®, which has donated $10 million to America’s Second Harvest, to feed the hungry; Help Whip Cancer®, which has raised over four million dollars to support breast cancer education and early detection programs; and funded the Family Resiliency Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, which researches ways to help make strong, successful families.”12
Through her education, passion, and determination, Doris Christopher has been able to realize her ideal career, make family mealtimes an institution for hundreds of thousands, and bring families together throughout the world.
NOTES
1. Horatio Alger Association, “Doris K. Christopher--Founder and Chairman.--The Pampered Chef--Addison, Il.,” http://www.horatioalger.com/members/member_ info.cfm?memberid=CHR06.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Direct Selling News, “Doris Christopher Receives Horatio Alger Award,” http://www.directsellingnews.com/article_app.php?articleid=90.
7. The Pampered Chef, “Our Company: Company Facts,” http://www. pamperedchef.com/our_company/statistics.html.
8. ACES Alumni, “Doris Christopher, Founder and Chairman of The Pampered Chef, Recognized with the Horatio Alger Award,” http://www.acesalumni.uiuc.edu/ Christopher_Alger.pdf.
9. Morgan Lewis, Jr., “Chef Executive,” Smart Business (November 2003), http://www.sbnonline.com/Local/Article/5459/68/0/Chef_executive.aspx.
10. Horatio Alger Association, “Doris K. Christopher--Founder and Chairman.--The Pampered Chef--Addison, Il.,” http://www.horatioalger.com/members/member_ info.cfm?memberid=CHR06.
11. The Pampered Chef, “About Our Founder,” http://www.pamperedchef.com/ our_company/doris.html.
12. Horatio Alger Association, “Doris K. Christopher--Founder and Chairman.--The Pampered Chef--Addison, Il.,” http://www.horatioalger.com/members/member_ info.cfm?memberid=CHR06.
13. Ibid., fig. 1.
14. The Pampered Chef, “About Our Founder,” http://www.pamperedchef.com/ our_company/doris.html, fig. 2.
| Mary Kay Ash
The life of Mary Kay Ash is one of the most remarkable success stories in the world of business. Born in 1918 in Hot Wells, Texas, Mary Kay spent much of her youth aiding in the care of her ailing father, while her mother worked extensive hours at the family’s café.1 While dealing with her responsibilities at home, Mary Kay’s mother would often encourage her by saying, “You can do it, Mary Kay. You can do it.”2 “You can do it” became one of Mary Kay’s guiding principles throughout life, both for herself and for the women she would touch through her company.
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Figure 3: Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc.21 |
| In the beginning of her sales career, Mary Kay sold books door-to-door in order to help provide for her own young family. Several years later, Mary Kay switched jobs and began working as a sales representative for Stanley Home Products (SHP).3 Being a sales associate for SHP was not initially fruitful for Mary Kay, as her commissions were barely enough to support her children after her painful divorce. However, after attending a regional sales convention in Dallas, Mary Kay not only learned more about successful selling, but also came away with a goal of being the convention’s next “sales queen.” As a believer in setting and achieving her goals, Mary Kay worked hard throughout the following year, and at the next sales convention, she was indeed crowned “sales queen.”4
In 1953, Mary Kay resigned from SHP after receiving an undue demotion, and joined World Gift Co. With the combined attributes of an extensive sales experience, a gift for bringing out the best in people, and good business sense, Mary Kay was quickly promoted to leadership positions within the company.5 However, despite her success, Mary Kay didn’t feel like she was achieving her fullest potential. Though a prominent member at World Gift Co., she had often been denied pay raises and promotions she deserved, solely because she was a woman. But in 1963, after again being denied a deserved promotion (which was given instead to a man that she herself had trained) she left World Gift Co., and momentarily retired from the business world.6
Mary Kay later said about that period of her life, “I learned back then that as long as men didn’t believe women could do anything, women were never going to have a chance.”7 Wanting to give other women the chance for real success that she had been denied, Mary Kay began writing a book about the positive things that she had learned from her business career. Soon, Mary Kay realized that her book was more like a template for her “dream company”—one that would afford women the opportunity to develop their talents and achieve unlimited success.8 She related that “Before long, I began asking myself, ‘Why are you theorizing about a dream company? Why don’t you just start one?’”9 So, in September 1963, with the help of her son, Richard Rogers, and the use of their $5,000 life savings, Mary Kay started a cosmetics company called Beauty by Mary Kay.10 The company started out simply with only one product—a body crème, and nine independent |
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Figure 4: Mary Kay inside her famous sales consultant incentive—a pink Cadillac.22 |
| beauty consultants.11 But Beauty by Mary Kay was a hit, and within the first two years, the company's wholesale sales reached almost one million dollars.12
After gaining her own success, Mary Kay made it her life goal to help improve the quality of other people’s lives by giving them the tools for success. One way in which she did this was by encouraging those that she worked with to succeed. She would tell them, “Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping, and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach.”13 As a result of Mary Kay’s teachings, the women who have worked for her company know that they “can do it”—and they do. |
| Today, the mission of Mary Kay Inc. (formerly known as Beauty by Mary Kay) is the same as it has always been--to enrich women’s lives.14 The difference now is that the company currently boasts sales in excess of 1 billion dollars each year, with a crew of approximately one million independent beauty consultants, and business in over 30 countries worldwide.15 Mary Kay Inc. is the largest direct seller of skin care and color cosmetics in the United States.16 It is also one of “Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, as well as one of Fortune’s 10 Best Companies for Women.17 From an initial $5000 investment in 1963, Mary Kay’s company has now become a remarkable business achievement.
Though she died in 2001, while she lived, Mary Kay believed that her greatest overall achievement was her ability to benefit the lives of women through her company. In fact, Mary Kay Inc. has afforded almost 500 women the opportunity of becoming Independent National Sales Directors (the highest status within the independent sales force), 33,000 women the status of Independent Sales Directors, and over one million women the blessing and privilege of working for themselves.18 In addition to providing women with an opportunity for unlimited financial success, Mary Kay has also contributed to women’s basic quality of life through her Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.19 Since its inception in 1996, her foundation has donated nearly six million dollars in grants for cancer research, as well as over 11 million dollars to domestic violence prevention programs and women’s shelters throughout the country.20 Furthermore, her company and foundation have contributed to the educational and physical well-being of children around the world, including China, Russia, and Germany.
From the young woman who sold books door-to-door, to the most prominent female entrepreneur of the 20th century, Mary Kay has made her dream of reaching her fullest potential real, and made that same dream possible for countless women in years to come.
NOTES
1. Evan Carmichael, “A Fresh Face in the World: Mary Kay Ash is Born,” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/871/A-Fresh-Face-in-the-World-Mary-Kay-Ash-is-Born.html.
2. Mary Kay Inc., “Company Founder,” http://www.marykay.com/company/ founder.aspx (accessed January 7, 2008).
3. Evan Carmichael, “A Fresh Face in the World: Mary Kay Ash is Born,” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/871/A-Fresh-Face-in-the-World-Mary-Kay-Ash-is-Born.html.
4. Ibid.
5. Evan Carmichael, “Lesson #4: Break Down the Barriers in Your Way,” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/871/Lesson-4-Break-Down-the-Barriers-in-Your-Way.html.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Mary Kay Inc., “Company Founder,” http://www.marykay.com/company/ founder.aspx (accessed January 7, 2008).
9. Evan Carmichael, “The Queen of Cosmetics: Ash Creates an Empire,” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/871/The-Queen-of-Cosmetics-Ash-Creates-an-Empire.html.
10. Ibid.
11. Scott Allen, “Mary Kay Ash—Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century,” About.com, http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/famousentrepreneurs/ p/marykayash.htm.
12. Enid Nemy, “Mary Kay Ash, Who Built a Cosmetics Empire and Adored Pink, Is Dead at 83,” The New York Times, (November 2001), http://query.nytimes. com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E3D8153AF930A15752C1A9679C8B63.
13. Evan Carmichael, “Lesson #5: The Follow Through is the Most Important Factor,” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/871/Lesson-5-The-FollowThrough-is-the-Most-Important-Factor.html.
14. Mary Kay Tribute, “Her Life,” http://www.marykaytribute.com/HerLife3.htm.
15. Enid Nemy, “Mary Kay Ash, Who Built a Cosmetics Empire and Adored Pink, Is Dead at 83,” The New York Times, (November 2001), http://query.nytimes. com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E3D8153AF930A15752C1A9679C8B63.
16. Mary Kay Tribute, “Her Life,” http://www.marykaytribute.com/HerLife3.htm.
17. Ibid.
18. Mary Kay Inc., “Company Quick Facts,” http://www.marykay.com/company/ companyquickfacts/default.aspx (accessed January 7, 2008).
19. Mary Kay Tribute, “Her Life,” http://www.marykaytribute.com/HerLife3.htm.
20. Mary Kay Inc., “Making a World of Difference,” http://www.marykay.com/ company/worldofdifference.aspx (accessed January 7, 2008).
21. Todd Buchholz, “New Ideas from Dead CEO’s: Mary Kay Ash,” CNN Money.com, http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0706/gallery.dead_ ceos.fortune/4.html, fig.
22. China.com, http://auto.china.com/zh_cn/fans/century/11036837/20050829/ 12608968.html, fig.
Gene and Kristine Hughes
Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc., began in 1972 as a kitchen-table enterprise for Gene and Kristine Hughes, and other members of the Hughes family, in Provo, Utah. Their first efforts involved hand-filling capsicum herb powder into small, empty capsules. Working for three successive nights, the family managed to produce 3,000 capsules (30 bottles). A friend printed some labels. Not counting their many hours of labor, the 30 bottles of capsicum represented an investment of $30. Six bottles were sold to a health food store and the rest to a grocery store for $1.15 per bottle. The grand total of their profit, excluding the man-hours invested, was an astounding $4.50!
From this humble beginning, the Hughes' operation blossomed into an international corporation with Distributors in all 50 states, and subsidiaries operating in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Japan, Malaysia, and several other countries. NSP also enjoys export sales to several foreign lands. Hundreds of thousands of people have become independent Nature's Sunshine Distributors, participating in a generous direct sales marketing program.
Building on its success with herbs, the company extended the product line to include vitamins, nutritional supplements and dietary aids, homeopathic remedies and personal care products. Today, there are more than 450 natural products, all designed to promote health and vitality. Nature's Sunshine has long been recognized as, and remains, a world leader in the health and nutrition industry.
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In Tribute to Herbalife Founder: Mark Hughes 1956-2000
“You can’t stop a good idea from taking hold and spreading.”
The extraordinary vision and commitment that inspired Mark Hughes to found Herbalife began when he was just a teenager. Due to the tragic loss of his mother to unsafe dieting practices, Mark made a promise to find a way to help people lose weight safely. | 
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| Mark was impassioned by the time-honored practice of using herbs for improving health and formed a team of medical and nutritional experts to create Herbalife’s breakthrough products. In 1980, Mark launched Herbalife by working as the first Distributor selling the nutritional products.
“The products are what get you an emotional experience. It’s the glow in their eye; it’s the way that they feel; it’s the excitement and the way that they act.”
As more and more people tried the products and experienced positive results, the business quickly expanded. Mark developed a network of Distributors who shared his vision, were passionate about the products and excited about the business opportunity. Mark encouraged Herbalife Distributors to “have faith in the organization, to know that it’s going to work.”
“Through your efforts, people are discovering new worlds of opportunity and an eternal hope for the future.”
Speak with people who met Mark and they will tell you how he motivated them to commit themselves to reach greater heights personally and professionally. He inspired people from all walks of life through his faith in people’s ability to change lives, starting with their own. Mark believed that one person can truly make a difference and that difference is a healthier world.
“I am convinced the future will be brilliant beyond compare.”
Mark passed away in 2000, but his vision for changing people’s lives – helping people manage their weight, regain their health and find financial prosperity – continues to thrive. Today, there are more than 1.8 million Herbalife Distributors in over 65 countries, making their dreams of a healthier life and financial independence come true. |
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