|
I felt compelled to include this painting depicting the beginning of a fabulous era~
For a little bit of history...
Frank Stanley Beveridge, a successful Fuller Brush salesman, saw the potential in door-to-door selling. In 1931 he opened his own cleaning supplies company, called Stanley Home Products.
Based in western Massachusetts, the company followed in its predecessors' footsteps, sending men out knocking on doors and selling to housewives. Beveridge learned that one of his salesmen was making record-breaking sales by demonstrating his products in the living rooms of women "hostesses" who volunteered their homes and invited their friends to attend "a Stanley party." At these gatherings, the salesman could demonstrate his products to a roomful of invited "guests" and then take orders from many women at once -- a far more efficient method than knocking cold on doors, selling to one person at a time. In exchange for her efforts, the hostess of the Stanley party was given a complimentary hostess prize, such as a toaster, a coffee pot, or free Stanley products.
This is basically how the home party plan got its start
Beveridge saw the potential in this new idea, and by 1940 Stanley Home Products had moved away from door-to-door cold calling, and become strictly a home party sales company. This radical change brought women into the business. In fact, home party sales became a convenient and lucrative business for women. Throughout the 1940s women discovered that they could make some extra "pin" money -- or even support their families -- through a job with Stanley. The work offered them flexibility and autonomy they couldn't find in other jobs. They could choose how many hours they wanted to work, and control their own schedules. And Beveridge wasn't complaining, either -- by 1950, his company's sales had hit a record $70 million.
A single mom who desperately needed to make money, Brownie Wise became one of the [company's] most successful unit managers in the Detroit area within one year.
She was fond of saying, "If we build the people, they'll build the business" and "there's nothing a woman can't do if she tries. I believe that with faith in the right thing, you must succeed."
Brownie Wise's version of positive thinking had a gendered twist. Wise made great efforts to reward the achievements of women in a culture that rarely gave women recognition. Wise also gave these women the material gifts of their dreams -- and confidence in themselves. She told them, "You are your own treasure chest."
It amazes me to see how far this simple concept has evolved and yet how the basic premise for its origin has stayed true through the decades…
What a great history on which to build the business
of helping tsunami victims in Indonesia!
We are proud to say that we are amongst the great names of this industry as we move forward in bringing women together, from all over the world, to accomplish life-giving change for those so desperately in need~
|
1.888.LAGA BAGor local
1.949.654.8360
|
 |
