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Founded in January 2003,
the Suburban Home-based Business Association is a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing support to individuals starting or growing a profitable home-party plan business.
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The following article was published in the Thisweek Rosemount newspapers.
Rosemount woman enjoys the fruits of her labor
Silpada Jewelry consultant finds her direct sales small business rewarding and fun
Posted: 3/31/06
by Pam Rutyna
Thisweek Newspapers
As a young child growing up in Beirut, Lisa Pelton and her family loved gold jewelry. Her interest for jewelry continued after her family moved to Paris when she was a teenager.
But her passion was transformed when she first saw the sterling silver jewelry from Silpada Designs.
"I've always been a gold jewelry kind of person," she said. "But I found it really fun switching to silver. It's like a having a whole new wardrobe."
Pelton, who has been selling Silpada Jewelry from her Rosemount home since June 2004, was first introduced to the product by one of her friends who invited her to a Silpada Jewelry party.
Having been involved in the direct sales business since 1992, Pelton was familiar with the concept.
However, unlike many direct sales businesses, Silpada doesn't strictly focus on recruiting.
"Of course, they do encourage it, but Silpada is much more than that," she said. "If I wanted to, I could solely focus on sales and there's never any pressure to recruit."
For four days a week, Pelton works for Coldwell Banker as a transaction coordinator. Originally, she was employed five days a week, however, last November, she decided to take one day a week to focus on her Silpada customers.
"I use that time to catch up on administrative work, such as write thank-you notes," she said. "I may also make phone calls or set up parties."
According to Pelton, the Silpada parties are quite unique. Instead of having the guests come in, stay for a couple of hours and listen to the consultant talk about the company and products, Pelton has open houses with her hosts.
"If someone is busy and has to pick up the kids, they can still stop for five or 10 minutes to see what's available," she said. "Sometimes people do stay for a couple of hours so they can chat with their friends and have a great time."
The parties are easy to host, said Pelton. All she requires a host to do is provide beverages, chips and salsa and brownies.
"I'll take care of the rest," she said. "Of course, some hosts make more food, but it's completely up to them."
Besides the parties, Pelton participates in numerous shows throughout the Twin Cities, such as craft and office shows. She also gives her neighbors flyers and has added a sign to her mini van, which helps promote her products while she drives down the street.
However, the best marketing tool she's found has been to simply wear the jewelry.
"I love the simplicity of this business," she said. "I wear my product and get so many compliments. It's easy to market it."
Pelton said her business has helped her reach one of her goals, which was to grow socially. The financial reward has also helped her reach another goal.
This past January, she and her husband took their two teenage daughters on a cruise.
"We went on a cruise for our honeymoon and always said we wanted to take our daughters on one before they graduated from high school. Since my oldest is graduating this spring, January was the perfect time," she said. "This job allowed us to do that and that was very rewarding."
Pelton now plans on bringing her daughters to Paris in a few years to show them where she went to high school.
Along with the social and financial aspects of her business, Pelton is proud of Silpada's commitment to the community.
For every $5 sterling silver jewelry polishing cloth that is purchased, Silpada gives $1 to juvenile diabetes research. At the recent diabetes walk at the Mall of America in January, Pelton, along with other Silpada business women, walked as a team, which included many staff members from the corporate office in Kansas City, Mo.
"For me, having that connection to my community is so rewarding," said Pelton.
While Pelton continues to grow in her business and strives to meet her goals, she stressed that the most important reason why she does what she does is simply because she is having fun.
"I have such a blast and truly enjoy what I'm doing," she said.
Pam Rutyna is at rosemount.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.