From Stay-at-Home Mom to Entrepreneur

Susan Patton weathered many storms before she landed on higher ground on the wings of hard work, determination and the success of a thriving business.

Susan Patton
In 1998, Susan Patton was a busy mother of two who hadn’t held a job in 15 years but wanted to get back to work. It didn’t take long for her realize that her best bet would be Avon.

The bet paid off handsomely. For most of her nine years as an Avon Representative, Susan has achieved Avon’s Inner Circle sales level with sales of more than $280,000. And though she works hard, Susan’s business runs smoothly enough that she has time for a little fun now and then, too.

“It’s amazing to compare my life now to my life then,” says Susan.

Back in 1998, Susan was, if not a desperate housewife, certainly a discontented one: She felt there had to be something more to life, but she just couldn’t figure out what to do about it. In her restlessness, she started doing a little computer work for her own Avon Representative, Donna Dienes, “just for something to do.”

Once she saw how the business worked, and how much money could be made in it, Susan was inspired to sign up and give Avon a try for real.

Her District Sales Manager suggested that Susan start by visiting local businesses to hand out brochures. Susan admits she was “intimidated” at first. “Understand, I hadn’t even been inside a workplace in years,” she says.

But once she saw the positive reaction the brochures got, Susan relaxed, and found that her normal social skills were a big plus in getting managers to let her leave brochures.

“I just go in, say ‘Hi, I’m Sue with Avon, what’s your name?’ and go on from there. If you’re outgoing and nice, it usually works out fine.”

Once Susan gets an order from someone at a new business, she’ll encourage that person to take orders from her colleagues and fax them to her. She doesn’t have to twist any arms. “You’d be surprised how many of them really want to take their friends’ orders for you,” she says, “especially if you give them a little discount.”

Finding New Customers is No Problem
Local businesses became Susan’s bread and butter business, and she’s perfectly at ease finding new Customers. “I don’t hesitate,” says Susan. “I can go anywhere.” Sometimes it’s even fun. “I was training a new Representative the other day,” she says, “and I took her to a local hospital with brochures. She said, ‘What if we’re not supposed to be here?’ I said, ‘Just walk in like you know what you’re doing.’ As soon as we got there, some people came up to us and asked for directions. They thought we worked for the hospital!”

Things went so well so quickly that, when her marriage ended in 2000, Susan was confident that she could make up for any shortfalls in income with Avon business growth – even though the divorce left her with no credit of her own. “I had six years of alimony and child support coming,” she says, “so I knew where I had to be to take care of the kids and the house, and I worked for that.”

The kids and the house are well taken care of: son Shane is a Sergeant in the Army, and daughter Taylor is in college – Mom’s paying tuition. Susan’s house is in good shape too. And so is her business: Most of her 400+ orders come in by computer and fax (“I’m on the computer two whole days a week!”) and half of her Customers pick up from her home. Susan has made a lot of friends through the business: when she successfully fought ovarian cancer in 2003, her helpers and Customers stepped up and helped her get through – in fact, her business grew during her illness!

“It’s a great job,” says Susan. “It gave me the flexibility to be there for my kids when they needed me. And I get to play with makeup!”