Rhonda Henderson
Helping others paved her path to Leadership success.

Her home community of Grand Prairie, Texas, has recognized her, national magazines have written about her and a celebrity-studded Avon Foundation gala in New York City has honored her. She’spersonally raised over $65,000 by completing over a half-dozen two- and three-day Avon Walks for Breast Cancer. Additionally, she spearheaded the first-ever Team Believe 2008 Houston, Texas, 100-person Walk, a team effort that raised close to $70,000 for breast cancer.

The woman who accomplished all this is Avon Representative Rhonda Henderson. To appreciate some of her motivation, one need only peer into her Avon past. She joined the company in 1997 as a favor to a friend who desperately needed the $20 recruiting bonus. To sum up Rhonda’s motivation, she firmly believes in helping others.

Strong Early Sales
Rhonda started selling Avon part-time while working as a cosmetologist. She put a few Avon brochures in the nail salon where she worked and had sales amounting to $2,000 her first year. She tripled her sales the following year.

“After that I decided I should get serious with my Avon business,” says Rhonda, who eventually gave up her salon job to pursue Avon full-time. This Executive Unit Leader has since built a thriving business, taking advantage of just about every tool and program Avon has to offer. She was among the first Avon Representatives to sell mark (she even became a mark ambassador) and she embraced the eRepresentative Opportunity as soon as it launched.

Widespread Recognition
With a heart and personality as big as Texas, it’s easy to see why Rhonda is a star in her own right. She has been featured in numerous publications, including Avon Dreams, Representative Times and Redbook. Promoting Avon everywhere she goes is second nature to Rhonda—she’s even decorated her car with an eye-catching Avon logo and her contact information.

Rhonda began her Leadership business in 2000 and now has close to 150 members in her Downline. In 2007, she increased her Total Unit Sales by almost $200,000, her personal sales by nearly $50,000 and earned the No. 1 spot for District Sales Volume and Sales Increase.

Rhonda is truly dedicated to helping others find their path to success with Avon. Her mentoring, training and lending a hand are all reasons why her team’s sales never dropped last year, despite fluctuations in the economy.

A Fund-raising Phenom
Of her many accomplishments, Rhonda’s breast cancer fund-raising efforts rank highest. “As a successful Representative, I knew that if I was going to truly be a part of Avon, then the least I could do was support what is at the core of the company’s mission,” says Rhonda.

To that end, Rhonda initiated Team Believe for the Avon Houston Walk. What started as a way for her to rebuild her strength and stamina following a back injury has now become a life mission. Rhonda says she won’t stop until she reaches her goal to raise $100,000 and recruit at least 100 walkers for next year’s event.

“I may hit some brick walls along the way, but with the support of my family, my Downline and my community, I know that I will succeed,” she says. That family includes husband Ricky, daughter Brittany, 25, and grandchildren Micah, 4, and Heston, 3.

Rhonda can’t help but succeed given her amazing spirit, summed up in the conclusion of her Women of Enterprise acceptance speech:

“In business and in life, we should all remember that a little laughter can get us through tough times and that if we believe deeply enough, care strongly enough and have enough passion, no one can steal our dreams.”