Ding dong! The single mother who built a multi-million-pound empire… as an Avon lady

By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 12:28 PM on 6th January 2011

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She has no qualifications, and only started working as an Avon lady to make new friends, but a single mother has built a £5.5million empire by selling cosmetics door-to-door.

Gail Reynolds, 39, began selling cosmetics door-to-door just eight years ago, in her home town of Weymouth, Dorset.

But the mother-of-three was so successful she began recruiting her own sales representatives.

Cosmetic advancement: Gail Reynolds has built up a £5.5million fortune by working as an Avon lady, and now employs 2,500 people across the UK

After a few years she had built up a team of 2,500 people across the country, all of whom pay her 12 per cent of their sales.

Mrs Reynolds, who was brought up on a council estate, now takes home a salary of £115,000 a year, with projected sales of £5.5million for the current financial year.

She drives a brand new Mercedes and is hoping to move into a luxury home on a millionaire’s row in her home town of Weymouth, Dorset.

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She said: ‘It’s been a roller-coaster of a ride to say the least.

‘I used to earn £5 an hour but now I earn £800 a day. I never in a million years thought I’d be earning so much money.

‘I only started the job to make new friends but really got into it and I’m glad my hard work is paying off.’

Mrs Reynolds left school with no qualifications to work on a fruit and veg stall.

By the time she was 19 she found herself as a single mother and working part-time as a bookkeeper.

Avon calling: Mrs Reynolds, who left school with no qualifications and grew up on a council estate, now drives a brand new Mercedes

In 2002, she became an Avon lady in the hope of meeting new people and became a sales leader within a couple of months.

She recruited her husband Brian to the empire in 2004 and the pair claim they can earn up to £36,000 in just nine weeks.

Her hard work with Avon has been rewarded with prizes of all-expenses-paid holidays and afternoon tea with Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon.

Mrs Reynolds, who now has two other children with husband Brian, said: ‘I left school with no qualifications and worked on a fruit and veg stall for about a year.

‘I was a single parent at 19 and then worked part-time as a bookkeeper.

‘Yet to date we have clocked up 127,493.24 pounds in earnings from our Avon business.

‘Eight years of hard work and true dedication has been the key to this kind of success.

‘Brian joined my Avon business six years ago and he’s become the backbone of the business.

‘We recruit 10 to 15 people a week, train, coach, develop, incentive, motivate, and help build businesses for anyone that has personal commitment to build a future with Avon.’

Mrs Reynolds, whose 20-year-old son Ashleigh is also a representative, added: ‘Not a lot of people realise the opportunity Avon offers.

‘It’s not just £50 pocket money. If you want to build up a business, work around the family and have a new career it’s an easy concept.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1344620/Ding-dong-The-single-mother-built-multi-million-pound-empire–Avon-lady.html#ixzz1AGEwjZH4

WE’RE THE SUPERGIRLS OF SALES MONEY TALKS: Gail (left) and Stine are helping their firms make millions

 Thursday September 2,2010

 By Interviews by Sophie Donnelly and Joanne Della-Ragione  GAIL REYNOLDS, 39, is a senior executive sales leader for Avon, earning more than £4.4 million for the company this year alone. She lives in Dorset with her husband Brian, 40, and their three children Ashleigh, 20, Libby, 13, and Rosie, five  I joined Avon in 2002 but I didn’t set out to make millions of pounds for the company and live a lavish lifestyle. The truth is I was lonely and wanted to make new friends. When my husband’s grandad fell ill, Brian and I moved from Weymouth to Hastings with Ashleigh and Libby to take care of him.  I was a trained accountant and freelanced for a local business but after three months I felt isolated because I didn’t have any friends in the area.

 I designed a booklet called The Little Book Of Big Ideas for my team. It shows them how to find customers, how to serve them properly and how to make the most of a customer’s connections. For example if they know one customer is going to the gym or on a girlie weekend they know to give her a few extra brochures to hand out. I also host Avon parties. As the catalogue features over 50,000 products I create a theme, such as make-up or lingerie. Last year I made £113,000 in commission and during my last three-week period I personally earnt £7,920.

I have been in Multi Level Marketing for around 8 years now.  I have to admit I didn’t even know what that meant for my first couple of years.  However, after many books, tapes, cd’s and movies I am a devoted MLM’er and Network Marketer.  I wont tell you the company I work with as it would be wrong for me to assume other net-workers wouldn’t want to hear my opinion and my successes in the business.  MLM is a simple process and concept if you have the stamina for it.  I am a mom to 3 kids and married to Brian.  I worked 20 hours a week and we managed to make ends meet.  However, after moving area I needed to meet new people and make new friends.  This is were I found MLM and Net-working, It was a new concept for me, working for myself and having no boss?….was this for real?…After 5 months in MLM I managed to quit my 20 hour a week job and become a 9-3 part time net-worker (with kids to take to and from school my comitments were still the same).  So now, after around 200 books read and many dozens of seminars and training days I am here to recomend some of the best (in my oppinion) books to read and be inspired to take the next step & change your life as I have.

My favourite year in MLM has to be my 3rd…It was when I went from being an amateur net-worker to becoming a professional one!.  I stopped playing at it and began to compete, set goals, standards and expectations of myself and my team.  At this moment in time our team is the FASTEST GROWING in the UK.  We are ranked number 1 for team growth.  I owe my success to the books I have read and listening and learning from exceptional people who have succeeded in MLM before me.  I am always the student, willing to learn, change, and serve others. 

If mlm is what you are looking for but need to know the basics i have to recommend Nuts And Bolts By Jan Ruhe

And Mums the Word: MakeUpMoney by Gail Reynolds

Also, The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes this one I personally have on DVD, in a book and on CD too.  the CD version is my favourite as I keep it in my car so when I’m on a recruitment day I listen to it as i go!

Me and my family are far from Rich!….We still want more from this business and will definitely get more.  We own 2 brand new cars and live in a beautiful home with En suites and beautiful views.  We go on holidays with our kids when we like and have the most amazing lifestyle.  Being rich isn’t necessarily money in the bank, MLM has made us rich in LIFE itself.