Does Direct Sales Prey On Women?
I wanted to write a blog unpacking this question because I’m reading Debora Spar’s “Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the quest for perfection.”
I’m in the chapter where she’s talking about the ‘9-5’ work world and how the statistics for women in the workplace tend to hover around 15-20%.
(At the time of her writing):
Only 21 companies on the Fortune 500 list are run by female chief executives.
Only 16.6 percent of these companies’ board members are women.
Women account for only 16% of partners at the largest law firms in the United States and only 19% of the country’s surgeons.
Across the board, women earn on average twenty-three cents less than men for every dollar they earn.
“Where women have made significant strides, for better or worse, is at the lower end of the pay scale and professional spectrum, in areas such as nursing, hairdressing, and middle school teaching, where women wholly dominate men” (Spar, 2014).
“The aggregate numbers makes clear that most positions of power in this country…are still persistently held by men. Women are flocking into college, into graduate programs, into entry-level and midlevel positions across every conceivable industry- but they are falling out well before they reach the top. Why?” (Spar, 2014)
“Clearly, painfully, they’re getting stuck because so many of them are choosing to stop. Women are not getting fired from midlevel positions at accounting or law firms. They are deciding…that they need to stay at home, or work part time, or step away from fast track. Individually, each of these women’s moves may make great sense. Together, though, they have created a landscape where women are still scarce…” (Spar, 2014).
As I read this chapter, I thought of the many women I know in the Beautycounter space who were in corporate jobs but needed more flexibility and still wanted/needed to be able to contribute financially to their families so they started in direct sales.
They felt the pull to stay home with the kids.
They were paying too much for daycare or a nanny so they pulled back in their 9-5 (or quit all together) and decided instead to work from home and try their hand at sales in a way that worked for their schedule.
Is there anything wrong with this? Absolutely not.
This blog post isn’t necessarily to defend direct sales or Beautycounter (the direct sales company I work with). It’s simply to sit with the thoughts and questions that were stirred as I read this chapter about the concessions that women have to make in their careers.
Maybe this is me looking for the both-and, but the thoughts swirling in my head as I read this chapter went something like:
1.
“This is why direct sales can seem predatory- because somewhere along the way, it became this default landing place for women who still wanted to make money and work. It’s as if some weird uncle emerged from the bushes who had been waiting on the right moment to approach his highly intellectual, highly motivated, but conflicted niece about ’an income opportunity’.”
2.
“This is why I’ve looked at direct sales with such judgment over the years- and find myself trying to feel better about it- because it has become the ‘back up plan’ for so many women. It’s not anyone’s first choice. No one goes to college to go into direct sales. No one goes to graduate school to go into direct sales. Direct sales is the thing you do when your other options look stale (like in my case) or you’re needing income and work in a way that can work for your schedule/lifestyle and this is the only option. Basically: direct sales is the Plan B (or C, or D), that no one thought they’d ever be doing yet here they are doing it.”
3.
It’s sort of like women in direct sales are “making the most of it.” Like, “Well, this is what I’m doing now, so may as well go all in and do it well” (the top earners are saying this, anyway).
And honestly, I think it’s great. Do I wish we got here differently? Yes. Do I wish direct sales could be like any other sales job in the world that carries with it the perception of more viability or impressiveness? Yes.
It’s funny- I often talk about the ‘doctors and lawyers and DPT’s’ who work in Beautycounter as if I’m trying to add credibility to Beautycounter and direct sales in general.
But no one in a law firm or doctor’s office would ever say “Gretchen here has been working in direct sales for 10 years and decided to join our practice! We can’t wait to learn from her.”
Maybe one day direct sales won’t have the stigma that it does now (I think we’re getting there but we have a long way to go).
I still feel embarrassed that this is what I do for work.
I still feel like when someone learns I sell skincare and makeup on the internet they’re going to avoid me for fear I try to get them to “join my team” or buy something from me.
Or, even more vulnerably, I fear that if anyone from my grad school program saw me online selling skincare they’d think, “Oh. So that’s where she ended up. What a shame.”
The perception of what this job looks like to other people is a real bummer, honestly.
It can feel like people in direct sales are trying to prove something with an ‘economic opportunity for women.’
Yet at the same time: can’t it be that?
Can't it be a way for a woman to earn income in a way that works with her schedule, adds value to her life, and allows her to use her creativity and professionalism to make a paycheck?
At the end of the day, I don’t have the solutions for women experiencing the tension to stay home or work, many of them choosing ultimately to stay home or work part time. I do wish there was a world in which direct sales was just seen as any other job- a viable solution, dare I say, to the issue we witness with women in the workplace. And if women wanted to do direct sales, for whatever reason, I wish it wouldn’t be viewed as "Susan settling” because she chose to sacrificially be the parent to stay home more.
This is a complex topic. It obviously struck a chord with me as someone who works in direct sales (and who chose to without the tension of staying home with kids). Although I don’t offer any solutions or have this tied up in a bow, I hope you’ll hold space for these musings.
And in my perfect world, no one would bat an eye at women who work in direct sales- no matter how they got into the field.
This is part 1 of a series on Musings on Direct Sales. As I continue mulling, I may publish a Part 2 so stay tuned.
*I do think it’s worth noting that OF COURSE there have been predatory, unethical MLM’s and Pyramid Schemes. Thankfully, those companies exist less and less.