The heartaches suffered, hurdles cleared and groundwork laid by direct selling’s extraordinary founding sisters are but one turn of a spinning wheel of inspiration. The next empowering turn comes from the bold, creative and tenacious spirits of these 35 current day female founders, whose modern leadership and vision reflects many of the ideals and principles of their predecessors.

How some of the smartest companies in the channel stay nimble, fresh and relevant. Direct selling has always prided itself on being an opportunity for everyone. A vehicle that allows people from all walks of life to regain a sense of personal and financial freedom. That message hasn’t changed—but the methodology continues to.

What shaped 2022 and what to expect in 2023 and beyond. To say direct selling is in a time of transition would be an understatement. The environment is evolving as younger generations explore the opportunity. 

Let’s be real, if your product is not on Amazon, customers think you’re weird. Amazon is not where the world is going—the world and consumers are already there.

Today, products and the customers who buy them are taking center stage. It’s a shift that has placed the spotlight on up-and-coming ingredients and taken the emphasis once reserved for recruitment and placed it squarely on customer favorites and product trends.

In many ways, 2020 was an uninvited guest who overstayed their welcome into 2021. Three previous fiscal quarters of widespread lockdowns and hiding from COVID gave way to a year of adaptation for the global direct selling industry. Direct sellers across the globe emerged into the sunlight to face ever-changing, mid-pandemic operational environments and in some markets, post-pandemic business climates that brought fairly large swings in sales performance—some for the better and some for the worse.