As we worked on the cover story for this month’s issue, Top-Performing Global Markets, I found myself taking a mental tour of the various countries that have become billion-dollar markets for direct selling. I was most interested in the stats and facts to see what countries, if any, were experiencing growth. I soon realized that the stats and facts were what we wanted to bring you, but behind those were the stories of people. A billion dollars in sales is a very significant number, and it is the result people saying “yes” to the opportunities provided.
Imagine this scenario. A team coming off a Super Bowl win learns its head coach is stepping down during the offseason. Surely, this represents a daunting challenge. They’re faced with the prospect of entering the next season with the entire league gunning for them—and they have to do it without the architect of their Super Bowl victory. Can they possibly expect to repeat as champions under these circumstances?
The passage of 100 years is something few of us will get the get chance to witness. Instead, we use photos, journals, news accounts, oral histories and folklore to do our best to understand and appreciate our history. Over the next 18 months, the Direct Selling Association (DSA) will engage in exactly this process of piecing together a century of working on behalf of direct selling companies and the millions of Americans who have realized success through our method of product and service distribution.