There is an emerging generation of powerful, influential and trailblazing female executives who were literally raised in the industry by their iconic parents. How are these second-generation leaders staying the course and where they are charting a new path forward?
March is International Women’s Month, and at Direct Selling News we strive to recognize and honor the invaluable and unique role direct selling plays in the careers of women—whether in the field or at corporate headquarters.
From the beginning, direct selling has offered a viable, powerful and flexible opportunity to millions of women around the world. It’s also an industry where women have founded and fostered amazing companies.
From legendary icons like Brownie Wise, Mary Kay Ash, Mary Crowley and Jan Day to their present-day counterparts Joni Rogers-Kante, Melissa Thompson, Mindy Lin and Nancy Bogart (to name just a few), the C-Suites of direct selling companies are filled with powerful, innovative, thoughtful and dynamic women. It’s one of our favorite things to celebrate and champion about direct selling.
But when we looked at what story we wanted to tell this year in honor of International Women’s Month, we quickly realized a shift in leadership has been happening at several powerhouse companies in the channel—a shift worth noting and exploring. There is a new generation of female executives taking the lead, women who have been a part of direct selling their entire lives.
Conventional wisdom holds that when you first become a part of a direct selling company, it takes about six months to really understand what is going on. The lingo, business model, methods and cultures are unlike any other channel of distribution.
But the women profiled on the following pages were literally born to be a part of direct selling. They have been in and around the channel their entire lives. Hanging out at the corporate office. Playing with distributors’ kids at incentive events. Taking the stage at mammoth conferences under the mentorship of their parents.
These women have done and seen it all—and they are now taking center stage, leading the companies their parents founded, building on the strong foundations they’ve seen firsthand.
Sunny Beutler
Sunrider / Chief Executive Officer
Words to Lead By / I wasn’t sure growing up if I was going to be involved in the business. But after completing law school, I decided that I could help more people in direct sales than in the court room.
Q / You have been in direct selling most of your life. What has that experience been like?
A / All of our family vacations were surrounded by IBOs and their families. Every summer, we would go to the office and stuff envelopes, arrange starter kits or registration bags, deliver mail and answer phones. My parents were very passionate about the business, so we were involved from a young age.
Q / What is it about direct selling that attracted your family?
A / My parents were immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong. They didn’t speak English when they came to the US, so they struggled culturally and in the workplace, even though they were educated. My father always wanted to start a business, and he would show people the products that he made. That’s how he got started. The barrier to entry for direct selling is so much lower and easier to start.
Q / What are the biggest lessons you learned from your parents about direct selling?
A / My parents treated Sunrider as their baby child, and they still do. They’re on the board of directors and still giving me advice and calling my attention to areas where they feel there’s a need for improvement. They have passion, and I learned that you need to really have a passion for this business.
Q / How important is it to you to maintain your family’s legacy?
A / We are continuing to solidify our foundation so that we can pass this business to our children. It is a living legacy—a generational business—and over the last few years we have pushed this concept to the field and trained them on how to keep it in their families and pass on a thriving business. I see more people bringing their next generation into the business; achieving leadership ranks; and sharing it with their next generation.
Q / How is your leadership style similar to your parents? How is it different?
A / My parents as founders were hands on with everything and driving all aspects from the ground up. Now that our company is more mature, I still have a hands-on approach, but I want to make sure that I hire great team members. One of my first goals as CEO was to build a C-Suite that would fill in my knowledge gaps and make the company better.
Amber Olson Rourke
Neora / Co-Founder & President
Words to Lead By / The legacy that I want to continue is being a change maker—helping people improve their lives, become better parents and leaders. I want to help others create generational change for their families.
Q / Do you have any special memories of visiting your parents at the office or in being involved in the business at an early age?
A / My parents always did a really good job involving me in the business. Early on in their first company, I got to be the official spokesperson for their charity. I made a speech and helped lead a fundraising effort at their national conference to help support this effort. The speech was in front of thousands and thousands of people and was my very first public speech. I didn’t know at the time that my future would be filled with many, many more speeches on stages at conferences very similar to that one!
Q / What are the biggest lessons you learned from your parents about direct selling?
A / One of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned from my parents is to always make decisions based on integrity and your core values. I have watched them walk through very hard decisions, and they’ve never wavered from their values. They always took the path that aligned with those even when it was the hardest path.
Q / Are there any particular challenges you face as a generational leader in direct selling?
A / Starting out I had really big shoes to fill. Jeff Olson, my father, is a very well-known and respected leader in direct sales. For a long time, I was worried I couldn’t live up to the reputation. But as I have grown and developed as a leader, I have created my own vision for the future of Neora. I’ve fully stepped into my own voice and feel empowered and ready to lead this next chapter.
Q / What are you most excited about for the future of direct selling and for your company?
A / I think we’ll continue to see a lot of change over the next decade in this space. I think for the companies that are set up for the future and aren’t scared to evolve there is massive opportunity unlike we’ve seen in a really long time.
Kenya Vergara Zatarain
Omnilife-SEYTÚ / Global Marketing Director (CMO) and Board Member
Words to Lead By / I have the same vision, but I try to adapt and evolve with new strategies.
Q / You have been in direct selling most of your life. What has that experience been like?
A / For me, it was the most normal thing in the world. I feel very fortunate to have experienced from a very young age what it means to really change someone’s life. Since then, I saw the world with eyes of opportunity and gratitude. We traveled around the world with all the members of OMNILIFE, so I basically grew up with them.
Q / What is it about direct selling that attracted your family? Did you always intend to stay in the business?
A / I think my parents wanted to do better and have better opportunities for their family. They also had a passion to help their families and the people around them. And most importantly, my father, above all, wanted to live better, to lead a healthy lifestyle, to be around us more, and—of course—help other people to have the same.
My parents never pressured us to go back to the company, I am a fashion designer so if you look at my career, it was not my field, but I think it was an obvious decision. While I was out of the company, I understood what OMNILIFE represented in my life.
Q / What are the most important lessons you learned from your parents about direct selling? How did their leadership style influence yours?
A / I never heard conversations about money. It was always about living better and helping people live better. I think that when you grow up with the same values at home it is impossible not to carry them in your DNA.
Q / Are there any particular challenges you face as a generational leader in direct selling?
A / The challenges are with myself. I am constantly looking for ways to be better, to challenge myself and create a better version of myself. However, I try not to compare and I’m always looking to acquire new skills to be better in my life in general.
From the March/April 2025 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.
