Consumers behave differently. Independent Beauty Consultants build businesses differently. Technology has changed how people discover products, form communities and decide which brands deserve their trust. That creates tension for every established company—not friction—tension. I’ve come to believe there’s an important difference between the two. Friction resists progress. Tension creates the pressure that makes transformation possible. Like diamonds, strong brands are formed under pressure—not by avoiding it, but by learning how to work within it.

The opportunity for direct selling is not to compete with technology, but to double down on what technology cannot replace. The future belongs to companies that combine innovation with authentic leadership, using new tools to strengthen relationships instead of allowing those tools to replace them.

For decades, direct selling's competitive advantage has never been that we could move products faster than everyone else. It's been that we could build relationships better than anyone else. In an increasingly skeptical marketplace, that advantage becomes even more valuable.

Seasons are normal. Wisdom in the season is optional. That distinction matters. Because without perspective, valleys feel like failure. With perspective, they become preparation.

What if the real barrier to AI adoption isn’t our teams’ capabilities, but our own leadership blind spots? How do I need to change the way I lead? What old habits do I need to abandon to prepare for an AI-powered future? That’s the real challenge.

Direct selling doesn’t have a recruiting problem—it has a retention problem. In his new book, Rob Sperry examines the retention challenges facing direct selling and offers some actionable, straightforward solutions.

Over the last decade, we have seen a shift in the corporate leadership in direct selling. For decades, direct selling companies were being owned and managed by proven leaders with relevant experience in and understanding of our channel. However, the management in direct selling has shifted significantly over the last 8-10 years.

The Texas Lyceum, a non-profit, non-partisan, state-wide leadership organization, inducted its class of 2025, including Michelle Erbeyi, Mary Kay Manager of Public Affairs and Public Policy. Crayton Webb, a direct selling industry expert and co-host of this year’s DSN Global Celebration, was named the organization’s president.

This month, the study targeted the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Poland, and while the research presented in this article focuses on the generational differences across Europe as a whole, the study also provided striking differences between each of these growing direct selling markets.

This month, we turn our energy to the insights gained on Leadership and Team Building. An interesting set of facts uncovered by the study is that this idea that everyone would want to build a team if only we rewarded it properly, marketed it well and encouraged them enough is simply not true for Gen Z and Younger Millennials.

To better understand the significance of this drastic revenue increase and the growth patterns that surround it, Direct Selling News analyzed the financial trajectory of the top 100 direct selling companies in North America with at least $50 Million in annual revenue, and three international direct selling companies with at least $50 Million in North American revenue.

Communication is a giant key to it all—in fact, communication and delegation with those who work closest with you is an executive High-Leverage Activity.