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Transcription of interview with Gail Reynolds on October 22, 2012.
Douglas Goldstein, CFPÆ, Financial Planner & Investment Advisor
Gail Reynolds was once a single mom with two children living on benefit with no school
qualifications or job prospects. Now, she is called in England the ìSix-Million Pound
Mom.î
Douglas Goldstein, financial planner & investment advisor, interviewed Reynolds on Sheva Radio.
Douglas Goldstein: Youíve got a team of over 2500 Avon reps. How did you get to where you
are?
Gail Reynolds: It wasnít actually something that I was looking for. In 2002, I moved home
and I got myself a job and still have the two children and had a boyfriend at the time,
Bryan. Weíve got ourselves a little flat so we settled in quite quickly but where Iíd
moved from was a place Iíve lived for 10 years and then I didnít really realize just
what a good network of friends Iíve got until Iíd left. Iím talking about 3-hour drive
so it wasnít like I pop in my car and so Iím going to visit.
Avon for me was something that I kind of stumbled upon just so I could meet new people and I
just did a company. My mom did Avon. My nan did Avon. I knew the product is safe. I kind
of stumbled into it. One of the things Iíve learned over the 10 years is actually one
of the key elements to becoming successful in anything that you do. You have to have
an interest in it. You got to have some kind of background or knowledge or experience within
that industry. I wouldnít be good in selling [tables] and house care and stuff like that
because I never really knew anything about it, but make up, I knew a lot about it and
like I say my mom and nan was in it. Itís actually one of my top tips that if you cannot
sell anything youíve got to have at least an interest in that industry.
Douglas Goldstein: You stopped school at a rather young age about 15 and then you were
just working in the fruit and vegetable market. Did you ever imagine that you would get to
where you are today?
Gail Reynolds: I never did. I donít know if you know but Iím one of I think 69 grandchildren
and great grandchildren. That was the last count back 3 months ago. I was the eldest
granddaughter and at the very right page of 9 and 10, I was also the babysitter. My momís
brothers and sisters were popping babies everywhere and I was the one that looked after all the
babies so they could go and have parties and go out and celebrate. From a very young age,
I just wanted to be a mom and do the traditional, have a baby, get married and settled down
and be a housewife. Actually, business was never in the forefront of my mind and if somebody
had told me this 10 or 20 years ago, I probably would not believe them.
Douglas Goldstein: You would suggest that when people talked about you have to have
long-term plans in every step of the way, you need to know where youíre going to be
in 5, 10 or 20 years, but that may not actually be the case?
Gail Reynolds: Now I found the business that I would be in then I actually do believe in
that as a brilliant process to keep moving forward in your business. When you kind of
just stumbling along and youíll be the mom and housewife and you donít really have that
kind of mindset into growing the business then people just donít do it. They plan some
holiday and thatís about it. They just planned one event of the year where I think once youíve
got that business and you start thinking about the business as a whole, I think planning
ahead is crucial.
Douglas Goldstein: I know that youíve spent a lot of time teaching women who are looking
to go into business. Is the advice that youíre going to give us today applicable to men as
well?
Gail Reynolds: In certain years, my husband is also part of my business. My husband who
was my boyfriend when I first started Avon and I managed to save enough money to get
the ball and chain actually married in about two years later so that was my Avonís savings,
but actually after my second year, he saw my accounts and he was just absolutely blown
away. My husband was 16 years in management and in my second year, I was earning more
than him and he was like, ìI need to see those accounts, let me see thatî because
I was still looking after the children and at one point, I was still working 20 hours
a week doing a job as well and doing the school runs and the washing, the drying and the ironing
but my husband came on board quite quickly when he saw
the money.
Douglas Goldstein: If you wanted to give one important bit of advice to a woman perhaps
who was where you were 5, 10 or 15 years ago, what would you suggest?
Gail Reynolds: Moms who are at home with children donít seem to have a lot of confidence in
themselves to actually just make the first step and start inquiring and looking out for
a work from home job. I think one of the biggest tips I can give to anybody thatís interested
in this kind of business is do a lot of research. You can do it now with the internet. Five
or six years ago, we didnít use the internet as big as we did today but I think itís building
your confidence as a woman. Itís about listing what you can do rather than what you canít
do. When I went back to college at 25 years old, I went in and I said, ìI need to re-educate
myselfî and the lady said, ìWhat can you do?î and I said, ìI was good at Mathî and
she said, ìOkay, letís do a course in math.î It wasnít what canít you do, itís actually
what can you do.
One of the biggest tips I would say is probably looking yourself as a mom as well. Youíve
probably got quite a few skills that you donít even imagine youíve got. As a parent, you
always negotiate with the kids to make sure theyíre eating the broccoli and the carrots
so youíve got pretty good negotiation skill set. Obviously again, youíve got to be good
at organizing so youíve already got fantastic skills at there and lots of moms coach and
develop their children and they nurture and thatís what this business need My biggest
piece of advice would be look at yourself, see what youíre good at, make some lists,
what you know youíre good at rather than focusing on what you canít do.
Douglas Goldstein: Are there other companies like this or is Avon really the business that
youíre referring to?
Gail Reynoldsî There is tons of multilevel marketing businesses which is what I refer
to. I say this business because I wanted to come across like as a whole. There are many
terminologies. Youíve got MLM which is multilevel marketing. Weíre also called the direct selling
business but itís a network marketing business as well. This industry that I personally kind
of stumbled into 10 years ago is open to anyone in the world that has any kind of inclination
about starting up a business from home around your children and with little or even no education
in business, you donít need it because thereís a so much information out there.
Douglas Goldstein: As you mentioned, the internet is becoming more and more prevalent in our
lives. Do you think thatís actually going to negatively impact the need for this kind
of face to face sales?
Gail Reynolds: I donít think it is. Avon is out in a lot of countries already but Avon
in the UK just developed an online brochure where I can put that on my Facebook account,
Twitter account and any social media account that Iíve got and I can actually sell from
sitting beyond my computer desk. I donít have to do the old traditional going put a
booklet into a door or going to hand a book to a customer and I still do that and I still
will continue doing that, however, the generations of today, a [role] online got 500 friends
on Facebook, but you probably only see three of them. For me, itís developing and embracing
change and five years ago, Facebook wasnít heard of, but now itís like 50-60% of my
business. Itís definitely something that has positive impacts on this industry. Personally,
I see it as a positive revolutionary way to build a network marketing business.
Douglas Goldstein: Facebook is about 50-60% of your income but it certainly doesnít take
50-60% of your time does it?
Gail Reynolds: No, Iíve got Facebook pages, groups and profiles. Iíve got my own personal
website which I write blogs, helpful tips, hints and ideas on building the business.
Even things for customers, the brandy mascaras and face creams are coming out. One of the
things I taught myself was attraction marketing about 5 or 6 years ago and Iíve actually
used all the media platforms to do that so a lot of people can find me purely through
any of the social media platform now and when you type in Avon, nine times out of 10, Iíll
pop up.
Douglas Goldstein: Are you mostly today an Avon lady or are you a business woman? How
do you define yourself?
Gail Reynolds: I donít know. I get confused myself to be honest with you. First, I am
the Avon lady and Iím very proud of that title, but Iím also called a senior executive
sales leader which is thereís many kind of ranks and levels that you go through so you
become an Avon representative first and you sell to your own customer base, your friends,
your family and your neighbors. Then I got promoted into leadership and you can only
do that once there are representatives. It was so basic. It was just, ìYou know what
Gail? Youíre a pretty good Avon lady. What if you teach us to do the same?î and by doing
that, Iíve earned a commission of what they sell. They earned their own personal income
but whatever is left over, I get commission off that as well and then you can climb through
the ranks and earn more and more percentages.
Iím a senior executive sales leader. Iím an author. Iím a coach and I do guest speaking
as well and make inspirational speaking for other companies as well.
Douglas Goldstein: I want to go back to something you mentioned earlier which is you felt the
need to go back and get some higher education when you were 25. You said you studied math.
Why did you do that?
Gail Reynolds: It was the only thing I was relatively good at and when I left school
and at the age of 25, I was left as a single parent for the second time. At age 25, I had
two babies. I had 6-week old and my boy, he was 7. I thought life isnít supposed to be
like this. Iím not supposed to be here. Iím 25. I was on income support. I had no education.
I didnít drive. I had a very low self-esteem and I decided that actually if anybody whoís
going to change my life, it was only ever going to be me. I just literally push myself
into the local college and everything went from there and I was only good even at numbers
so for me that was the obvious choice.
Douglas Goldstein: How can people follow the work that youíre doing and learn more about
you?
Gail Reynolds: Iím on all the social media anything from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and
you can just type in Gailís Avon and you can find me across the board on any social
media platforms. I have two websites. One is called www.gailsreps.co.uk and that is
based on the Avon business, the multilevel marketing, the sales leadership and how to
build a business from that. I also have a website called www.gailreynolds.co.uk and
thatís more about working women. Thereís even a community on there where we can show
ideas with about 500 members literally across the globe. They could be nail technicians
to hairdressers to a multilevel marketer like myself. Itís got my books on there. Iíve
got books that Iíve written for the past couple of years and all dealing to this very
similar ideas and itís just a really nice community as well.
Douglas Goldstein, CFPÆ, is the director of Profile Investment Services and the host
of the Goldstein on Gelt radio show (Monday nights at 7:00 PM on www.israelnationalradio.com.
He is a licensed financial professional both in the U.S. and Israel. Securities offered
through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, NFA, SIFMA. Accounts carried
by National Financial Services LLC. Member NYSE/SIPC, a Fidelity Investments company.
His book Building Wealth in Israel is available in bookstores, on the web, or can be ordered
at: www.profile-financial.com (02) 624-2788 or (03) 524-0942.
Disclaimer: This document is a transcription and/or an educational article. While it is
believed to be current and accurate, divergence from the original is to be expected. The original
podcast can be heard at https://sites.google.com/site/goldsteinradioshows/. All information on this website is purely
information and should not be used as the sole basis for making financial decisions.
The opinions rendered herein are those of the guests, and not necessarily those of Douglas
Goldstein, Profile Investment Services, Ltd., or Israel National News. Readers should consult
with a professional financial advisor before making any financial decisions. Please see
the complete disclaimer at https://sites.google.com/site/goldsteinradioshows/.