Angela Everett and Katie Palmissano have shared much since becoming friends at Belmont University.
Both landed coveted music industry jobs; both got laid off from those jobs. Both became first-time moms in recent years.
While losing a job isn’t quite as enjoyable as those other shared experiences, it did serve as a motivator for the women. Like many mothers, they wanted to work from home while contributing to the financial stability of the households, helping their working husbands.
They wanted a life separate from the titles of wife and mother, but with control over their working lives.
“I wanted to contribute, but I wanted to work on my terms so that I could still be with my son,” said Palmissano, 32. “You can’t do that with a 9-to-5 job, and even part-time doesn’t work that well, so I started looking into direct sales.”
Palmissano, who lives in the Music Valley area of Donelson, was laid off in January 2009 from her 10-year stint with Sony. She became pregnant that May with her son, Rome.
Everett, who lives in Bellevue, had her daughter in October 2008. During her three months of maternity leave, Everett was contemplating jobs she could do from home.
“In the midst of searching, I got the call,” Everett, 33, said. She was laid off from her artist management position with the Country Music Association, she said, a job she held happily for eight years.
'No pressure, no presentation'
Palmissano loved her job with Sony. “It was like kismet. I loved my job, and I feel like I lived the dream for 10 years. I got to meet celebrities, go to concerts … but all this happened at the right time,” she said.
What happened was a chance meeting with a company called Stella & Dot. Soon after hearing about the Burlingame, CA.- based jewelry company that launched in 2008, Palmissano went to a local show.
Palmissano fell in love with what she calls “heavy, good quality, very high-end jewelry” and became a Stella & Dot stylist a couple of months ago.
She now holds trunk shows and throws parties to sell the jewelry that has been featured as worn by celebrities and in national magazines such as InStyle.
“There is no pressure, no presentation. You can just have a party with the girls, wear the jewelry, and they’re going to love it when they see it. The jewelry speaks for itself,” she said.
As for Everett, she, too, stumbled into the next chapter of her life. She began volunteering to keep busy, and while working at a Creating Keepsakes convention in the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, she was positioned beside a booth for Heritage Makers, an online-based personal publishing company.
“Their mission really is to strengthen families through storybooking. It really touched me because I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s, and her memories died with her. We can’t pass those memories along,” Everett said.
Then Oprah's Dog Died
Everett called her husband while still at the convention to brag about the Utah-based Heritage Makers, and it wasn’t long before she became the first consultant in Nashville for the company, helping people create lasting memories.
Founded in 2005, Heritage Makers lets clients design their own hardbound books, cards, calendars and more with the goal of preserving their family heritages. For example, Everett has created a book featuring her 21-month-old daughter Abby.
“She takes it everywhere. When I want to use it, I have to sneak it out because she doesn’t want to let it go,” Everett said.
Heritage Makers has also received national acclaim, having been featured on Good Morning America and noticed by Oprah Winfrey.
In 2008, a Heritage Makers consultant in Iowa created a book to celebrate the life of Winfrey’s dog, Gracie that died in 2007. Winfrey actually called the consultant to personally thank her for the gift.
“The consultant didn’t answer the phone because it came in as a private call, so when she checked her voicemail it was Oprah, thanking her,” Everett said.
You Need To Be Outgoing
Everett and Palmissano agree that there is plenty of room in their businesses for people who are just looking for a hobby that pays some extra cash, but that if you want to make serious money, you better be serious about direct sales.
“If you treat it like a hobby, then it performs like a hobby, but if you treat it like a business, it performs like business,” Palmissano said, channeling Stella & Dot founder, Jessica Herrin. “She always says that.”
The friends are determined to be successful by making their respective businesses earn money. A Stella & Dot stylist and Heritage Makers consultant make money like most other people in direct sales, by receiving a percentage of the sale of their products. They can also build a team so that they get a percentage of the sales by the team members. Everett and Palmissano have two people who have signed up to work on their teams.
The women can take their businesses anywhere, which helps them build a customer base.
“I’ve got a party set up at a dentist’s office,” Palmissano said. “You can have a party at a wine bar, if that’s what you want.”
Everett added: “Anywhere offering free WiFi can become an office or a showroom. We can take our products anywhere.”
The work they’ve chosen to do might not be difficult for Palmissano and Everett, who are outgoing, animated women, but the work could be a problem for some people.
“It does take a special person to succeed at direct sales,” Palmissano said. “If you’re really shy, then it’s going to be hard to get out there and do what you need to do. You can only ask your friends and family to host parties so many times. You have to network and talk to people.”
While both women work to build their businesses and make substantial incomes, it helps to have husbands who have been “amazingly supportive” of their new ventures, Everett said. Her husband, Bryan, is a multimedia producer with PK Pictures. Palmissano’s husband, Keven, is a human resources director with HCA.
“They understand that we need a life separate from being a mother and a wife,” Everett said.
