The newest addition to DSEF’s Case Study Series features Princess House President and CEO Connie Tang and was written by DSEF Fellow, Kathy Korman Frey, Entrepreneur in Residence at the George Washington University School of Business.
Connie Tang: Leading Fearlessly Through Crisis, Change & Growth touches on a wealth of topics that DSEF’s 227 Fellows can share with students, including crisis management, community, the direct selling business model, the Hispanic market, leadership, childhood and adult influences and mentors, work/life balance, entrepreneurship and the fine line between “nice girl” and passive observer.
In addition to serving a terrific teaching tool for the classroom, Kathy says the case is a rich resource for direct selling executives as well. “Some of the business insights in the Connie case for DSA executives are, first of all, crisis management,” she says. “This case starts with Hurricane Harvey. What do you do, who do you call, what messages do you want to convey?
“Number two, we’re talking about brand revitalization,” Kathy continues. “How is this done? It’s tricky business, and Connie really walks us through how to do it in the case and the supplemental materials.”
Kathy says number three is a little bit different. “It’s an opportunity to use a case like this to connect with your team. Coaching, mentoring and role modeling are things that our teams want from us these days, and this opens the door to that type of discussion. Whether it’s a big group or a small group, they can read the case and volunteer something right away.”
Coming in Winter 2020 are several videos that will complement the written case, featuring Connie describing how Princess House’s brand continued to evolve. For more information about our Case Series, contact Nancy Laichas.
Industry Awards Judges
For the past three years, DSEF in partnership with our sister organization, the Direct Selling Association, has invited Fellows to serve as judges for DSA’s Industry Awards. Each year at the Annual Meeting Gala, DSA recognizes those companies that empower independent direct sellers, fuel business processes or make the world a better place.
By serving as a DSA Awards Judge, Fellows have the opportunity to:
We would like to thank the following Fellows, who served in this capacity:
Dr. Ricky Fergurson
Dr. Paige Beal
Fellows Workshop
Our annual Fellows Workshop is designed to share knowledge of how to get started as a Fellow, whether your interests are in research, teaching, case writing or hosting a guest speaker or campus event. Special thanks to Dr. Robert Peterson, who hosted us at The University of Texas at Austin and moderated the workshop.
Nine Fellows shared their experiences in working with DSEF corporate partners to create teaching content, share real-world examples of business throughout their departments and produce publishable research.
Dr. Adam Mills
Dr. Debra Zahay-Blatz
Drs. Linda and OC Ferrell
Dr. Caroline Glackin
Dr. Vicky Crittenden
Dr. Anne Coughlan
Dr. Sandy Jap
Dr. Sara Cochran
Dr. Wendy Ritz
CEO Roundtable
Dr. Stefanie Boyer, an expert in design thinking, led a group of CEOs in a group exercise to bring creativity to strategic thinking for the problem-solvers of the direct selling industry. “What I found most encouraging was the openness of the CEOs to learn and try something new,” Stefanie said. “This gave me so much hope and confidence to know that everyone in that room is going in the right direction.”
Special thanks to Drs. Adam Mills, Mark Groza and Eric Liguori who facilitated table discussions and ideation.
Academic Insights You Can Use to Grow Your Business
DSEF Fellows Drs. Victoria Crittenden, Caroline Glackin, and Sandy Jap presented their latest direct selling research insights during a panel discussion.
During the panel discussion, Vicky described how her research and book on women’s entrepreneurship help mainstream direct selling by demonstrating the power of the channel and its ability to empower women personally and professionally. Sandy discussed the synergistic effect of increasing in the number of routes to market – home parties, digital parties, online sales, websites and other channels – and their impact on the economic welfare and performance of sales consultant representatives.
“For me, the immediate positive response from key channel leaders, and their offers to collaborate were fantastic and will allow a deeper and more robust understanding of my topic,” said Caroline, who shared findings from her research on Hispanic acculturation of the direct selling salesforce.
The Future of Commerce: How Direct Selling Fits
Newly-inducted Circle of Honor award recipients, Drs. Greg Marshall, Linda Ferrell, and Vicky Crittenden, shared the main stage for a dialogue on the future of the commerce and how companies can prepare and adapt. The panel discussion provided insights on the way business and the workforce are changing, including trends in e-commerce, personalizing the customer experience and how to attract new salespeople in the gig economy.
Third Party Experts Panel
Today’s consumers do not want to be sold to: they want to be engaged, educated and even entertained.
In a workshop on how third-party voices can enhance trust and transparency among consumers, Dr. Greg Marshall, stepping in for Dr. Anne Coughlan, joined Todd Eliason, Publisher and Editor in Chief, Direct Selling News; John Kloosterman, Manager, Amway Brand, Amway; and Mark Stastny, Chief Marketing Officer, Scentsy; to discuss how companies can maximize the range of third-party voices to demonstrate that they are credible, respected, popular and worthy of consumers’ business.
“For my part, I shared specific strategies on how direct sellers can benefit from the credibility of members of the academic community who are doing research on the field, and especially from those of us who are DSEF Fellows,” says Greg.
In celebration of National Consumer Protection Week’s 20th Anniversary, the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) asks anyone seeking to gain a deeper understanding of their rights as a consumer, so that they can make even better-informed decisions, to download the DSEF Consumer Protection 101 toolkit.
The toolkit – developed in concert with the Direct Selling Association – provides consumers with a one-stop-shop of information to help them avoid fraud and scams in the marketplace.
For more information, visit consumer.ftc.gov to learn more about National Consumer Protection Week 2018 and the Federal Trade Commission. #ConsumerProtection #NCPW2018
In life and in business there are many unforeseen obstacles. Some of these obstacles can trip us up and cause us to fall flat on our faces.
How do you get back up? How do you make the pain of falling on your face go away? How do you keep going?
If you have a winning mindset you can overcome these obstacles and use them to motivate yourself to push forward and succeed. Here’s an outline to create your winning mindset.
Creating a winning mindset is like being a great baker: it’s part science, part self-confidence and part ingenuity. The science is in the plans you make, the confidence is in the belief in yourself, visualizations and your perspective, and the ingenuity is in finding ways to get things done.
Did we leave anything out? What else would you include in a winner mindset? Please share with us in the comments section below!
Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!
Small business owners typically work a lot. It seems there is never enough time or hands to get everything done, and as the owner of your empire, it’s up to you to make sure things get accomplished.
Yet part of the reason a lot of people go into business for themselves is so they can have more time to focus on the things that are important to them…things like family, travel, and other lifestyle choices that make life meaningful.
Can you have both? Can you enjoy a fulfilling business while also focusing on what’s important? Sure you can! But it takes both planning and mindset to successfully achieve your business goals while enjoying the life balance you strive for.
Here are some tips for making it happen.
By planning ahead, you will be much better able to balance work with the rest of your life, and enjoy every part of your life more.
What tips would you give for helping people achieve work and life balance? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments!
Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!
