My only interaction with an Avon lady came when I was temping in a small office in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire. I recall a shadowy character who would turn up sporadically, basket over arm like the witch/queen from Snow White, sending the seven 55-plus ladies into something of a cosmetics frenzy.
Debbie Davis is neither shadowy, nor a witch. With partner Dave Carter (an Avon gentleman?), she’s Avon’s top earner, bringing in £250,000 a year.
Davis has turned what for many women is a sideline business or hobby into a huge earner, and the couple have been rewarded with a Mercedes, a BMW and a holiday to Mallorca from the company.
The 29-year-old turned to Avon after losing her job in the Sunderland factory where she had worked since school. Unsure of how to pay the rent, she went from consumer to salesperson.
“I’d been an Avon customer myself and my mum did it when I was younger so I had grown up with it,” Davis told the Daily Mail.
“I went round the doors selling products. The response I got back was great and in the first month I earned £500.”
Logo from Avon