Home party business sells glitz and glam
The Courier News, IL
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend — or so Marilyn Monroe and countless other women would have us believe.
What about look-alike diamonds or other baubles that fall under the heading of fashion jewelry?
It turns out that the market for such jewelry is hot these days as more and more women buy into an intriguing retail concept.
A company known as lia sophia (pronounced LEE-uh soh-FEE-uh) has refined the traditional home party concept, using an upscale approach to market expensive-looking jewelry to women who want fashion at an affordable price.
The Bensenville-based company was named for Lia and Sophia, daughters of Tory Kiam. He is the son of the late Victor Kiam, well-known for his televised pitches for Remington shavers.
Tory Kiam, founder and president of lia sophia, has created a line of fashion jewelry modeled after the big fashion houses that, according to promotional materials, appeal to many celebrities, including Brittany Spears and Nicolette Sheridan.
More important, Kiam has given more than 11,500 women an opportunity to become party hostesses — a remarkable achievement, considering 3,500 women were selling the jewelry a year ago.
On Friday, about 3,000 lia sophia representatives are expected to attend a conference at Pheasant Run Megacenter to hear success stories, motivational vignettes and maybe do a bit of networking.
Catherine Killeen of Elgin, a party hostess and staunch believer in lia sophia, is anxious to tell her story.
Although doing well in the corporate world, Killeen opted to quit her job a few years ago to become a stay-at-home mom. At her sister’s urging, Killeen attended a lia sophia conference — partly out of curiosity — but also hopeful she could pick up some part-time work.
“I actually was intrigued by the product, because I could not believe how many people attended” the (conference, Killeen said. “I also was intrigued with the design of the jewelry and how everyone responded to it.”
Killeen has found a comfortable niche, because as hostess, she is free to line up her parties around her duties as a mother without the need to schedule child care.
Representatives of lia sophia not only earn a percentage of their own sales, they also get a portion of the sales generated by people they have brought into the company, commonly referred to as their “down” line.
In the three years Killeen has been involved with lia sophia, she has built her down line to 27 people.
Killeen says she is stunned at the amount of money she has been able to make.
“I got in this just to make a couple hundred dollars extra a month,” Killeen said. “I make thousands of extra dollars a month.”
Xhail Traub of Lake in the Hills says she got hooked on lia sophia after attending an in-house show.
She then attended a lia sophia conference, where Traub, in her words, “grasped the big picture,” realizing she could actually have a lucrative career selling jewelry. “Out of 900 women that attended this conference, probably half the room stood up to indicate that they were making six figures a year,” Traub recalled. “And that’s what appealed to me.”
Promoted to manager in May, Traub has five people in her down line, all of whom are generating recruits of their own, she said.
Algonquin resident Michaelene Gabl, who prefers to be called “Micki,” was a special education assistant with Community Unit School District 300 for eight years when she began pondering a career change. She became impressed with what lia sophia had to offer while attending an in-home jewelry show.
Although Gabl never had worked in sales, she decided to give it a whirl.
The results far exceeded her expectations. “Actually, I wish I had done this 20 years ago,” Gabl said. “It’s been wonderful.”
Gabl said she soon racked up enough sales to qualify for two vacation trips. After just 2½ years with lia sophia, Gabl quit her full-time job with District 300 to concentrate her efforts on jewelry sales.
The income potential, Gabl admitted, keeps her motivated. But she also loves the “fun” atmosphere of the in-home parties and considers lia sophia a “family” rather than a corporation. “They treat us (hostesses) very well,” she said.
Another perk Gabl appreciates is the opportunity to purchase favorite pieces of jewelry directly from lia sophia, at a considerable discount.
“My husband bought me a jewelry box for Christmas,” Gabl said. “It’s now an armoire.”
06/18/06
