Home party business sells glitz and glam
\nThe Courier News, IL<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or so Marilyn Monroe and countless other women would have us believe.<\/p>\n
What about look-alike diamonds or other baubles that fall under the heading of fashion jewelry?<\/p>\n
It turns out that the market for such jewelry is hot these days as more and more women buy into an intriguing retail concept.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
More important, Kiam has given more than 11,500 women an opportunity to become party hostesses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a remarkable achievement, considering 3,500 women were selling the jewelry a year ago.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Catherine Killeen of Elgin, a party hostess and staunch believer in lia sophia, is anxious to tell her story.<\/p>\n
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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d partly out of curiosity \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but also hopeful she could pick up some part-time work.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the three years Killeen has been involved with lia sophia, she has built her down line to 27 people.<\/p>\n
Killeen says she is stunned at the amount of money she has been able to make.<\/p>\n
“I got in this just to make a couple hundred dollars extra a month,” Killeen said. “I make thousands of extra dollars a month.”<\/p>\n
Xhail Traub of Lake in the Hills says she got hooked on lia sophia after attending an in-house show.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
Promoted to manager in May, Traub has five people in her down line, all of whom are generating recruits of their own, she said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Although Gabl never had worked in sales, she decided to give it a whirl.<\/p>\n
The results far exceeded her expectations. “Actually, I wish I had done this 20 years ago,” Gabl said. “It’s been wonderful.”<\/p>\n
Gabl said she soon racked up enough sales to qualify for two vacation trips. After just 2\u00c2\u00bd years with lia sophia, Gabl quit her full-time job with District 300 to concentrate her efforts on jewelry sales.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Another perk Gabl appreciates is the opportunity to purchase favorite pieces of jewelry directly from lia sophia, at a considerable discount.<\/p>\n
“My husband bought me a jewelry box for Christmas,” Gabl said. “It’s now an armoire.”<\/p>\n
06\/18\/06<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Home party business sells glitz and glam The Courier News, IL Diamonds are a girl’s best friend \u00e2\u20ac\u201d 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[411],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n