When you meet Christa Loughlin, after you note the sparkle in her eyes, be sure to check out the top of her foot — the tattoo that says “Believe” gives you a window into what she’s all about.
“I’m a dreamer,” she laughs. “I believe anything is possible.”
That can-do attitude may be why the 45-year-old entrepreneur is as successful as she is, following a business model that some find challenging: direct sales and network marketing.
Christa is an independent consultant for Jeunesse, a global direct sales company that offers anti-aging skincare products and health supplements along with a promise to help people “look and feel young” and “unleash potential.”
And, Loughlin says she’s “absolutely convinced” the company has opened the door to a future she dared not even dream two years ago.
A registered massage therapist for 21 years, working her own business in the tiny community of Little Britain (west of Lindsay), Loughlin says she worked back-to-back appointments until her hands literally gave out.
“I was looking for a Plan B,” she says. “I couldn’t keep massaging the way I was.”
Her “aha” moment came, not surprisingly, during a massage.
“It was literally one sentence a client said to me during a massage, ‘You’re such a hard worker. Would you rather have 100 per cent of your own effort, or one per cent of 100 people’s efforts?'”
“It just clicked. It all made sense: work smarter, not harder,” she says.
Loughlin opened the door to direct sales and network marketing and eventually walked through the door to Jeunesse, where she found a match for her love of health and wellness promotion in the products the company touted as “rejuvenating.”
“I loved the science behind the products,” she says.
With an advisory board that includes medical doctors, Jeunesse markets skin rejuvenation products, nutritionals including an energy drink division, and a fat loss system.
Loughlin says the latter is responsible for her own loss of 30 pounds and 28.5 inches over 10 weeks.
The story of Jeunesse (which means “youth” in French) is impressive. It began in 2009 as the inspiration of husband-and-wife team Randy Ray and Wendy Lewis, who left retirement to start the company.
Since then, Jeunesse’s growth has been meteoric: it now has a presence in more than 120 countries with an independent global salesforce of over 600,000 people. The company launched in Canada in January 2016.
Last year, Jeunesse hit $1 billion in annual sales — making it the fastest company in direct selling history to do so.
Jeunesse Canada Launch 2016
Despite the success of the many hundreds of thousands of people who are working with Jeunesse, Loughlin is far from idealistic when it comes to getting people to sign on to the idea of direct sales and network marketing.
“We are programmed for traditional employment,” she says. “People have a hard time with the idea. They’re very skeptical. My biggest challenge is getting people to open their minds that network marketing is a real legitimate business model. It’s not a pyramid and it’s not a scam.”
To ease her transition from full-time massage therapist in a small community to a network marketer in a new town altogether, Loughlin joined several local business groups — including the Peterborough Women’s Business Network (WBN).
Loughlin says she looks to her future now, and says she “gets goose bumps” thinking about the endless promise. And she calls herself an “opportunity provider.” She wants to give others the same hope she has.
“A lot of people are unhappy and they’re looking for something, either in addition to their current job, or something new altogether,” she says, adding that she refrains from focusing on the sales aspect of her job.
“I listen more than I talk. I look for chances,” she says. “Maybe someone will say they’re excited their son was just accepted to university, but they’re worried about contributing financially. I really try to hear the underlying ‘why,’ and then ask if they’d be interested in hearing about a way to make things better. There’s no pressure and no obligation.”
There’s no question Loughlin’s no-pressure technique to engage others in her dream has worked: she has more than 800 people from 15 countries in her organization.
“The sky’s the limit,” she says. “If a girl from Little Britain who was locked in a treatment room massaging clients for 21 years can do it, anyone can!”
Loughlin still dreams, even though, in her words, she’s living a dream. Now the dreams have to do with how she’ll be able to give back.
“I want to be able to do random things, just because I can,” she says. “So many people have helped me along the way when I struggled.”
You can find out more about Jeunesse at www.yestosuccess.ca.
