The Beauty of Empowerment: Building Business with Advocacy and Innovation
Beautycounter, Natura Consultants Can Earn More Than Income
Thanks to the opportunities their companies provide, makeup consultants with Beautycounter and Natura can earn their way to be college graduates and effective activists. Here’s a look at both businesses, which boost their bottom lines by encouraging their consultants to be advocates for more than just the products they sell.
Beautycounter
Everyone has the potential to be an agent of change. That tenet of civic engagement was not lost on B Corp Beautycounter’s founder Gregg Renfrew as she started and built the nontoxic, multichannel beauty-product company that sells online, in retail stores, and through a network of consultants. Renfrew’s vision included making each salesperson an activist involved in making the industry safer and better.
“By incorporating advocacy and education into the role of a consultant, Beautycounter has also empowered thousands of women across the country and across North America to participate in the democratic process,” says Lindsay Dahl, Beautycounter’s vice president of social and environmental responsibility. “Often, we have heard women say that they did not think they could affect change. Yet, democracy only works when everyone participates and our successes thus far proves this to be true.”
The 130 employees at Beautycounter work with nearly 27,000 consultants, who operate in both the U.S. and Canada. Consultants sell products through social gatherings, one-on-one consultations, and unique codes for online shopping and can qualify for incentives, such as the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C., with the Beautycounter HQ staff and advocate for better beauty laws.
“Beautycounter is fortunate in that advocacy is one of many reasons consultants join our company,” Dahl says. “They are drawn to our mission that allows you to earn a meaningful income while having significant social impact.”
Beautycounter is a Certified B Corporation, a company meeting the verified to have a positive environmental and social impact.
“Being B Corp certified means that there is a constant reminder to consider whether the decisions we make align with what is ‘best for the world’ as well,” Dahl says.
Natura
A Brazilian body-care and cosmetics manufacturer, Natura uses butters made from native seeds in shampoo, conditioner and other hair and body-care products.
Natura’s product innovation effectively pays farmers to preserve the rainforest by finding monetary value in indigenous species. The second-largest cosmetics and personal-care products company in Brazil, Natura was founded in 1969 and now has more than 7,000 employees and 1.35 million direct-sales consultants — 1.3 million in Brazil and 500,000 in other Latin American countries. The company has operations in eight countries, including a U.S. store in New York City, and more than 100 million customers.
Natura is a multilevel marketing company, similar to Avon or Mary Kay Cosmetics in North America. Natura’s distribution network delivers to more places in Brazil than the national postal service. The company has eight distribution centers in Brazil and five elsewhere in Latin America.
Natura also sells products online, in drugstores and, since 2016, in its own stores. The company opened five stores in São Paulo and plans to open 30 more in Brazil in 2017.
But the vast majority of its products are sold by 1.35 million consultants who place orders and pay upfront, then sell the products at a recommended markup. On average, consultants earn about 350 reals ($110) a month, but the income ranges from zero for those just buying products for themselves to Brazil’s minimum wage of 880 reals ($273) or more for consultants selling Natura products as their main income. About 98 percent of the consultants are female.
According to Renata Puchala, Natura’s senior sustainability manager, the consultants participate in workshops to learn about sales techniques, sustainability and women’s empowerment.
“These women are included in the economic activity. They gain autonomy, develop themselves and invest that income in their families,” she says.
The company also partners with universities and learning institutions to create and underwrite special tuition discounts. So far, 8,000 consultants have participated, and 300 are currently enrolled in universities.
Beautycounter and Natura are part of the community of Certified B Corporations. Read more stories of people using business as a force for good in B the Change, or sign up to receive the B the Change Weekly newsletter for more stories like the one above, delivered straight to your inbox.
