Princess House is celebrating 60 years in business with a richly celebrated Diamond Anniversary and a Bravo Impact Award. The Bravo Impact Award recognizes the achievements of companies that take a holistic, measured and incremental approach to growth, innovation and operational integrity and excellence. Their 60-year success story clearly reflects these qualities.
“The first 60 years were positioning us for the future,” said President and CEO Lynne Coté. “We want to stay focused on how this anniversary year will lead us to 60 more. This is a remarkable milestone for any company.”
Princess House is marking six decades of success with a fresh, new logo; anniversary incentive trip; and year-long promotion, “Share the Wonder.” And Coté promises other surprises throughout the year to mark the company’s past triumphs and successes yet to come.
She attributes Princess House’s staying power to its dedicated base of consultants, the majority of which are Latina.
“Our consultants have a strong loyalty factor to the products and the company,” Coté shared. “Our products are of exceptional quality, and consultants know they can trust that quality. The amount we have invested into this community has come back to Princess House tenfold.”
Pandemic Pivot
This investment includes leadership development so leaders can work smarter and be more effective for their teams. This commitment to leadership growth played a pivotal role when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.
Previously the Princess House sales model relied primarily on in-person parties. Under the leadership of Coté, who had joined the company just two months before the quarantine stopped typical American life in its tracks, Princess House quickly worked to acclimate consultants to a digital-first business.
“We embraced the chaos,” said Coté. “Consultants knew they could rely on us to guide them through. It gave them freedom to try.”
This ability to switch gears, think differently and take risks is something Coté brought to the table when she joined in January 2020.
“Before the pandemic, we were very concentrated in certain geographies,” Coté said. “Once consultants realized they could sell outside those immediate geographic areas, so many barriers went away. That is a huge shift.”
Taking a Leap of Faith
Risk taking has been a consistent theme throughout Princess House’s 60-year story. The company opened in 1963 by offering the highest quality home products and a unique business opportunity for women, whose career options were limited at the time. In the decades since, women’s role in society and business has changed drastically in a relatively short period of time, and Princess House has kept up.
“Our Founder, Charlie Collis, believed the American housewife had so much potential. He wanted those women to be treated like princesses,” Coté said.
Over the years, as the country, culture and society shifted—and as the Princess House demographics changed—the company evolved as well. But those early guiding principles remained.
Today, Princess House consultants share stories of the college educations they have been able to provide for their children. The company’s business opportunity has opened doors to realities some of these consultants had never imagined.
“Our Latina consultants can do business in their own language and grow and develop into leadership roles in their own time,” Stefani Shea, Vice President of Marketing, explained. “This is something they value far beyond any other business opportunity. Charlie saw it in 1963, and we see it now with this population. They are overcoming amazing obstacles to provide their families with that dream.”
While Princess House is turned toward the next 60 years, company leaders also know the importance of focusing on the present. Shea said this contributes to the company’s ability to stand out as a business. “You can become so fixated on trying to get the next customer that you lose sight of the customer you have today. We focus on supporting the businesses we have today, too,” Shea said.
Working Hand in Hand
There is no “us and them” between the home office and consultant base. Instead, Princess House has developed a series of councils where consultants serve to strengthen this partnership. These include a product council, a CEO council and a social media council.
As Princess House steps into the next 60 years of business, the company’s leaders look forward to expanding their product line, growing business in its new market of Mexico, and—with so many consultants having moved their business online in 2020—technology upgrades.
Most importantly, Princess House will continue to carry on Charlie Collis’ vision from 1963: to recognize consultants’ potential and giving them no limit on what they can accomplish.
“We are seeing our consultants rewrite the story of their own lives,” Shea said. “We still treat our consultants like Charlie told us to. We are PHamily.”
DSN is thrilled to honor Princess House with the Bravo Impact Award for 60 years of success and many more to come.
From the June 2023 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.
