Tupperware lady still going strong in spite of economy

TRINIDAD - While many folks across the country are singing the blues over having lost a job in the current tough economy, Debi Hill moves right along in hers after 19 years.

She's a Tupperware lady.

You know Tupperware, one of those home-based businesses at which some of enlightened elite laugh.

Hill is not just a Tupperware lady. She's good at it. She earns as much as $5,000 some months.

"It's like any other job. It's as hard as you make it," she said. "The hardest part is making yourself go to work."

"I like being my own boss," she added. "I like setting my schedule."

Hill was not all gung-ho for being a Tupperware lady when she started. She told her then consultant she "wanted to sell" so she could enjoy discounts on the products she wanted for herself.

"I don't remember how I met her," Hill said. "I don't remember how we ended up doing a party. I just remember I told her I wanted to sell. Maybe it was because of the hostess gifts. I don't even remember how many came."

Hill stuck around after that party because she found herself enjoying the atmosphere. She still enjoys the parties and the contact she makes. They brighten her day.

"No matter how my day has gone, I'm a different person going to the parties," she said. "I put on a different face and enjoy the evening."

Tupperware events are all about women. Rarely does a man appear. Hill doesn't even invite her husband.

Hill was raised in Quincy and attended one year of college in Kansas. She did clerical work for the Chevrolet garage in town. She was packing fruit or doing orchard work when the Tupperware opportunity beckoned.

Although Hill does well in the business, she doesn't do nearly as well as she knows she could. She works her business around being a wife, a bookkeeper for her husband's contracting business and being the caretaker of the family orchard in the Stuhmiller Road area.

"I have a life besides Tupperware," she said.

Hill does 3-4 parties a month. The business takes up 5-10 hours per week.

Hill started like all Tupperware ladies. She was a party hostess. She became a consultant that very night. She advanced to manager and is now a director. Next up the line are one-star, two-star and three-star director.

"You start with close friends and family," Hill said. "My mom had a party for me, and I can't tell you how many my sisters had."

Hill's biggest party resulted in $1,500 in sales. She had a $1,000 party three weeks ago. She kept 25 percent of the take from each. She got five percent more for the $1,500 night.

As a director, Hill gets a monthly bonus of $500 from the efforts of the Tupperware team she has put together. That team's best month of sales has been about $22,000.

"I have a pretty good team right now," Hill said. "I have about 30 active consultants and 55 all together."

It pays to recruit new consultants, Hill said. To that end, she and members of her team are manning a booth this weekend at the Grant County Fair in Moses Lake.

The team members in the booth are sharing the cost. But they don't have to share their new contacts.

The booth is a passive-aggressive proposition, Hill said. A person can't just sit and wait for contact. She must at least try to make eye contact with passersby.

About 90 percent of the people who catch Hill's eye will make further contact, Hill said. About 80 percent of those will leave name and address. About 25 percent of that number will become consultants.

"Part of my job is to help them become successful," Hill said.

Hill has to travel some to deliver that help. Her consultants include a bilingual group in Othello and a Spanish-speaking group in Chelan.

"I speak a little Spanish. they speak a little English, and we laugh at each other," she said.

But they all speak Tupperware, which is easy for women to understand. Many want the household products, and some work their way into the chain of delivery and jobs from which they can't be fired.