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" IT&amp;#039;S THE 21ST-CENTURY MOM&amp;#039;S ULTIMATE FANTASY\u2014a job that&amp;#039;s interesting, makes you good money, and allows you enough flexibility to be with your kids. If you&amp;#039;re like most women with families, you dream of it. Maybe you&amp;#039;ve even sat around with a girlfriend or two wondering how you could create that Holy Grail of lifestyles.  That&amp;#039;s just what Bonnie Kelly and Teresa Walsh did 20 years ago: The two women, who met when their daughters were in the same first-grade class, spent hours conjuring up business ideas that would let them stay home and still earn some extra cash \u2014 income they needed since their husbands were unemployed at the time. Never did they dream that those gab sessions, usually held at a McDonald&amp;#039;s near their Overland Park, KS, homes, would turn into a $190 million jewelry business, bringing them more fun and money than they ever imagined.  &amp;quot;Had we known it was going to turn into this, we would have been scared \u2014 and never would have done it,&amp;quot; says Teresa. &amp;quot;But we had a passionate dream to start our own business and kept taking little baby steps.&amp;quot; The first baby step: Bonnie and Teresa, both then 37, launched Suit Yourself, a business that got them nosing into other women&amp;#039;s closets. The two friends shared a passion for style, and they used their confidence and knowledge to show clients how to work their existing wardrobes into new outfits. Bonnie and Teresa had a special flair for accessories, particularly jewelry \u2014 &amp;quot;It just makes an outfit pop,&amp;quot; says Bonnie \u2014 and their clients often asked them where they found their baubles. Some women even asked to buy their bracelets and necklaces right off their bodies. When a local jewelry manufacturer got wind of their success and approached Bonnie and Teresa about selling his costume pieces, they jumped at the chance. They each took $25 out of their grocery money and pooled it to buy some necklaces, earrings, and bracelets before their next closet foray. Amazingly, the client ended up buying every piece! Bonnie and Teresa still remember how they left that house, got into the car, looked at each other in shock, and screamed, &amp;quot;That was awesome! Let&amp;#039;s sell jewelry!&amp;quot;  A few months later they hosted a small, laughter-filled cocktail party at Bonnie&amp;#039;s house, where they showed more pieces from that same manufacturer \u2014 and again, women snapped up the goods. The party was so much fun and such a success that Bonnie and Teresa decided to throw a few more. Soon, women started telling them, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll host a party for you at my house.&amp;quot; For the next six years, the two friends \u2014 now busy partners \u2014 held at-home jewelry parties in other people&amp;#039;s living rooms, reselling pieces they&amp;#039;d purchased. They called their idea &amp;quot;A Fun Ladies&amp;#039; Night Out Playing Dress-Up with Jewelry!&amp;quot; (a phrase that&amp;#039;s now been trademarked as one of their business&amp;#039;s taglines). Within six months, Suit Yourself had been supplanted by their new business, Cool Jewels. Soon they were averaging 125 parties per year, mostly at private homes, with $175,000 in sales. The secret to their success: Women loved hosting and attending the parties\u2014what&amp;#039;s more fun than a girls&amp;#039; night out plus shopping?  On top of their business success, Bonnie and Teresa were also enjoying the chance to learn about a business and a craft they loved. They began attending jewelry shows, meeting designers and artists, and learning more about sterling silver, which they both loved to wear. All the while, friends, family, and prospective clients kept saying to them, &amp;quot;I wish I had your job. It looks like so much fun!&amp;quot; Bonnie and Teresa were having a blast building their business and connecting with so many women\u2014but by 1996, they were exhausted. With the money they had earned, they took a vacation with their husbands to Acapulco to discuss the future of the company. They realized that they were at a crossroads. &amp;quot;Bonnie and I were booked three to four nights a week, eight months out,&amp;quot; says Teresa. &amp;quot;We were successful, but it was a drain on us. We said to each other, &amp;#039;Either we quit&amp;#039; \u2014 and really, that just wasn&amp;#039;t an option \u2014 &amp;#039;or we get bigger.&amp;#039; So we sat our husbands down in a couple of lounge chairs and told them that we could sell our jewelry through a catalog and get other women to represent us. We just weren&amp;#039;t sure how to do it.&amp;quot; Bonnie&amp;#039;s husband, Jerry, loved the idea and wanted to help: He has an MBA in direct marketing and was working at the time as a manager for a sporting-goods company. He had realized that his wife and her friend were onto something big a few months back when he came home in the midst of one of the Cool Jewels parties to find women hooting and laughing and trying on jewelry in his living room. He headed to his bedroom to escape the noise\u2014and found women trying on jewelry in there, too. When he complained to Bonnie, her answer was quick: &amp;quot;Get over it, Jerry. We&amp;#039;ve sold $20,000 worth of jewelry tonight.&amp;quot;  After the Acapulco trip, Jerry worked on figuring out a compensation package for representatives\u2014which would include payment in both commission and jewelry \u2014 and designing a catalog. Meanwhile, using the connections they&amp;#039;d made on their trips to jewelry shows, Bonnie and Teresa began working on their own silver jewelry concepts. Their first catalog showed pieces they&amp;#039;d commissioned from other designers, as well as necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that were original Teresa- and-Bonnie creations. The catalog was photographed in Bonnie and Jerry&amp;#039;s basement, and in July 1997, Silpada was born. The company&amp;#039;s name, a word created by Bonnie and Teresa, means nothing in particular, but as the duo like to say, &amp;quot;It has come to mean to us &amp;#039;The Best of Everything.&amp;#039; Ten years later, Silpada jewelry is sold by more than 20,000 Silpada reps at house parties in all 50 states, much like Tupperware or The Pampered Chef products. Bonnie and Teresa train their reps to put the emphasis on the girls&amp;#039;-night-out vibe. &amp;quot;Teresa and I always wanted to have a company that threw a party we&amp;#039;d want to attend,&amp;quot; says Bonnie. &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s why there are no formal presentations or rehearsed sales pitches at Silpada parties. It&amp;#039;s all about having fun.&amp;quot; Adds Teresa, &amp;quot;When you put on a pair of earrings and your friend says, &amp;#039;Oh, I love those on you!&amp;#039; that&amp;#039;s the Silpada experience \u2014 the fun \u2014 of the party.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Going to a Silpada party makes you feel good,&amp;quot; says Lori Jo Ball, 36, a Silpada rep from Olathe, KS. &amp;quot;You get that jewelry on and you start beaming. The next thing you know, you&amp;#039;re a Silpada chick.&amp;quot; The average price of a Silpada piece is $58, but items range from $12 for a silver toe ring to $269 for a hand-crafted silver bracelet. With options like that, no one leaves a party disappointed.  At a Silpada party this spring, Debbie Yocum, 49, of Carlstadt, NJ, bought a silver necklace for about $59. But she was also drawn to a more expensive piece, a $127 bracelet dangling with colorful jade, carnelian, quartz, and citrine stones. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s gorgeous,&amp;quot; Yocum cooed as she admired it on her wrist. &amp;quot;You could wear it with anything.&amp;quot; She didn&amp;#039;t have the cash to buy it at the time, so Yocum booked her own party with Silpada rep Marian Van Calbi of Ridgewood, NJ, knowing that she would get 30 percent of the total sales in free jewelry as a reward for hosting. Van Calbi, 46, has been selling Silpada for two years in northern New Jersey, where she and her second husband are raising six kids. &amp;quot;I had been selling The Pampered Chef,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;but this is much better for me. I make more money in less time. And I love to see how it makes people feel. I was standing at the school the other day, waiting for my kids, and a woman said to me, &amp;#039;You know, I never felt pretty until I wore Silpada jewelry.&amp;#039; Now I know what I do. I sell self-esteem to women.&amp;quot;  Teresa and Bonnie figured out that formula a long time ago. They still get a thrill out of the pleasure a little jewelry pick-me-up brings to their customers, but helping women gain confidence and financial independence is an even greater reward. &amp;quot;The real gift of Silpada has been that we offer women more life choices, financial freedom, and a chance to dream big,&amp;quot; says Teresa. Bonnie and Teresa&amp;#039;s idea started out small, but they made it the center of a life they love. So what&amp;#039;s your dream? And how can you steer your future? Who knows\u2014like these two Silpada chicks, you might change more lives than your own. Follow Your Passion To Success Before they launched Silpada Designs, their $190 million jewelry business, Bonnie Kelly and Teresa Walsh reinvented women&amp;#039;s wardrobes and hosted at-home jewelry parties. They didn&amp;#039;t realize it then, but they were testing the market to determine the need for their services. That, say the friends, is one of the keys to starting a successful business. Here are some others:    Bring passion to your project. If you feel excited about it, it&amp;#039;s more likely to be a success because &amp;quot;passion and fun are contagious,&amp;quot; says Teresa.   Stay open to what might come next. Bonnie and Teresa could never have imagined a network of thousands of reps selling their products across the country, but when the idea presented itself, they went with it.   Don&amp;#039;t let fear of failure (or financial loss) paralyze you. &amp;quot;We have never been afraid to try something once,&amp;quot; says Teresa. If a crazy idea doesn&amp;#039;t work, don&amp;#039;t do it again. If it does, then it wasn&amp;#039;t so crazy after all.&amp;quot;  Capitalize on all of your strengths. If you&amp;#039;re great with numbers, but your passion is cooking, you probably won&amp;#039;t be happy in a financial business. But use your head for figures to fuel your true love \u2014 a catering business, for example \u2014 and you&amp;#039;ll be on track to success and a life you&amp;#039;ll love.  Are you a Silpada chick? If you think holding Silpada jewelry parties could be the way to create your future, it&amp;#039;s easy to get involved. And all REDBOOK readers who sign up to become a Silpada representative between July 17, 2007, and December 31, 2007, will receive a custom &amp;quot;Design Your Life&amp;quot; charm on an oxidized sterling silver chain (approximate retail value, $49). Call Silpada Designs (toll-free, 888-SILPADA) or visit the company&amp;#039;s website at silpada.com. Once you get your starter kit in the mail, just indicate on the accompanying postcard that you are a REDBOOK reader.  &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;ll find a rep in your area who&amp;#039;ll give you one-on-one coaching and access to team meetings,&amp;quot; says Silpada sales vice president Ryane Kelly. On average, reps hold one or two parties each week. But many women also build their own team of reps and then earn a percentage of the commission on every party each team member throws. You&amp;#039;ll need to make an investment to get started\u2014about $1,000. That includes a $199 start-up fee and about 20 to 30 jewelry samples. You earn 30 percent of the total you sell\u2014according to Kelly, an average party sells $750 worth of jewelry, so you earn $225. Corin Dries, 35, of Macungie, PA, quit her full-time job and now earns just as much selling Silpada\u2014but is working about half the time. &amp;quot;I finally believe I can do something on my own,&amp;quot; she says. Celebrate your freedom to create a life you love. Have you made a cherished dream come true? If you&amp;#039;ve figured out how to design your life your way, we want to hear from you. REDBOOK and Silpada Designs are teaming up to celebrate empowered women who have found creative ways to make work and family work, to take care of themselves, and to create true balance. Ten women will be chosen and featured in an upcoming issue of REDBOOK. For details, log on to redbookmag.com/designyourlife. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/money-career/advice/a1886/make-work-work/>