Avon Man Sniffs Sweet Scent of Success

When the doorbell rings and a voice says, “Avon calling,” it may not be the Avon Lady. It could be Ed Akers, the Avon Man.

Akers is one of fewer than a dozen men regularly selling the company’s beauty products in central Illinois.

Akers, 49, of Taylorville, joined Avon in 1983, after 23 years as a speech therapist with the Taylorville School District and about a year after a divorce.

The father of two grown children, he remarried in November and acquired a new teen-age stepdaughter.

Used to Teasing

“I’m used to being teased about being the Avon Man,” Akers said recently. “But most of the adverse reactions aren’t to me personally.” Some people, he said, don’t like door-to-door salespeople, period.

After his divorce, Akers began looking for a supplemental income and a way to meet new people. He met Judy Driver, a local Avon sales leader at the time, at a friend’s house. He asked her if men ever sold Avon.

“I told him, I didn’t know why men couldn’t sell,” said Driver, who trained Akers and still offers consultation.

After training and paying a small start-up fee, Akers began selling. His first customer, a stranger, was another salesman who just happened to collect Avon beer steins.

Salespeople as Customers

“Other salespeople make the best customers,” said Akers, noting they are sympathetic and offer advice.

Akers likes the traveling the job entails. He delivers 60 to 70 catalogues a month, travels 450 miles and averages 10 to 15 orders every two weeks.

“He’s in the top 25% in the district,” said his sales manager, Judy Lovelace of Palmyra. The 100-year-old company isn’t limited to hiring just women, according to Lovelace. But she said less than 1% of Avon representatives in the nation are male.