Network of Businesses Thriving Among Utah’s Traditional Stay-At-Home Moms

Laura Savage used to make toys for fun and spending money, running an assembly line in her basement in her spare time. But when her husband’s construction business collapsed, Savage--pregnant with her sixth child--discovered her home business was key to the family’s survival.

“We were on the verge of losing everything,” Savage said.

She expanded her line of crafts to an array of specialized refrigerator magnets, note pads and stickers she sold at conventions and through home-business acquaintances. She sewed outfits for kids to dress up as doctors, nurses and superheroes.

It’s not an uncommon story--Mom’s at-home work bolsters the family’s earnings--but in Utah it’s considered a natural outgrowth of Mormon culture.

Home businesses are “a perfect match for the lifestyle in Utah,” said Linda Hamilton-Orr, a district manager for Avon Products Inc. in Salt Lake City. “A lot of home-based businesses thrive here.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, comprising about 70% of the state’s population, encourages women to stay home and take care of their children. Yet a cultural reverence for pioneer heritage and the self-sufficiency that went along with it make crafts and social networks a daily part of Mormon women’s lives.

The Washington-based Direct Sellers Assn. says 73% of the 10 million direct sellers nationwide are women who sell everything from Tupperware to lingerie. Although there are no state breakdowns, many companies rank Utah near the top in terms of per-capita involvement in home businesses.

Savage, who later wrote “The Home-Based Businesswoman’s Guide to Success and Sanity,” may be one of the best examples. She became part of a network and even publishing a telephone directory, “The Pink Pages,” because the phone company wouldn’t let them list their home phone numbers in the business pages.

“Utah pushes so much the stay-at-home moms family values, it’s really natural,” said Angie Pymm, who markets scrapbooking supplies for Creative Memories, a Minnesota-based scrapbooking company. “It gives women a creative outlet and an option to be in the business world.”

Like many Mormon women, Savage thinks women should not work outside the home. She tried it briefly and “it was a nightmare.”

In a 1995 survey taken for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 52% of Mormon women agreed with the statement, “Everyone is better off when Mom stays home,” while only 29% of non-Mormon women agreed.

In addition, Mormons tend to have large families, making day care expensive and providing further impetus for mothers to avoid the office, said Tim Heaton, a sociologist at Brigham Young University.

“You have to pay for the kids’ food, lessons, school, but working outside the home is not really an option,” he said. “So finding a way to earn money and stay home at the same time is a priority.”

The church also provides would-be businesswomen with a built-in network of friends and neighbors who share their values.

For decades, Mormon women have set aside one or two evenings a month for what the church calls “home, family and personal enrichment nights”--where they socialize, make crafts and share lessons on motherhood and home economics.

That makes it easy to find potential sales representatives or willing buyers.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for networking,” said Valerie Arnold, a senior director for The Pampered Chef, a kitchenware seller.

But the bottom line is money. And for some, the rewards are big.

One Utah company, Stampin’ Up!, was started by two stay-at-home sisters 12 years ago and has grown by 30% each year for the last three years. The company, which sells rubber stamps and stationery, had revenues in 1999 of about $100 million.

While most home-based businesses are part-time, half of those who do it full-time make more than $50,000 a year, said Amy Robinson, a spokeswoman for the Direct Sellers Assn.

Top Avon saleswomen, for example, make almost $200,000 a year, said company spokeswoman Stephanie Dupre. Full-time consultants for Stampin’ Up! make up to six figures, Bernsen said.

Even part-timers do well. Arnold says she makes about $5,000 a month working six nights for the Pampered Chef.

But women say independence and a sense of accomplishment, things that don’t always come with being a full-time mother, are as important as the money.

“No one ever says, ‘Oh, Mom, the toilet is so clean!’ ” Arnold said. “It’s a good way to bolster our self-esteem.”