Distinguished Service Award Recipients

Norman Squires
Nominated by: Stanley Home Products
Honored on July 23, 2006

Norman Squires is credited with conceptualizing and implementing the party plan method of direct selling. As a door-to-door salesman, Mr. Squires was frustrated by the inefficiency of knocking on many doors, with only a few positive responses. According to Mr. Squires' notes, his solution was "to get some customers in a block or neighborhood to invite 10 or 12 of her friends in for coffee at 2:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. at which time I would entertain them with a demonstration of the complete line." He would ultimately present the idea to Mr. Frank Stanley Beveridge of Stanley Home Products, who embraced the idea as a way to distinguish the company from competitors. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, all companies using the party plan model can trace their roots back to the inspiration provided by Norman Squires.

Norman Squires was recognized for his contribution to the direct selling industry on July 23, 2006, during the Stanley Home Products Convention in St. Louis, Mo. The Award was presented to his sons, Daniel and John Squires, who along with their siblings, David and Suzanne, worked tirelessly to compile their father's notes and materials. In fact, many of these items now reside in a permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.


Madam CJ Walker
Nominated by: Our Own Image
Honored on August 19, 2006

Madam C.J. Walker is one of the earliest pioneers of the direct selling method of product distribution. In 1905 she developed her own hair care products and started her own company—the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company—to manufacture and distribute them. Understanding the need for prospective customers to be able to experience her products, Madam Walker spent 18 months between 1906 and 1908 traveling door-to-door selling her products by demonstrating their use and effectiveness. Recognizing that she could duplicate her own successful sales in other women, Walker encouraged other Black women to leave unpromising careers as poorly paid washerwomen and maids to become Walker Agents and earn commissions selling various hair care preparations directly to customers. Capitalizing on the power of direct selling, Walker spent most of the next decade traveling to promote her products and train her independent sales consultants, proudly known as Walker Agents. By 1910 she had a growing cadre of Walker Agents to sell and demonstrate the product, but she continued to crisscross the United States speaking at churches, lodges and other public venues.

Madam CJ Walker was recognized for her contributions to the direct selling industry on August 19, 2006, during the Our Own Image Convention held in Cincinnati.