On July 19, DSA’s Diversity and Empowerment Council hosted a briefing: “Direct Selling: Providing Growth and Opportunity for Hispanic Americans” on Capitol Hill.
The event featured direct selling company executives and an independent distributor, who discussed the significant impact of Hispanics on direct selling and how the business keeps evolving due to what is the fastest growing demographic in the United States.
DSA Executive Vice President Adolfo Franco opened the event with an overview of direct selling, the role of DSA, and the positive impact direct selling has on Hispanic consumers and salespeople.
Theresa Flores, Manager, Public Affairs, Mary Kay introduced the event’s panel and reinforced the strength of Hispanic representation in direct selling. Recent DSA research figures show that of the 20.5 million people involved in direct selling in 2016 as buyers, sellers, or both, some 22% are of Hispanic ethnicity. Hispanic American buying power is $1.7 trillion.
Beatriz Aguirre-Gutai, VP of Sales & Field Development for Shaklee, described how Latinos constitute the youngest and fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. She also touched on how direct selling affords first generation Hispanics the opportunity to develop skills and become assimilated into the country, and how new technologies have made communicating easier