Well-known cookbook writer is now an "Energizer bunny" promoting natural cosmetics

'FauxTox' lady shares secret

Well-known cookbook writer is now an "Energizer bunny" promoting natural cosmetics

By Sarah Petrescu, Times Colonist

September 15, 2009

Patricia Haakonson delivers her pitch to eight sharp-witted, mature women armed with facecloths and wine glasses and seated around a dining room table.

"I'm going to show you a natural, safe alternative to Botox that works," she says.

Wide-eyed silence is followed by laughter all around.

"It does," she pleads.

One woman pipes in: "Well, if you're going to say Preparation H -- been there, done that."

The table of women cracks up all over again.

Haakonson, 59, sells beauty and health products for Arbonne, a fast-growing company that operates by network marketing and direct sales, similar to Tupperware and Mary Kay.

The evening's "FauxTox" party introduces Arbonne's popular anti-aging line and serves to train Haakonson's new sales protégé, Marilyn Rook, a retired chief operating officer of the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

"We met playing golf and I just knew she'd be fabulous," Haakonson told me earlier in the day at her home, which overlooks the Royal Oak Golf Club.

She should know. In the nearly three years Haakonson has sold Arbonne products, she has acquired a team of 20 saleswomen, been named a regional vice-president, and received a diamond-studded watch and a white Mercedes-Benz convertible.

"It's based on sales volume," she says.

Haakonson's success might have come from old-school salesmanship but her story is part of growing trend in home-based businesses and network marketing, especially as recession layoffs and early retirements rise.

More than 88 per cent of the 600,000 direct sellers in Canada are women, according to the Direct Sellers Association of Canada, and companies like Avon, Mary Kay and Tupperware are actively recruiting.

"You get out of it what you put into it," says Haakonson, who estimates she makes up to $6,000 a month, working 25 to 40 hours a week -- the higher end of the wide range in income from selling Arbonne products.

"I don't really need the money. But I'm very passionate about what I do," she says.

Haakonson retired from 25 years as an executive manager with the provincial and federal governments at the age of 49. During that first year she lost 44 lbs. on a low-carbohydrate diet and wrote a lifestyle book with her husband Harv, a retired physician, about the experience.

A best-selling cookbook followed and before they knew it, the Haakonsons had spent a year travelling across Canada and the United States in their motor home to promote the books.

"I cooked on every breakfast television show in Canada," Haakonson said. Harv appeared on Good Morning America.

Haakonson was introduced to Arbonne after a Bikram yoga class in Palm Springs, while on vacation about three years ago.

"A tiny woman who could bend like a pretzel asked me to try it. My skin was so soft afterwards I said, 'Where do I get it?' "

This is where the business opportunity comes in.

Haakonson was given three options: To buy the cream at retail cost, "Which I never recommend," she says, to pay a membership fee and receive a discount, or to join the sales team.

"I felt compelled to tell friends and family all about it so I've never looked back," she says about taking the latter choice. "My little lines and wrinkles didn't completely disappear but the effects on my skin have been incredible."

Haakonson says she's tried every anti-aging cream on the market. "I draw the line at injecting botulism into my skin. That's just too extreme."

The Arbonne products appeal to her because of their use of natural and non-toxic ingredients.

"Educating women about their health and healthy products is so important to me," she says, surrounded by mini-displays of Arbonne products, from creams and perfume to vitamins and makeup.

"If I won millions of dollars in the lottery tomorrow I wouldn't stop doing this -- it's too much fun and I'm like the Energizer Bunny just talking about it."