Ding Dong! Avon Calling: Writing About an Iconic Company – Katina Manko Artwork

Paid by the Word: Conversations with Writers and Editors

Award-winning journalist and prolific author Mike Barlow interviews writers and editors. "Our conversations focus mostly on work habits and career advice. The interviews typically run 25-30 minutes. I try to keep them light and breezy, but when the topic veers into deeper waters, I'm not afraid to go there with the guest,” says Mike.

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Paid by the Word: Conversations with Writers and Editors

Ding Dong! Avon Calling: Writing About an Iconic Company – Katina Manko

July 11, 2021 • Mike Barlow • Season 1 • Episode 29

Door-to-door selling. If you’ve ever done it, you know it’s grueling work. Throughout most of its history, door-to-door selling was considered a man’s job. That was before Avon invented the Avon Lady, a concept that revolutionized selling and opened the door for generations of women who wanted to become independent entrepreneurs.

Katina Manko, an independent scholar, has written a thoroughly researched book about the history of Avon’s distributed sales force model and its lasting impact on our culture. I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between the Avon Ladies and their modern-day counterparts in the gig economy. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Katina, and I hope you have a chance to read her book, Ding Dong! Avon Calling! Wow, just saying that brings back memories of my childhood.