LUSH LIFE
I earn £120k a year flogging Avon cosmetics – I was in £70k debt not long ago, now I own a house with no mortgage
Cathy Magee, a nan-of-five, has overcome significant adversity over the last 30 years to be where she is now
A NAN who lost her house and fell into £70,000 debt turned her life around by selling beauty products - and now might just be one of the UK’s richest Avon Ladies at 61-years-old.
Five years after joining the business, Cathy Magee is now living mortgage-free, going on three holidays a year and raking in an eye-watering £10,000 a month.
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Avon Ladies are independent sales representatives who sell beauty, household and personal care products designed by the brand.
They often operate through door-to-door selling, hosting parties and social media, earning money on a largely commission basis.
Cathy, 61, hopped on the venture after her husband Ivan, 65, had three heart attacks in one week and had to stop working to recover.
The couple soon fell behind on their mortgage payments, lost their home and fell into £70,000 worth of debt.
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Cathy, a mum-of-three from County Down, Northern Ireland, began working for Avon full-time to supplement Ivan’s income.
Fast forward five years, the pair run their own Avon business, bought a house and together earn £10,000 a month.
“I think it’s really, really important in life that no matter how well you do, you always remember where you came from, and who helped you get to where you are,” Cathy said.
“It’s one of the biggest privileges of this job to be able to share my story of where I’ve come from and let people see that it is achievable to get out of it.”
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Alongside her financial troubles, she has also overcome the trauma left from domestic violence she suffered before she met Ivan.
Around 30 years ago, Cathy was a single mother with three children and began dating a man who, over time, became physically and mentally abusive.
“It’s one of those situations that you go into, and you almost don’t realise that it’s happening until you’re so far in,” she explained.
“It’s also quite a secretive environment because the abuser can seem a very genuinely nice person to everyone around.
“So a lot of what happens is quite hidden and, as the abused person, you don’t quite believe yourself sometimes that you’re in it.”
At the time, Cathy felt like she “could not leave” and “didn’t know how she’d possibly get out of that situation”.
But with the help of domestic violence charities, Refuge and Women’s Aid, she was able to remove herself from the relationship.
She describes Ivan as her “knight in shining armour” who supported her decision to go full-time as an Avon Lady in 2007 following his three heart attacks.
Cathy had been a representative on and off for almost 20 years doing door-to-door selling for Avon products.
But when she and Ivan fell behind on their mortgage payments, they ended up losing their house and had to move into a rented house, all whilst sitting on £70,000 worth of debt.
Cathy saw the opportunity of building a business through Avon and making it her full-time career.
She worked her way up to executive sales leader, and once her husband had recovered, he joined the business under the same role.
Day-to-day, Cathy trains representatives and manages them, while Ivan goes door-to-door with brochures to sell products and recruit new representatives.
Cathy and Ivan’s combined income rose to around £10,000 a month, and by 2012, the pair were able to pay off their debts.
In 2022, they bought their current house - a dream Cathy 30-years-ago would never have conjured up.
“It was such a relief and a happy moment – we bought it mortgage-free and spent a year or so doing it up from top to bottom, which was just amazing,” she said.
She has been able to buy a car outright, go on holiday three times a year and helped her son pay for his wedding.
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Cathy has also given back to the charities that helped her get out of her abusive relationship.
“I genuinely do believe that something good can always come from something bad,” she said.
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