Last year a friend invited me to join her at a NYR Organic coffee morning she was hosting. She said there would be plenty of cake so of course I accepted (not much cake in our house) but little did I realise what fun the morning would turn out to be and how two hours would change my life in terms of the products I now use on my face and body – in particular the frankincense Rejuvenating Cream. The atmosphere was positive and very upbeat and we had the happiest time rubbing creams and lotions into our hands and faces. After being chosen to receive the most glorious mini-facial with tantalising products (all of which I ended up buying) I went on to win a raffle prize – an hour’s body massage – heaven! All that AND cake!

As you know I have been considering going back to work and one of the things I was interested in was becoming an independent consultant for NYR Organic, the direct selling channel of Neal’s Yard Remedies. The company’s head office put me in touch with Catherine Perkins who, as well as being a consultant has her own beauty treatment rooms in Somerset.

Catherine told me that when she was in the throes of setting up her therapy business two years ago she coincidentally met a girlfriend for coffee who was a NYR consultant.  She couldn’t believe her luck when she saw the catalogue of beautiful blue bottles of organic massage oils, creams and lotions – they were of course the same products that she would need to invest in for her treatment rooms. Plus, her Aunty Sara was always going on at her about being more organically minded so what could be more perfect than using NYR products. She decided there and then that this was a win-win situation and contacted NYR Organic the very next morning.

Chatting to Catherine, it was obvious how delighted she is to be a consultant, describing Neal’s Yard as highly ethical, totally credible and very supportive; they have a pro-active PR department which means that there is always positive press for her to share with her customers – back up which she finds invaluable. One of the other things that appealed to me is that she says you get to meet a huge variety of people – people who already know the brand but can’t always get hold of it in rural areas.  And apparently the strong ethical message that the company sends out is also valued by her customers – famously the products are not tested on animals and the precautionary principle is “If in doubt, we leave it out!” meaning when their products are formulated they never use anything that will do us or the planet any harm.

Finally I plucked up courage to ask her about her earning potential and it seems that although you won’t become a millionaire overnight, if you work hard and build up a solid client base through, for example, parties like the one I enjoyed so much, you can do very well indeed, especially if you recruit other people to join your team. Actually some consultants just work enough to earn some extra money for say, a holiday – you can do as little or as much as you like, whatever suits your lifestyle. She summed it all up with: “This might sound rather clichéd, but NYR Organic is just a lovely company which attracts lovely customers and I’ve never been as happy in a job as I am now!”

And me?  Since my conversation with the lovely Catherine, I have decided to open a small café so I will not be joining NYR Organic this year BUT if my second foray into catering doesn’t work out, I know exactly what my next step will be…

If you would like to find out more about becoming a consultant, hosting or attending a party, or using NYR products in your therapy business, click here