Scentsy

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Scentsy
Company typePrivate
Industrymulti-level marketing
Founded2003
Founders
  • Kara Egan
  • Colette Gunnell
HeadquartersMeridian, Idaho, U.S.
Area served
North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand
Key people
Heidi Thompson (CEO), Orville Thompson (CEO)
ProductsScented products
Number of employees
1,056 (2018)[1]
Websitescentsy.com

Scentsy is an American multi-level marketing[2][3] company based in Meridian, Idaho that sells scented products including wax warmers and other home and body products.[4][5]

The company was founded by Kara Egan and Colette Gunnel in 2003.

History[edit]

Scentsy was founded by Kara Egan and her sister-in-law Colette Gunnell in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2003.[6][7] At a small business event in 2004, they met Orville Thompson, a struggling entrepreneur who had previously started several unprofitable business ventures.[8] Thompson took an interest in the pair's wick-less candle company and a few months later, he and his wife Heidi Thompson purchased the company from Egan and Gunnell.[7][8][9] The Thompsons moved the company's headquarters to Meridian, Idaho and on July 1, 2004 they re-launched Scentsy using a multi-level marketing distribution model.[7][10][11][4]

Marketing materials for Scentsy were created by a Layton, Utah-based graphic design company, ScentsySuccess (an authorized division of Ann Dalton Design Inc.). ScentsySuccess was acquired by Scentsy in 2008, at which time they moved to a new distribution centre and showroom in Layton.[12]

In 2009, the company expanded into Canada and in 2011, it expanded again, into the United Kingdom and Germany.[13] In 2012, the company had over 170,000 active independent consultants.[14] At the end of 2015, this number had fallen to 95,891.[15] Co-founder Kara Egan remained with the company as a consultant and had over 42,000 down line consultants as of 2012.[14][6]

In 2017, the company reported over $450 million in annual sales, putting it as number 44 on Direct Selling News' list of the top direct selling companies in the world.[16][17] It was also on the Forbes magazine 2011 list of America's 100 Most Promising Companies and the 2018 list of America’s Best Midsize Employers.[10][16]

Scentsy opened an east coast distribution center located in Rock Hill, South Carolina in summer 2021.[18]

In 2021, Dan Orchard became the interim CEO while Heidi and Orville Thompson moved to London to serve as a mission president couple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.[19] Orchard previously served as the general manager of emerging markets.[20] The Thompson's will return to their CEO duties at the end of their mission service in 2024.[19]

In 2023, Disney announced they would partner with Scentsy to create "Smellephants on Parade" a Dumbo-themed activity with smellable attractions.[21]

Business model[edit]

Under the multi-level marketing (MLM) model used by Scentsy, all products are sold exclusively through independent consultants, with no retail sales.[14] Consultants can also receive a portion of the sales of any new consultants that they recruit.[22] In a 2011 interview, CEO Orville Thompson said that they chose a direct selling model because their wickless candles were "an experiential product" that were best showcased in home-based parties and that MLM distributing allowed them to offer a larger selection of products than was possible to offer in the limited space of a retail store.[9]

Scentsy has been criticized for its heavy recruitment of American military spouses, whose families' frequent moves mean they often have trouble finding consistent employment.[23][24][25] The military humor site Duffel Blog satirized this practice by announcing the creation of SCENTCOM, "focused on unifying efforts of highly scented products sold on military bases through 'consultants.'" [26]

According to its 2015 income disclosure statement,[15] about 66,000 or 65% of active Scentsy consultants receive an average of $463.34 per year, before expenses. The top 200 or about 0.2% of consultants, earned an average of $113,363.98, with the highest income earner making nearly 1 million dollars.[27] According to a military.com article, it takes most consultants over four years to earn a yearly income equivalent to working three and a half hours per week at minimum wage, not counting business expenses.[23] The blog Bottlesoup calculates that a consultant will have to sell 639 Scentsy products per month to earn the equivalent of a full-time, minimum-wage job.[28][better source needed] An analysis by The Finance Guy blog, claims that 99.45% of Scentsy consultants were not able to earn a full-time income.[3][better source needed]

Scentsy was profiled in a study about the rhetoric used by companies in the 'direct selling industry'.[29] Scentsy's recruitment material was noted to emphasize personal agency within the context of Bormann's fantasy theme analysis and convergence theory.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Scentsy on the Forbes America's Best Midsize Employers List". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  2. ^ Snider, Susannah (June 12, 2018). "What to Know Before Getting Involved in an MLM Company". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Can You Make Money With Scentsy". The Finance Guy. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  4. ^ a b "Scentsy gets recognized by Forbes for third time". Idaho Press. 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  5. ^ Ritter Saunders, Emilie (2012-03-26). "Scentsy Becomes A Multimillion Dollar Business". StateImpact Idaho. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  6. ^ a b Home.org, Business For (8 August 2012). "Kara Egan – Scentsy Top Earner Interview". www.businessforhome.org. Retrieved 2019-03-31. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ a b c "Inside Meridian-Based Scentsy". Boise State Public Radio - StateImpact Idaho. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  8. ^ a b "Scentsy founders share their story". KIVI. 2018-05-18. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  9. ^ a b "Scentsy CEO on Thriving in Rough Economy". Fox Business. 2011-05-05. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  10. ^ a b "#66 Scentsy - Forbes.com". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  11. ^ Beech, Holly (11 October 2011). "Scentsy's profits continue to rise sharply". Idaho Press. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  12. ^ Olson, Debbi (8–14 September 2008). "Home-fragrance firm to open distribution center in Layton". The Enterprise. 38 (11). Salt Lake City, Utah: [1], 12.
  13. ^ Beech, Holly (5 October 2013). "Scentsy celebrates growth with new Meridian campus". Idaho Press. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  14. ^ a b c Littman, Margaret (2012-06-02). "Scentsy and the Sweet Smell of Success". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  15. ^ a b "Scentsy Income Disclosure Statement 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  16. ^ a b "Scentsy on the Forbes America's Best Midsize Employers List". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  17. ^ "DSN Announces the 2018 Global 100!". Direct Selling News. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  18. ^ "Scentsy to open East Coast distribution center at Legacy Park East in Rock Hill, adding hundreds of job". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  19. ^ a b Sowell, John (16 January 2021). "Scentsy CEOs are leaving for London. Here's what they're doing". Twin Falls Times-News. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  20. ^ "Leadership Changes at Scentsy". HAPPI. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  21. ^ "New Interactive Experience Is Coming To Walt Disney World". www.themeparktourist.com. 2023-07-28. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  22. ^ "Scentsy Compensation Plan Chart | How to make money with Scentsy | Buy Scentsy Online". 28 February 2014. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  23. ^ a b Burke, Crispin (2018-01-30). "The Truth About MLM Businesses and How They Hurt Troops". Military.com. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  24. ^ Shellnutt, Kate (2016-05-12). "Why your Facebook feed is filled with women selling essential oils and press-on nails". Vox. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  25. ^ Mondalek, Alexandra (2018-05-29). "Why MLMs Are So Appealing to Military Spouses". Racked. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  26. ^ blondesoverbaghdad (2016-10-14). "DoD stands up SCENTCOM to unify home-based businesses". Duffel Blog. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  27. ^ "Direct sales gigs: How much can you make being your own boss? | CTV News". www.ctvnews.ca. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  28. ^ "Living the Dream: Selling Scentsy". BOTTLESOUP. 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  29. ^ Martin, Sarah E.; Rawlins, Jacob D. (October 2018). "Stories they tell: the rhetoric of recruiting independent consultants". Journal of Business and Technical Communication. 32 (4): 447–479. doi:10.1177/1050651918780196. ISSN 1050-6519. S2CID 65006466.

External links[edit]

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