Meet the Great Green Lady

Last week, Laurie Walter, the founder of Chartreuse Products, a direct sales company that sells green products, visited the Lehigh Valley to meet with the local consultants, hostesses, and customers. As one of the consultants who organized the visit, I was quite nervous. I had spoken with Laurie dozens of times on the phone, but this was different. She was coming here! I spent many late nights and early mornings making sure that everything would go off without a hitch.

It turns out that all the stress was completely unnecessary. Not that I should have been surprised, but Laurie was, dare I say, an ordinary person. Don’t get me wrong – her vision for the company and her entrepreneurship are nothing short of extraordinary, but as a person she’s just one of the gals. How many people who represent a national company have the opportunity to sit down and chat with the founder about everything from sales and marketing to their weddings and families? I have heard from many new consultants who were amazed by the fact that they spoke directly to Laurie when they called the company to inquire about the business opportunity. That’s just the way Laurie is…one of us.

I realize that the company is still relatively small (300+ consultants), which makes it more feasible for Laurie to provide this level of personal attention. Perhaps that will change as the company continues to grow – after all, she has a family with three boys between the ages of 6 and 12 – but I’m not so sure that it will. It’s rare to meet someone who is so dedicated to building a business enterprise but also so dedicated to making the world a better place and serving as a mentor to those who share her vision. Laurie Walter is one of those rare people, and it makes me proud to represent the company that she started.

To learn more about Chartreuse, visit my Web site at www.hip2bgreen.com.