While both men and women have forged extremely successful careers in direct sales, the Southeast Missourian recently ran an article focusing on local Missouri women who have taken advantage of direct sales to turn a profit, achieve financial security and live a flexible lifestyle.

Carol Nunnery, who now works as an upper-level director with Pampered Chef, relocated from Las Vegas to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 2003 and began selling the company's products. Quickly, she moved up within the company and now has 60 consultants working under her, reported the newspaper. Pampered Chef is among the country's highest-profile direct sales companies, with distributors selling products via more than 1 million in-home demonstrations each year, according to the company website.

"I like to let people know we aren't in sales, we're in service," Nunnery told the paper. "The goal is to provide a level of service that is exceptional; (getting customers) to buy products is secondary. That's really what direct sales is all about - it's a people business."

The news source spoke to another woman, Madra Jones, who began selling Skinny Wraps products at her boutique in 2011 and has since sold her store to focus exclusively on Skinny Wraps direct sales.

"If you would have told me two years ago that I would put all my all in a network marketing business, sell my salons, put my commercial properties up for sale and only do this, I would have told you you were crazy," she said. She added that direct sales companies "are known for creating millionaires all over the country," and she believes she has what it takes to achieve this goal.