Getting Real Interviews

Elevating direct selling through leadership at the speed of trust

Bio: With a 30-year career, Garrett McGrath is a leader who has built field organizations of 200,000+ distributors and customers in 21 countries together with his wife, Sylvia, and served as master distributors and special advisors. In addition to being a keynote speaker, leadership coach and mentor, McGrath contributes to industry-wide conferences, publications, and boards. Recently he led the corporate team of The Happy Co., a publicly-traded network marketing company, helping it grow to $130+ million in annual sales, and serving as its CEO/president. Since 2012, he has also served as president of the nonprofit Association of Network Marketing Professionals (ANMP).

SSN: Tell me about your work with the ANMP.

GM: The Association of Network Marketing Professionals (ANMP.com) is a grassroots 501(C)(6) organization, founded in 2004. As a nonprofit, the ANMP is the only professional association that includes all three stakeholder groups within direct selling together: the independent distributors in the field; the company CEOs, executives, and founders; and the suppliers, supporters, and advocates serving the channel.

Building success and a sense of community with nontraditional solutions

Bio: Charla Gervers brings over two decades of experience to her role as senior vice president of sales for J.Hilburn, a leading custom-made menswear brand in the direct sales industry. With a proven track record of success as a senior leader in the sales, marketing and personal development arenas, she has led success across numerous product categories, including nutrition, skin care/beauty, energy, travel services, and girls’ and women’s apparel. Her most recent prior roles include serving as chief sales officer at Matilda Jane/Good Hart and vice president of field development at Scout & Cellar. Gervers’ passion is inspiring leaders around the world to live full out and go get the life of their dreams.

SSN: You have a reputation for creating nontraditional solutions in terms of finding new ways to profit, to approach training, etc. Why is the strategy of thinking differently important, and how does it give companies an edge?