After racking up huge debts and nearly losing her home, Jeanette Coulson from County Durham, got a job as an Avon lady. She speaks to Ruth Addicott about how it’s changed her life.

FOUR years ago, Jeanette Coulson had racked up £60,000 debt and was in danger of losing her home.

Today, she has not only paid off the bulk of it, but has been able to afford her dream wedding.

Jeanette, 31, from Stanley in County Durham, is a senior sales executive for Avon and has decided to speak out about her experience to show people that it is possible to get out of debt.

Jeanette’s problems began five years ago when she was in a relationship with her ex-boyfriend. She took out a succession of loans to pay off her overdraft and got deeper and deeper into debt.

“I had five credit cards, four store cards and several loans,” she says.

“We put everything on credit card.

We splashed out on holidays and went through five different cars, including a £25,000 Seat Leon Cupra.”

When the relationship fell apart, she was landed with £60,000 debt, but even this paled into insignificance when her mum was diagnosed with cancer. She couldn’t bring herself to tell her mum the full extent of the loans, but promised she would do something about it.

“My mum always used to worry about me, and before she died, I left her a note promising I’d sort it out,” she says.

Jeanette had a full time job as complaints manager for npower, but when the loss of her mum and pressure of the mounting debts hit home, she started suffering from depression.

“I’d have panic attacks and be shaking from head to toe,” she says.

“I was working seven days a week, but the debt was eating into my salary. Once I’d paid my bills, I had £30 a month to live on, I was eating beans on toast every night. I lost all my confidence and stopped going out.”

Although Jeanette owned her own home and had managed to keep up with the mortgage payments, she had to go to court three times to secure a charging order against the house. The three bedroom semi in Stanley had been her home since she was 11. She bought it from her parents when they moved and has lived there 20 years. “That is why I was so hell bent on keeping it. It had so many memories of my mum,” she says.

Desperate to find a way to make some extra income, when her sisterin- law suggested doing part time work for Avon, Jeanette decided to give it a go. The first thing that appealed was the fact she didn’t have to pay any cash up front, the second was the flexible hours, knowing that if there was a day she didn’t feel like going out, she wouldn’t have to.

“My sister used to be an Avon rep, my mum used to buy it all the time and I remembered using the bubble bath when I was young,” she says. “I was in so much debt, I had to do something. I just wanted to make an extra £200 every three weeks, so I could put £150 towards paying off the debts and £50 towards living a normal life.”

JEANETTE started selling products to friends and family in the summer of 2008 and when her confidence grew, she began knocking on doors in her local area.

“It was difficult to begin with, but you have to persevere. Like any business it takes time to build up; the more you put in, the more you get out,” she says.

After a few weeks, Jeanette was taking home more than she’d expected.

It proved so lucrative that in September last year, she resigned from npower where she had worked for ten years and joined Avon full time. Within 12 weeks, she had earned more than £22,000 and by December, she had made £3,500 in bonuses and become a senior sales executive.

“I’ve had a few people say, ‘don’t come back again’, but you just move on to the next home,” she says.

“When I had bad days, I remembered my mum and the promise I’d made her.”

Jeanette has had all sorts of encounters on her rounds from a woman answering the door in a coat and no clothes, to one bloke asking her out on a date.

She now has more than 900 people in her team and has turned over more than £1m. In just over 12 months, she has been able to redecorate her home, buy a convertible BMW and afford a fairytale wedding at Lumley Castle. (She met her fiancé Kevin when he came around to measure the blinds.) The whole wedding, complete with magicians, fire throwers, stilt walkers, singing sopranos, a horse-drawn carriage and honeymoon in the Caribbean – will cost the best part of £30,000.

More importantly, however, she has been able to shake off her debts – the last of which should be paid by the end of the year.

“I would definitely have lost my home if it hadn’t been for this job,” she says. “My life has completely changed. I’m a lot more confident, I’ve met loads of people and can afford nice things.”

Jeanette’s goal now is to have made a million by the time she is 35.

“People ask me what’s my secret – all I have is a mouth, a personality and a will to work hard. If you haven’t got a goal, you haven’t got a dream.”