Kebra Rios has been employed by Tastefully Simple, a gourmet foods direct sales company, for six years, but doesn’t consider it work.
“I don’t call this my job, I call it my joy,” said Rios, daughter of Ken and Barbara Bateman, Pittsburg.
She currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Louis Rios, and their children, Andrew, 12, and Ruby, 9.
“I wanted to be home with my children, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen if I had a traditional job,” Rios said. “This allows me to be home during the day, then work at times when my husband was home.”
It’s also a bonus that she believes in Tastefully Simple products, and serves them frequently in her own home.
“Nothing takes more than two ingredients, and everything is under $10,” she said. “We have wonderful meals that people can put on their table for $1.50 a plate. If you can give people a restaurant quality meal for less money, we all win.”
This may account for the fact, she said, that Tastefully Simple continues to thrive and grow despite current economic difficulties.
Now a team mentor, RIos started out as a Tastefully Simple consultant.
“One or two sales parties a week was my comfort zone,” she said. “I still do that, but now I don’t just get party income. I’m able to contribute substantially to our budget.”
That’s important in funding her children’s education. Her mother taught for many years, and her father was longtime director of alumni relations at Pittsburg State University.
“I grew up a child of education, so I appreciate the value of education,” Rios said.
A graduate of St. Mary’s/Colgan High School, she attended PSU for two years, then earned a bachelor of arts in consumer science from Winthrop University in 1987. She received a Ralph Kirschner Rotary Scholarship, which enabled her to earn a master of business administration in 1988 from the University of Newcastle in Australia.
Rios has used her education well in her career. At the Tastefully Simple national convention in September 2008 she was recognized as national top recruiter. She and the national top sales achiever, Cam Cunningham, Hawaii, graced the cover of the Tastefully Simple “Gourmet Gazette.”
In the accompanying interview, Rios said that successfully recruiting new consultants is based on identifying their motivating factors. She also strives to keep the lines of communication open with her team of consultants and celebrate “even the smallest victories as they begin to build their business.”
Her recruiting has even extended to her family.
“I got my sister, Tess, involved, and then my father,” Rios said. “I know he took this to be connected to me, and that’s priceless. There are lots of victories here.”
Her sister later opted to go into education, but Bateman is still happily working as a consultant.
“I had an opportunity since I retired to do about half a dozen things I hadn’t done before,” he said. “One of the most wonderful things about retirement is being able to choose what you do. I retired from PSU in June of 2004, and I had signed on to do this in March.”
Bateman also enjoys the food, and also appreciates the fact that consultants are able to work at the level and speed they want.
“This makes it a great job for a retired person,” he said.
He’s looking forward to his next event, the CLASS LTD “Ladies Night Out” from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. July 27 at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
“It’s really an easy sell, because people enjoy the food so much,” Bateman said.
“If you can feed and read, that’s it,” Rios said. “The food does all the rest.”
Another family member may join her team in about nine years — daughter Ruby.
“I started in when Ruby was 3, and she wants to be a consultant, but you have to be at least 18,” Rios said. “Once I was at an event, and I left my booth for a few minutes. When I got back, Ruby had a group of seven women around her, and she was saying all the right things.”
She has a goal of being featured on every page of the “Gourmet Gazette,” and is getting close. In addition to being on the cover and being recognized as top national recruiter in the September 2008 issue, she was also recognized on the “Nurturing the Community in Which You Live” section for her involvement with Relay for Life.
“I have a past host, a cancer survivor, who is very active in Relay for Life, and she asked me to help in her fundraising efforts,” Rios said. “Since she and her friends have been incredible supports of my business for the past six years, it was my turn to say yes. I’m pleased to report that Tastefully simple - Team OP raised $4,383.47 in 2008.”
The only page she hasn’t been on yet is the “Tremendous Teams” page. “I’m getting close,” Rios said. “I really do have a tremendous team, and we’ve had the most phenomenal year.”
PITTSBURG —
