WHEN Avon came calling, Belinda Clarke knew it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The 57-year-old from Blackburn had given more than two decades-worth of service to Kleeneze before their demise last year.

And with hundreds of customers on her books, as a silver executive for the company, she was not quite ready to step away from selling.

With a little gentle persuasion from two of her long-standing Welsh friends, Rhian and Tony Jones, she made tentative enquiries about signing up with the cosmetics giant.

Belinda said: “Rhian and Tony talked to me about it and I was walking down the stairs one morning when I had my lightbulb moment.

“I’d put a lot into Kleeneze and I didn’t want to just leave it there as I’ve got a good few years in me yet.

“When I joined up I put a little message on Facebook and it just went from there.

“I told people that Kleeneze was no more and people just started contacting me to ask about Avon.”

She is now an executive leader with the firm and has more than 250 people within her network.

Her group, with only eight months under its belt, has already notched up four-weekly sales figures of £75,000

And she was feted with a number of awards at a company presentation ceremony in Birmingham last month.

“The thing with Avon now is that there are no limits on how you build your network,” added Belinda, of Eclipse Road, Feniscowles.

“Some people just want to sell to friends and family but there’s no boundaries. You could have contacts around the country who are part of your group.

“The networks can grow organically - you have to be aged over 18 but we have people over 75 involved.

“That’s lovely as people of any age can earn a little extra money.”

Before Kleeneze went under, Belinda and her husband Peter had been feted among the company’s top sellers.

Their prowess led to them being invited to an international conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2002.

Belinda can be contacted on 01254 209106.