She should have gotten an A.   It was 1978 and Diane Hughs (BSHE '78 Family Development) was responsible for creating a fashion show for a marketing class.

"It was a success," she says now, laughing as she recalls the incident. "I went to that professor and argued with her for giving me a B. She told me I was too bossy. She said, 'It would have fallen apart without you, but you're too bossy.'"

More than 20 years later, Hughs has learned to incorporate those "bossy" tendencies into d.terrell.ltd, a direct sales clothing company that includes 175 sales representatives in 20 states.

"My degree is actually in family development," Hughs says. "I was 15 hours away from having a double major in fashion merchandising, but pattern making stopped me cold."

After graduating in March 1978, Hughs became a Delta flight attendant. By 1982, she had begun a small second career selling accessories.

"That was the height of the accessories trend," she says. "I told my sister to invite her friends to her house and I'd do the rest."
Hughs soon included clothing in her sales and by 1989 she was hiring other women to host the shows in their homes. In 1993, Hughs resigned from Delta after 16 years and focused full-time on d.terrell.ltd.

Hughs' company has sales twice a year - spring and fall - and all of them take place in the sales representatives' homes. The company focuses on "lifestyle dressing" and includes everything from jackets and skirts to capris, blouses and shoes. The clothes are private-labeled and are bought from more than 30 different vendors, with some items made just for d.terrell.ltd.

"This is an industry with lots of variables," Hughs says. "You have to contend with everything from earthquakes to wars to dye-lot problems."

While sales only take place twice a year, Hughs spends the rest of her time wrapping up the previous sales and preparing for the next ones.

"We buy 19,000 to 20,000 units each season," she says. "We buy about 80 percent of our products upfront, which means my purchasing agent is my right-hand person."

Once she's chosen the next season's line, Hughs begins preparing her website and a product book for sales reps to view. Since 65-70 percent of the sales are made on the spot, Hughs has to make sure she has the appropriate sizes for the sales reps to show.

And then there are the sales representatives.

"We return about 80 percent of our sales force from season to season," she says. "Clothes are an emotional purchase and our representatives are selling in their homes to people they know, so we have to make sure they're comfortable with the product."

Hughs brings new sales reps to Atlanta so they can meet her and she can introduce them to the company and the items they'll be selling.

"These are not women who have to work, and if they did work, they'd be in highly successful fields," Hughs said. "They're doing this because they want to."

Because of that, Hughs says she treads gently when working with the sales reps.

"You have to be able to explain what you want in a way that works," she says.

While Hughs credits her college experience with helping her in a wide variety of ways professionally, a quote from a family development professor has been a guiding force in her personal life.

"She said, 'Every child should have some adult in their life who doesn't ask if they've brushed their teeth. Someone who will listen to them and know them as a peer," Hughs recalls. "I have 11 nieces and nephews and I've tried to be that person to every one of them."

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