In 1886, 34 years before women in the U.S. earned the right to vote, our founder, David H. McConnell, helped give them the chance to earn an independent income. He didn’t set out to create a beauty company. In fact, McConnell was a traveling book salesperson and offered beauty products as an additional perk to his female customers. He saw that these women were more interested in the free perfume samples than the books – and that many of them stayed home while their husbands went off to work. Since women had a passion for his products and loved networking with other women, McConnell was inspired to recruit them as Sales Representatives. From a small New York City office, McConnell himself mixed the company's first fragrances. This began Avon’s long history of empowering women around the globe.