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As I sat in the opening session of the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting, marveling at how many people were in attendance, I began to feel a buzz of energy building. I didn’t have long to query the thought before Maya Angelou was introduced. I have seen her on TV (I am an Oprah fan, after all) but I could tell just from her presence as she was helped onto the stage, that her speech was going to be good. My instincts didn’t disappoint.

I was awestruck by her eloquence (no teleprompter) and her comedic timing (who knew how funny she was?!) but also by her message. In fact, the underlying theme of her speech was “rainbows in the clouds” – as in, she felt that the direct sales industry was the “rainbow in the clouds” for this economy. We are offering jobs when most are not, an opportunity to feel useful, productive and fulfilled when most are not and the opportunity for unlimited upside potential when most are scared their incomes will be taken away or severely reduced. Her message was one of hope and inspiration, not only for the country and economy as a whole but more specifically for the direct selling industry. Add to that incredible notion, the telling of her personal history and the way it has brought her to be the woman she is today and I don’t think there was an unemotional being in the room. In fact, some were even brought to tears – myself included.

So it was with that fresh feeling of responsibility to my country and its unemployed that I lined up for the first of several roundtable discussions that would take place over the upcoming two days. While I still was skeptical about our attendance at the convention, a fresher, brighter outlook seemed to creep into my mindset. And I had Maya Angelou to thank for that. I guess as far as the DSA event was concerned, Maya – and her empowering words – were my “rainbow in the clouds”.