After Assuring Sellers of Their Job Security, Tyra Banks Closes Her Direct Sales Business, Leaving Her Beautytainers in the Dust

Ever since America’s Next Top Model, rumors about Tyra Banks being shady AF have been swarming. From her feuds with former judges, to her conflicts with former contestants, Tyra’s name seems to get dragged through the mud pretty regularly. She’s even fighting a lawsuit as I type! Read about her current legal battle HERE.

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Over the years, Tyra has continued to push the image of being the relatable supermodel with a focus on female empowerment. That’s why when Tyra Beauty debuted, women everywhere were beyond excited when Tyra announced that her cosmetic line would be a direct sales style beauty line (Think AVON or Mary Kay). Women everywhere rejoiced at the thought of being able to work for Miss Banks. Top sellers would get private trips with her, meet her at conventions, and of course, make tons of money having a team work under them. This was such a bold move, risky of course, but a great idea for Tyra and her brand of girl power.

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Welp! Fast forward to February 2017, rumors of Tyra Beauty moving from direct sales to retail emerged from a former top Beautytainer (the name for sales reps under Tyra Beauty). Allegedly, the rumors were quickly shot down by Tyra herself, who denied that anything was amiss with the company. Over the past few months Tyra’s camp continued to deny the that Tyra Beauty was going retail until last week when the announcement was finally made via email to her Beautytainers.

In a press release, shared on BusinessForHome.org the statement is as follows:

“While the direct sales channel grew from a few hundred hand-selected Beautytainers during its initial Beta period in spring of 2015 to several thousand by 2017, doubling revenue each year, the decision to close the channel was due to certain challenges typically associated with direct selling and multi-level businesses.

The success and positive momentum in the direct sales channel has been astonishing.

That success has come at a price and over the last year it has become increasingly clear that there are challenges with the direct sales channel that are simply not compatible with the mission and ultimately the business.

The brand’s commitment has always been to help empower people by giving them the tools and encouragement they need to succeed. TYRA Beauty will continue to sell its innovative and transformative cosmetic and skincare products through its e-commerce operations (www.tyrabeauty.com) and other channels where it is excited to continue to share its products, mission, and message.”

According to DeplorableKel.com Tyra Beauty’s Facebook page has since been flooded with comments from disappointed reps, and fans alike. The main source of anger comes from the fact that folks claim that Tyra knew all this time that she was planning to go retail and lied since February about it. Others allege that, Trya has now left her top sales reps without a job and tons of product with nothing to show for it. Many Beautytainers feel duped by Tyra and have been hurt both emotionally and financially by her decision:

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Ultimately business is business, and Tyra may have just bitten off more than she can chew. In an recent interview with USA Today, Tyra discusses trying to balance two reality TV shows, at one point a a talk show, modeling, and most recently, motherhood. Last year, Tyra welcomed her son,  York, into her life.

326FB35B00000578 3503438 Love of her life Tyra shared a sweet photo of her newborn son on m 85 1458596953067

“I was on fire,” she says. “I was so successful…but I was exhausted and I was sad.”

Maybe all of that played a role in moving Tyra Beauty from Direct Sales to retail, and if so, we get it. It’s just sad that sellers feel that she should have been more transparent with what was going on behind the scenes.

Check out the video below where she explains why she started Tyra Beauty. Tell us what you think of this business move. Do you feel that she was deliberately deceptive, or are there other factors to consider? Will you still rock with TyTy Baby? Did you ever rock with her in the first place? Comment below.

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10 Comments

  1. Tyra is known for being shady and cut throat so I would not be surprised at all if starting and closing her direct sales division wasn’t a part of her plan. It’s the perfect way to get name recognition without spending millions on advertising.

  2. Pingback: Tyra Banks Closes Direct Sales Biz | befabulousyou
  3. This is why you don’t mess with MLM pyramid schemes. This happens all too often and they person or people at the top laugh all the way to the bank. Meanwhile 70% of more of the people who signed up don’t even make back the cost of their “kit” and even the successful people can be left in the dust by a move like this. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

    1. Yup! I learned my lesson!

  4. Stacie Cain says:

    It’s going to be a difficult recovery for those that were emotionally and financially invested with her company. But none of us will EVER regret crossing paths and creating a Sisterhood. We will always be bonded ❤️

  5. Great article! What Tyra did to these ladies is just awful! Thanks for the tag!

  6. dale brown says:

    People this is not the first this has happened.. All of yall sales people sound like sounds like yall did not know. OK this is the proper way to do this. First choose a company, just like yall did (Tyra). Second, market two links, one from the company and the other from amazon. In other words you will open a amazon sellers or affiliate account (I personally choose affiliate account). Find the company’s link/banner in amazon, and market that link as well. This way when the company shuts down all it’s directs sales/affiliates you still have money coming in from amazon.
    Third, take what you learned from selling Tyra makeup, to another makeup company.

  7. Business is business. Yes, people lost their job and that sucks, but it ain’t Tyra’s fault, that’s just life. The hustle continues. People need to stop mixing personal emotions and feelings with business, cuz business is all about the money. The haters can learn something from Tyra. Her business is still booming.

  8. Tyra’s business was so obviously a pyramid scheme, I remember watching it on ANTM and getting angry and having to turn it off because she was having the models promote her bs for free. It’s really sad because she knew her target audience was young women who didn’t know any better…

  9. Ashleigh P says:

    Yes, it was deliberate and it was with good intents to protect the boundaries of the company. She perhaps was in between decisions at the time and did not let the media circus affect her decisions. Hence why she shot it down so quickly, nobody likes rumours especially when they’re an empathy who knows people are counting on her. I can see the move to shut the rumours down was quick for this reason. It was out of care for those who she still didn’t want to let down. It’s not her fault they had to shut it down. I can see between the lines. It would have cost the company too much with the benefits scheme. The very first section of this article
    Proves that Tyra was just trying to upkeep the business for the right reasons. When the company was giving out way too much that, quote of article, it would be as if Tyra s using a lot of her income. So my guess is that Tyra chose to do this out of her passion and believing in her women.

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