Pure success

Patty Brisben started with 60 consultants, $4,000 and no formal business training. Today, the CEO and founder of Pure Romance leads the fastest-growing multi-level marketing company in the nation, expanding at an annual growth rate of 67 percent over the past four years.

Pure Romance is the leader of the relationship enhancement business, raising the bar with high-quality products and a commitment to women’s health and education while giving women across the country the opportunity to achieve financial and emotional independence.

Brisben got her start in 1983 while on maternity leave from her job at a pediatrician’s office. She was looking for a rewarding and successful career that would give her the time and flexibility to raise her children. She began as a part-time consultant for Fun Parties, and within six months, was the top sales consultant.

When the company went out of business in 1993, Brisben and her consultants were left without products, sales support or coordination. She took a risk and launched Slumber Parties Inc. in the basement of her Cincinnati home.

Brisben’s success is driven by her unique approach to the in-home party business. Pure Romance is a “solution to financial independence — we are experts on relationship management and a representation of every woman who wants to take control of her relationship and her self-esteem,” Brisben says.

Her approach focuses not on the products but on the experience at the parties. Her research showed that the products not only have pleasurable physical benefits but also contribute to the overall state of well-being for the relationship and the individual.

Pure Romance’s innovative strategy has expanded to include education and a focus on women’s health. In 2005, the company’s new health education department launched a revolutionary breast cancer outreach program, Sensuality, Sexuality, Survival.

Brisben also founded the Patty Brisben Foundation, a nonprofit that devotes a percentage of Pure Romance’s annual sales to breast cancer research and to the American Heart Association.

How to reach: Pure Romance, (513) 248-8656 or www.pureromance.com