In 1946 when Earl Tupper introduced Tupperware, I bet he never imagined the brand would grow globally with a sales force of 2.7 million in almost 100 countries and annual sales of $2.6 billion.
He probably never figured drag queens into his success equation either.
But last week at the annual West Coast Tupperware Jubilee at the Disneyland Hotel, the top three in personal sales for the U.S. and Canada were recognized. All three were drag queens.
First was Aunt Barbara, second was Dee W. Ieye and third was Kay Sedia. All had annual sales of $200,000 or more.
To give you some background, in the mid 1990’s, L.A.’s Pam Teflon – Jeff Sumner – got national attention as the first to take a “drag persona” into the Tupperware arena.
“Pam paved the way for us all,” said Dee W. Ieye, aka Kevin Farrell.
Who are these innovative businessmen with big hair and too much make-up selling lots of plastic?
Aunt Barbara, aka Robert Suhan, lives in Freeport, Long Island. Aunt Barbara describes herself as “a potpourri of Long Island housewives from the 60’s and 70’s” on her website.
With her teased black hair and spit curls – the result of too much Aqua Net hair spray – Aunt B has become a phenomenon on Long Island.
Suhan says the character is based on his real aunt, complete with her signature cup of coffee in hand.
I asked him why the Drag Queens of Tupperware are so successful.
“Above all we are good businessmen,” he says. “We basically are putting on floor shows in people’s living rooms sometimes four to six times a week. We’re on top of our product and good entertainers.”
Dee W. Ieye agrees.
“Kevin is the businessman, Dee is the jewel everyone loves,” he jokes.
Dee is a former Miss Tennessee runner up.
I first met Dee/Kevin six years ago when I asked her to do a party in my backyard to help raise funds for the Friends of Dorothy Guild benefiting AIDS Services Foundation OC.
With 150 of my dearest friends in attendance, she wowed the crowd in her Daisy Duke shorts and hair piled high ala Dolly Parton.
We made $17,000 for the charity that night. The following year we did it again, only this time Register columnist Frank Mickadeit co-chaired the event with Dee!
Farrell has held the No. 1 slot in personal sales four times during his Tupperware career.
He built his business in Orange County while living in L.A.
“98 percent of my business is straight women who live in the suburbs – Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach – they’re the ones who embraced me the most, not really in L.A.,” he says.
He recently moved to Ohio, but will continue to fly back to O.C. to take care of his clients here.
Oscar Quintero says his character of Kay was born in 1999 at an AIDS benefit in L.A.
Kay is an international fashion model from Tijuana – kind of an over-the-top Charro, only with bigger hair and eyelashes.
With her broken English, she’s full of double entendres, which add to her charm in a naughty kind of way.
Quintero was inspired to create a new persona after attending a Tupperware party where the hostess played guitar as part of her sales pitch.
“I thought, ‘I could do this as Kay!’ Before I knew it I was making more money each weekend than at my day job as seafood manager at Vons Pavilions,” he said.
Quintero says he loves what he does. Not only does he have his own personal sales, he also has a team of other salespeople working under him. In organizational sales he’ll top $500,000 this year.
“The Spanish market is 40 percent of Tupperware’s business and I’m bilingual, so I’m lucky to have a Spanish element as part of my team,” he told me.
O.C. is also part of his success story.
“Drag queens are a dime a dozen in L.A., but in Orange County it’s like they’re looking at a unicorn or something. It fascinates people,” he says.
And more drag queens are working their way up the Tupperware ladder.
“I’m fortunate that Dee, Barbara and Kay all paved the way for me,” says Dee’s protégé Anita Ewing Longhorn, aka Jasper Kump.
Anita loves Tupperware so much she’s even written a song, Tupperware Girl!
Kump lived in O.C. before moving to San Diego. He started selling Tupperware while getting his master’s degree in social work at USC.
“Between classes and clinical practice, there’s no way I could work a traditional job,” he said. “Tupperware allowed me to make my own schedule and make real money doing it.”
Kump says he does about three-quarters of his Tupperware parties as Anita and the others as Jasper.
“When I do parties as myself, I average about $500 in sales. Anita sells more than double that amount with a party average of nearly $1,500,” he told me.
In talking to all of these colorful gals, I realized that comedy is part of their success.
“We drag queens are creative and entertaining,” Farrell told me. “Everyone has a different shtick. You could literally book a show with each one of us and have a different experience every time.”
I know there’s a reality show in there somewhere!
