Kathy Levine

Kathy Levine is one of the most successful salespeople in the world. Joining QVC in 1986, the nation's leading televised shopping network, she sold in excess of $150 million worth of merchandise annually. As one of the shopping channel's original hosts, she helped build it into the three billion dollar per year commerce giant it is.

How does Kathy do it? Her television audience can tell you. The millions of viewers who tuned into QVC tuned in to see her, as much as they tuned in to see the products she was selling. Levine, who received over 200 fan letters a week and read every one of them, said, "The very first line [of each letter] was always, 'You make me laugh.'"

Trained as a high school Spanish teacher, Kathy Levine held over a dozen unfulfilling jobs before she auditioned for a QVC host position in 1986. She was 34, recently divorced, and had a low paying job in hotel sales. At that time, the Pennsylvania based company had not yet launched itself onto the airwaves, and she was uncertain about its future. But when she was handed a pencil by the QVC staff and asked to "sell" it, she displayed the raw sales talent and force of personality that would eventually make her the channel's most successful host.

As it turns out, retail sales was in Kathy's blood--her grandfather owned a department store and her mother, who made occasional guest appearances on QVC, was a fashion coordinator. Part of Kathy's appeal was her ability to quickly learn about the finer points of a diverse array of products, from jewelry to computer equipment, and then to create scenarios that related to how each product relates to her viewers' lives. This skill, combined with her one of a kind ability to connect with her listeners on a personal level from within the confines of the QVC studio, made her a trusted "personality" that millions of viewers around the country turned to for product information, diversion, and pure entertainment.

Kathy Levine has been named "Best Television Presenter" three years in a row by the Electronic Retailing Association, and was named one of the 25 most influential people in Direct Marketing by Direct Response TV Magazine. She has also published two best selling autobiographical books, It's Better to Laugh: Life, Good Luck, Bad Hair Days and QVC, and We Should Be So Lucky.

Levine retired from televised shopping in 2000 to join USA Network in a development project to host her own variety type talk show. However, she is still a self described "champion of the middle aged, not so beautiful woman," and has much to tell, and to teach, her lecture audiences about how to enjoy life.

Kathy Levine says that her primary message is to "do it, try it, buy it, riot!" whether she's discussing the great success story of QVC, or her own personal experiences with love, diets, men, and success.