Flex Dollars: The First Mom Businesses were whatever moms were ‘allowed’ to do.

Beauty company Mary Kay was born out of a situation in the early 1960s all too familiar to women.

Mary Kay Ash resigned her 25-year position in the direct selling business, when a man she had trained was promoted above her – at twice her salary.

Her initial response was to write a book to help women gain the opportunities she was denied.   This formed the foundation for her business, Beauty by Mary Kay, launched in 1963.  It also earned her a place in history; she stepped into a man’s world and opened new doors of opportunity for women.

Fast-forward to today’s digital age.  While times have changed, Mary Kay Ash’s business model isn’t obsolete – not by a long shot.

Mary Kay and other direct selling businesses, the first “mom businesses,” have evolved, adapted and continue to attract many moms.

For the uninitiated, direct selling means person-to-person sale of consumer products or services, marketed through independent sales representatives. Popular direct sale industries include cosmetics (Avon and Mary Kay), home décor, jewelry, and others.

While once representative of a small selection of jobs available to moms and women who wanted to work on their own terms, these businesses continue to be popular and appealing opportunities for moms.

Part of that appeal, according to many moms, is the flexibility.

“You can work as much or as little as you want and work around anyone’s schedule,” says Amy Robinson, vice president of communications for the Direct Selling Association (DSA).

Flexibility and independence is also the attraction of being a virtual assistant, says Lauren Hidden, marketing director for the International Virtual Assistants Association.

Virtual assistants are independent entrepreneurs providing administrative, creative and/or technical services to clients on a contractual basis.  This reinvention of a personal assistant exemplifies the transformation so-called “mom businesses” have made in the Internet era.

“Virtual assistants find that some people will give them a blank stare when they respond to the ‘what do you do?’ question, says Hidden.

“But it’s definitely a less frequent response than even a few years ago.”

Flexibility is a reason Penny Peterson began selling Avon products over 23 years ago. Peterson, a small-town Alberta resident, joined the direct sales industry when pregnant with her first child.

She was drawn in by the opportunity to set her own hours, the ability to work as much or as little as suited her lifestyle, and the chance to earn some money on her own.

“I was always buying the products myself as a customer so I was comfortable selling something I was familiar with,” says Peterson.

The flexibility and varying level of commitment the job allowed became even more important after the birth of her second child, a son with special needs.

Peterson says Avon originally operated on the door-to-door concept, but now it’s more of a “sell to people you know” concept, reliant on word of mouth marketing.

The Internet has also influenced direct selling businesses by giving everyone a worldwide marketplace, according to Robinson.

Robinson says the business model of direct sales hasn’t changed in the digital age – individual sellers are still key – but to reach consumers, each seller can use their own website as well as the company’s website.

“The Internet is absolutely a wonderful and indispensable tool for direct sellers,” says Robinson.

Another opportunity direct sales businesses have provided for many moms is the skills necessary to launch further businesses.

Just ask mom of three, Sarah Cook of Sacramento, California. Cook began selling Mary Kay cosmetics in college as a way to buy the products at cost.

16 years later, Cook is a senior sales director with Mary Kay and founder of Raising CEO Kids, which supports kids who are or want to be in business.

Cook credits her Mary Kay experience with fostering skills ranging from public speaking to money management. Her Mary Kay income paid the mortgage and saved her family when her husband suffered a life-threatening illness and was off work for 18 months. She is also qualifying for her 8th company car.

“They’ve grown up in this entrepreneurial lifestyle and they’ve seen the flexibility,” says Cook of her children, including 13-year-old Jacob who runs his own business, fixing and debugging computers in person and online.

“Has it been what every person dreams of? Maybe, maybe not. But for me, it’s been exactly what we needed,” says Cook.

Rebecca Buscemi thought being a virtual assistant while on bed rest with her second child would keep her occupied, and pay some bills.

“But what I discovered was that I could develop a business from this,” says Buscemi, a mom of two in Baltimore, Maryland.

She launched Creative Virtual Office in July 2008, specializing in providing administrative assistance to various professionals, including mom entrepreneurs.

It’s safe to say it’s gone well – Buscemi’s 2009 profits were more than double 2008. She’s currently preparing to launch a new business built around supporting MOMeos and women in business through social media and virtual assistance.

While Buscemi says virtual assistance is a very new field, it is one she is discovering to be full of opportunities.

“I love my clients. I love how they inspire me everyday,” says Buscemi.