If you knew skin like I Nu Skin.

• Author: Beers, Heather
• Position: Sandy Tillotson of Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. - Brief Article

Sandy Tillotson has never known the meaning of the ward "impossible." "Can't" isn't a part of her vocabulary. As cofounder and senior vice president of Nu Skin Enterprises, she is proof that dreams can be accomplished.

An elementary school teacher in the mid-1970s, she believed there could be more to life than her $9,000-a-year salary that barely covered childcare costs.

She tried direct marketing for a local firm and her innate entrepreneurial skills flourished. With a greatly improved income and time for her children, she was disheartened when the company filed for bankruptcy.

What to do now? She started her own company. Teaming with Blake Roney and this sister Nedra, they founded Provou-based Nu Skin, a skin care company that would focus on pure products without fillers and eliminate retail distribution costs by selling through independent distributors.

At first, she had her detractors. Though well meaning, these "dream stealers," as she calls them, tried to stop her before she even started. "Everybody said we would totally fail. Nobody out there was saying this was a good idea, "There are a million skin care companies out there; it's an expensive product; people will never buy it,'" recalls Tillotson.

Though starting out wasn't easy, she says, "The reason we're still here is because we didn't all quit on the same day."

Now heading a multimillion-dollar company that spans the globe, Tillotson is adamant that anyone can pursue their dream, no matter the size. "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt," she says quoting Shakespeare.

"That's a creed of mine. I have to whisper it silently to myself every once in a...