Talk about climbing the corporate ladder!
Malou Caluza, who just announced her retirement as CEO of direct sales giant QNET, started her epic 25-year journey answering customer complaint calls in 1999. Now she’s leaving as the company’s first-ever female boss — and she’s got some wild stories to tell.
“I used to handle angry customers all day long,” Caluza told The Post with a laugh. “Now I run board meetings. Life is funny that way.”
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for this corporate climbing queen. Direct selling companies like QNET have faced their share of haters and skeptics over the years. When Caluza took the top job, plenty of industry insiders thought she’d crash and burn.
They thought wrong.
Under her watch, QNET expanded into some of the world’s toughest markets, including Singapore and Germany, where regulators breathe down companies’ necks 24/7. Instead of running from the heat, Caluza turned it up.
“If people don’t trust you, prove them wrong,” she says with a grin.
Even cancer couldn’t stop her momentum. When diagnosed a few years back, Caluza briefly stepped away from the CEO chair — only to discover her company had her back in a major way.
“The support was insane,” she recalls. “People from our offices worldwide sent messages, prayers, everything. That’s when I knew we’d built something special.”
Industry experts are taking notice. “What Caluza did at QNET is pretty remarkable,” says Dr. Michael Wong, who studies direct selling companies at the National University of Singapore. “She took a company in a controversial industry and made it legitimate. That’s no small feat.”
The numbers back him up. During her time as boss, QNET:
- Expanded into 20+ new markets
- Beefed up compliance programs
- Invested millions in professional training
- Built a global army of sales reps
Not bad for a former phone jockey.
As she heads for the exit (she’s staying on as Deputy Chairperson), Caluza has some advice for other underdogs: “Dreams are free. And yeah, sometimes they actually come true.”
But she’s not getting too mushy about her rags-to-riches story: “Look, I worked my tail off. Nothing was handed to me. If you want something big, you better be ready to work big.”
Chalk one up for the little guy — or in this case, the customer service rep who wound up running the whole show.