Interview: QVC presenter Julia Roberts

QVC's Julia Roberts helped to revolutionise TV shopping. Now she plays it by the book. Emily Horton explains

Julia Roberts

Thanks to Joy, the Hollywood movie released earlier this year, the global shopping channel QVC is raising up a whole new generation of viewers.

The film – which starred Jennifer Lawrence – tells the story of US mop entrepreneur Joy Mangano, who made a fortune via the channel in the 1990s, selling 18,000 Miracle Mops within an hour of appearing on screen.

The tsunamic response prompted revolutionary changes in QVC’s approach to sales: a shift which has helped it become one of the largest retailers in the world.

Now, as the channel approaches its 30th birthday, more than 250 million households tune in around the globe.Key to this success is a sales pitch by someone with charm and personality who takes the time to describe the product, showing you how to use it and incorporate it into your life.Someone, in fact, like Julia Roberts, the diminutive lady who was one of two founding presenters on the UK channel.

Julia, who lived in Woldingham, near Croydon, for 17 years before moving across to Berkshire a couple of years ago, has bagged a living out of shopping since the launch in 1993, when the idea of a TV shopping channel was so radical it made the national news.

“When we first started, our American colleagues had a hard-sell ‘infomerical’ approach, but we felt it wouldn’t work here in Britain,” she explains. “So Jon (Briggs, now the voice of iPhone’s Siri app) and I developed our own distinctive style. We describe the product to viewers and show them how it can fit into their lives.

“It’s certainly not all ‘buy, buy, buy’ – unless we’ve got limited stock. We are more like the old-fashioned store assistants who could tell customers everything about an item and would take it out of its packaging to show them how it operated.

“Nowadays it’s all so different. In a store you normally have to find the product you want for yourself, and then you’re left to work out the instructions.”

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So successful is this personal approach that today, nearly 25 years later, the channel has one million regular customers and Julia her own faithful following. Last year QVC was voted third most trusted retailer in the UK. Even the US channel has been won over, changing its style to follow the UK lead.  

“I’m proud that people have grown to trust me over the years,” reflects Julia. “If I say an item is a little large, regular viewers will know to order down a size.”

Of course, the temptation for those of us less familiar with QVC is to deride it as a trifle naff: more tribute band than cutting-edge grooves. Yet its beauty programmes, in particular, have been extolled by the likes of Vogue, while celebrities from Katherine Jenkins and Lulu to Lisa Snowdon and John Barrowman have used it to promote their wares.

“We’ve had Apple and top British beauty brands like Elemis and Liz Earle sell with us,” recalls Julia. “Len Goodman was in recently selling big band music.”  

Sales technique aside, much of QVC’s success must be attributed to the principles that inspired its name: ‘Q’ for quality goods, ‘V’ for value for money and ‘C’ for convenience. It’s a formula, says Julia, that is striking chords with an increasingly youthful demographic.

“I think many new fans grew up with parents who watched us, and now they too come to us for their products. They know that they can’t get those particular, quality brands elsewhere – or, if they can, we can still give them better value.”

For Julia, the route to QVC has been circuitous. Having started as a dancer, she then moved into singing, before finding her niche in TV and commercials. Her big break came on Croydon’s cable TV network, after the birth of her children, Daniel and Sophie. Yet her real passion resided elsewhere.

“I had always harboured a secret desire to write; and, at 57, I had my first book published by Random House,” she reveals. “That is quite some age to be trying something new!”    

Julia’s NOVEL tips

• If, like me, you are self-publishing, ensure a professional finish: I hired a copy editor, cover designer and formatter.
• See your characters as real people – if you don’t, no one else will. It’s especially helpful for writing dialogue.
• Have a sounding board after a day’s work – for me it’s my long-suffering partner of 38 years! 

“Even if there were 40 hours in the day, it would not be enough”

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The Windsor Magazine February 2016

“It’s hard to know whether the fatigue I sometimes experience results from the CML or the polio, but I do know that my weaker leg has deteriorated and it may never get stronger.”

Writing, however, remains an abiding comfort.

“Sometimes I sit here typing with tears falling down my face because I really feel my characters. I feel every word that I write. And it’s not all doom and gloom – there’s humour too! 

“Right now I have the final book in my novel trilogy to finish, then lots more ideas to explore. Even if there were 40 hours in the day, it wouldn’t be enough...”

Typing calls. I can almost feel her willing me away. The old-fashioned store assistant has a new idea to unwrap... 

Visit Julia's website to learn more about her writing, buy her books and her upcoming events

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