It almost goes without saying that a substantial number of people work because they have to, not because they want to; that’s why it’s called work. Bellevue resident Myrtle Royse, 93, is not one of those people.

Born near Portland, Ore., but a long-time resident of Seattle and Bellevue, Royse spent her childhood in the countryside, where her brothers “taught me the tricks of the trade,” she said, tongue-in-cheek. After originally getting a teacher’s certificate in Oregon – she was teaching by the time she was 18 – she earned a degree in education at Western Washington University, and has lived in the Eastside ever since.

Royse, in addition to being a long-time teacher, is an “independent consultant” and a skin specialist for local skin care company Viviane by Viviane Woodard, which has a distribution center in Bellevue. After receiving training from Viviane Woodard, she was set loose to run her own direct-selling business with their product, selling products herself and through a team of other saleswomen. She’s been selling for 46 years.

Royse, who taught K-8 education for 40 years in Oregon and the Bellevue School District, said that her saleswoman gig was her “hobby” while she was teaching. Even now, she continues to call it a hobby instead of work. To her, it’s not about the money; it’s about “helping people,” she said, and the satisfaction in “seeing the difference in the way they look.”

She got starting selling Viviane Woodard – founded in Hollywood in 1958 by Gordon Woodard, who then named the company after his wife Viviane – after hearing a pitch from a friend. The friend was only describing the job to ask if Royse knew anyone who would be interested, but “she made it sound so interesting” that Royse took the job for herself, she said.

Royse is full of stories, and her “hobby” is only one of them. In her younger years, she said, could count the sisters of Kemper Freeman, the owner of the Bellevue Collection, as her pupils at Medina. When she was a teacher during World War Two, she “fudged her application” to get her first job as a teacher, she said, claiming falsely that she wasn’t a married woman because married women weren’t allowed to work, and she claimed to have once “hopped in a taxi” – just like in the movies – to chase a missed bus to work.

She’s watched Bellevue grow from a set of woods to a “cosmopolitan city,” and likes the growth; she’s “always had a hankering for those city lights,” she said.

The stories she likes to tell, though, are about Viviane. She says that Viviane users “end up with skin that looks like porcelain,” and remembers fondly a customer that remarked “Oh my god, I didn’t know I could look so much nicer” the first time she put on a Viviane product. She’s proud of her company’s history, and of how they wanted to “cure the problem rather than cover it,” without sacrificing affordability, she said.

She continues to make stories, too. She still attends Happy Hour at restaurants, goes dancing with friends, and cheers rowdily for the Seahawks and Mariners, she said. In November, she attended a commitment ceremony – akin to a marriage – with Dr. Robert Hoskins, and she’s still in touch with a vast network of friends and family.

Royse strongly believes in the product she sells. She uses it herself, and, according to Jacobs, she doesn’t just live like she’s younger than she is; she looks young, too. “There are all kinds of skin care on the market, and everybody says their product is the best,” Royse pitched. “But this is the company that pioneered vita-moisterization. Other companies just followed.”

Royse’s unabated enthusiasm for her company’s product not only makes her effective as a salesman, but beloved among her coworkers as well; a “close-knit” group, she said.

“Myrtle is like a breath of fresh air,” said Janine Jacobs, Royse’s boss. “She’s always positive and always fun to talk to.” Royse repaid the compliment in kind, and has nothing but kind words for her management. “They’re wonderful people,” she said. “They know what it’s all about, they’re human, they’re just wonderful. That’s why I can’t quit – the association with people.”

So, does Royse have plans to retire soon? She responded, predictably, with an emphatic “no.”

Derek Tsang is an intern at the Bellevue Reporter. He attends Interlake High School.