Growing up in Houston, Texas, Mary Kathlyn Wagner, born on
May 12, 1918, began building a foundation for believing in
herself. At age seven, she cared for her seriously ill father
while her mother worked 14 hours a day in a Houston
restaurant. Mary Kay cooked, cleaned, brought home
straight-A report cards, won trophies in typing and debate,
and outsold every other student from Girl Scout cookies to
school-event tickets. “My mother’s words became the theme of
my childhood,” she said. “They have stayed with me all my
life: ‘You can do it.’”
As a mother with three children
of her own to support, Mary Kay sold part time while
taking premed courses at a local college – until an aptitude
test showed her selling ability outranked her science ability.
After deciding to tackle sales full-force at Stanley Home
Products, a direct sales company, she began her success story
starting with weekly sales goals written in soap on her
bathroom mirror. By scheduling three home-demonstration
appointments a day, Mary Kay won so many sales awards she
had to cram them in a box in her closet. She broke even more
sales records at a company called World Gift, where she became
national training director. But eventually, as the male
colleagues she’d trained were promoted ahead of her – and at
twice her salary – Mary Kay had had enough. After 25
years in direct sales, she retired.
Retirement in 1963
lasted all of one month. “To me, work and growth were the same
thing,” she said. Within a week, she started writing a how-to
career book for women. The book then turned into a marketing
plan for a “dream company.” “Before long,” Mary Kay said,
“I began asking myself, ‘Why are you theorizing about a dream
company? Why don’t you just start one?’” After buying a
formulation for a skin care cream she had been using,
Mary Kay enlisted her husband to handle operations and
began recruiting friends to be independent beauty consultants
for the venture she called “Beauty by Mary Kay.”
The launch almost didn’t happen. Mary Kay’s husband
died suddenly just a month before the scheduled opening. But
strengthened by the encouragement of her two sons and
daughter, Mary Kay formally launched her company on
Friday, September 13, 1963. She wrote, “I knew I would never
have a second chance to put my dream into action.” Based on
the principle, “The more you give, the more you receive,” the
Company ended the year with a profit. In the first calendar
year, sales reached $198,000. Within five years, the cosmetics
powerhouse went public and then became private again in 1985.
Mary Kay Inc. today remains one of the largest privately
held firms in the United States. Mary Kay is fondly
remembered for creating an award system designed specifically
for women, including expensive feminine items and the famous
pink Cadillac.
The true aim of Mary Kay Inc. has always been to
enrich women’s lives – through recognition, motivation,
support and, of course, earning opportunities. For more than
four decades, Mary Kay Inc. has been considered one of
the finest business opportunities for women. More than 400
women worldwide have attained the position of Independent
National Sales Director and have average annual incomes well
into six figures. More than 200 in the United States have
earned commissions in excess of $1 million.
In 1980, Mary Kay’s husband, Mel, died of cancer.
Having witnessed his suffering, she became committed to the
fight to find a cure. Involved in fundraising for more than 20
years, she established the Mary Kay Ash Charitable
Foundation, http://www.mkacf.org/, a
nonprofit foundation that provides funding for research of
cancers affecting women. In 2000, her Foundation expanded its
outreach to include violence against women. Mary Kay
authored three books, all of which became bestsellers. Her
autobiography, Miracles Happen, has sold more than 2
million copies and appears in several languages. Her business
philosophy, presented in her book Mary Kay on People
Management, continues to be a great source of wisdom and
has been included in business courses at renowned business
schools like Harvard and the Wharton School. Mary Kay
Ash’s third book, You Can Have It All, launched in
August 1995, and remarkably achieved best-seller status within
days of its introduction. Her speeches and quotes continue to
inspire the women of the Mary Kay independent sales force
and people around the world.
Throughout her life, “The extraordinary thing,” says
Chairman and CEO Richard Rogers, son and co-founder, “was the
way Mary Kay caused people to believe in themselves.” All
of which Mary Kay traced back to her mother, “the best
possibility thinker I ever knew.” Mary Kay’s mother would
call her daughter from work, often signing off with, “You can
do it, Mary Kay.” Today her company and philanthropy
still live by that message. “If you think you can,” goes the
Mary Kay philosophy, “you can. And if you think you
can’t, you’re right.” Mary Kay Ash died on Thanksgiving
Day 2001. At the time of her death, Mary Kay Inc. had
over 800,000 representatives in more than 30 markets.
Currently, the independent sales force numbers more than 1.6
million and the Company’s annual sales exceed $2.2
billion.
|