We know Mary Kay isn’t “direct sales” and that the real focus is recruiting. Nonetheless, the company and its reps like to use that phrase because it “hides” the focus on recruiting and sounds like something legitimate. Who could object to selling??? I thought this was an interesting piece from Anita Garrett Roe’s site.

The following article is an excerpt from a speech given by a direct seller at a local meeting. We are told she was asked to speak on how direct sales compares to working a “regular” job. It was submitted to us, and although the original author is unknown, we wish to thank her for her thoughts and insights. We have edited it to share with you as you embark on a brand new year, with new opportunities to count the many blessings we have in this business.

Written by SuzyQ

This was the hardest part for me.  I remember running into a director at a gas station after my first seminar in 1998.  I asked her “I don’t get this part of making God my business partner.”  She said “You will.”  At that seminar I heard Cindy Williams say “God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.” I was stunned.  Born and raised as Episcopalian, I had never heard God’s name evoked in any business opportunity before, and I was at a loss for words.

Fast forward a few years and I am a member of a semi-elite Bible Studies group for directors only.  This involvement calls for me to drive 100 miles round trip to breathe the same air as other directors who are more worthy than me.  I remember the first time we prayed for more red jackets and more production. Another stunning moment. 

Written by Blackbird

This is an article for those people out there who enjoy being a MK consultant, director, etc. For those who think the company offers a lot of good things to women and who want to see the company succeed.

If you really care about MK (and I mean actually care about the company and not just your bottom line) then LISTEN TO WHAT THE WOMEN ON THIS SITE ARE TELLING YOU.

Written by Lazy Gardens

Compulsive consultancy brings despair and humiliation into the lives of countless thousands of men, women and children. The compulsive consultant is a person who is dominated by an irresistible urge to participate in Mary Kay. Coupled with this is the obsessive idea that a way will be found to “make it pay” and enjoy it besides. This causes deterioration in almost all areas of the person’s life.

The compulsive consultant attempts to create an image as a philanthropist and an all around “good person”. Much of the time the compulsive consultant lives in a dream world which satisfies her emotional needs.

Recently, I got an email from someone who tried to register for Pink Truth, but hadn’t received a confirmation email. I saw the login he used, and immediately had a bad feeling. I just *knew* he was in an MLM and was here to promote it.

I emailed him back and told him that we didn’t allow any promotion of MLMs on Pink Truth, and that I asked if he was just here to promote his MLM. I got this response:

A former director remembers being “trained” on this as a new director. It is one of the many things that set off alarms in the back of her head. Sales direcotrs are being warned in advance of the exact path their businesses will take. Note the subtle brainwashing going on during phase three. The ex-director’s comments are inserted after each phase.

Four Emotions of our Business from nsd Rena Tarbet

Phase One: The first phase is excitement. You’ve caught the vision of where you can go and what you can do for yourself and your family through our Mary Kay opportunity! You don’t know or understand just how it will all come about but you just know that it will. Nothing can stand in the way of your pursuit of the Mary Kay dream – you’re ready to take on anything.

I never got into the idea of “sitting at the feet” of anyone, much less a Mary Kay national sales director. I am not beneath them, and therefore do not deserve to be sitting “at their feet.” Please. These were the musings of Allison LaMarr when she was a brand new, record-breaking NSD. (This was before anyone realized how making it to NSD was the beginning of the end for Allison… with plummeting earnings, eventual financial ruin, many failed business ventures, and a lawsuit by Mary Kay to follow.)

Allison Lee LaMarr was the one everyone was raving about because she made it to nsd faster than anyone in the history of Mary Kay.  This was proof that the Mary Kay business plan worked, if only you were willing to put in the work. (No word yet from Mary Kay about how the failure of Allison speaks to the failure of the “business plan,” of course.)

So the real deal with Mary Kay is recruiting and frontloading .  A small amount of product sales occur from time to time. But the real money is made in recruiting, and directors are usually pretty up front about it. Well, it’s hard to conceal that it’s all about recruiting when all the Mary Kay events are focused on recruiting new marks!

The below scripts come from a director handout that was meant to be made into flashcards. Yup. Flashcards. So you can quiz yourself on the right answer to any objection. Check them out…

I thought today was a good day to take a trip down memory lane. Two years ago Harper’s Magazine published an excellent article (the cover story!) about the pink pyramid scheme known as Mary Kay: The Pink Pyramid Scheme: How Mary Kay Cosmetics Preys on Desperate Housewives.  The story got tons of buzz, and there were spirited discussions about it all over the place.

Virginia Sole-Smith went undercover to dig into the world of Mary Kay, finding out the dirty truth about recruiting and inventory frontloading. She found out the sad truth: Mary Kay uses the public image of “enriching women’s lives” as the basis for misleading recruits in a “business opportunity” that almost guarantees they will lose money.

It pays big to have “Mary Kay cars” on the road. It costs Mary Kay Inc. NOTHING, and is essentially free advertising. Not only that, Mary Kay knows that the cars make people think the drivers are successful. If they got a “free” Mary Kay car, they must be making lots of money. The cars silently convince the masses that there is success (where none really exists).

In fact, the earnings of nearly all of the pink Cadillac drivers are anything but “executive.”  But the general public doesn’t know that, and they think that the pink Cadillac signifies a high income earner, which is exactly what Mary Kay Inc. wants.

Mary Kay Inc. doesn’t want a director to take the available cash compensation option, because no one can see that but her.