Telling the Truth in Mary Kay

Written by Ciavyn

Seminar 2008. It was my third time through DIQ (I’d go through one more time before I hung up my heels), and I was on my way to the director’s meeting. My husband and I had just gotten off the plane, and I ditched my poor hubby with all our luggage, and ran like the wind in three inch heels to get to the meeting. Nothing quite like that red polyester jacket to give you a sauna treatment in Dallas, is there?

Anyway, while I am walking into the hotel, I met up with a new DIQ in our area who had also just finished her car, first time through DIQ though, and she’d just signed 5 women the day before, four of them activated the same day. She had 21 active consultants at the end of her third month. My jaw hit the floor. I had 20-some on my team, but only 11 active.

What was this chick doing?! She explained to me that “All you have to do is sit them down, sign the agreement online, and then without letting them think about it too long, have them fill out the MK Chase Visa credit card application. You get on the spot approvals, and then you just place their order. It all done in a little over an hour!” (She finished DIQ the following month, and taught at fall retreat about her methods).

Not only had that thought never occurred to me, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I’d long had reservations about telling women to buy inventory on a credit card, but since that was the MK way, I’d done it, albeit with a lot of hesitation and clarification during my inventory talks (my director believed once you submitted, you were on your own, so I did it all for my recruits and their recruits – debuts, inventory orders, daily phone calls, etc. Gee, it’s so much fun to do a director’s work and not get paid for it. Woohoo!) So I walked the rest of the way to the meeting on my own, pondering this DIQ’s words.

Inside, there was a panel with the top directors in our area. I notice some are hesitant to say who’s areas they are in. I’m not – I am in NSD Dawn Dunn’s area. As I stepped in the room, all the SDs I knew came over and hugged me, which is what I loved about this whole business – everyone knew me, and I loved being one person that always got asked for her scripts, as I cold called and booked better than anyone. :sun: Okay, enough of that. Anyway….

We got started and the question came up: “I’m having a hard time booking, and getting classes to hold. Have any of you had a problem getting solid classes, and if so, how did you fix it?” (As if this problem must be all her issue, and NO ONE else is having this problem except her…I wonder who convinced her that was the case?)

The question went to the panel. These directors were all half-million and up. Audrey MacDowall was there, who had done million the year before, and just did $850K. There were the typical answers: you need to offer more, believe in your hostess credit, coach better, believe that what you have to offer is better than anything they will get elsewhere, etc. Audrey MacDowall sat there, silent, clearly warring with whether or not to make her statement. Let me tell you, of all the women I met in MK, she was the only one I would swear (and I accept that I may be wrong, but dear God, I hope not) was for real. She is one of the nicest women I’ve ever met, and very sincere. She’s also been through a heck of a ride with her health, so she’s not someone to take lightly when she talks about perseverance.

Finally, Audrey held up a hand, and everyone grew silent – when you’ve done million, you get a modicum of respect. Her voice shook when she spoke, and she has a very deep voice for a little blonde woman, with a thick, Southern accent. She said, “I don’t know what the numbers are, and I’m not sure why, but they are not always what we say they are. Women today are busier, have more going on in their lives, and are tired, ladies. I’m not sure what my numbers are, but I know that I have to call more than 10 to get them to book, and I have to book more than ten, to get 5 to hold.” She continued on, stating that this may have a lot to do with why consultants get frustrated. She clearly did not want to alter the status quo, as she didn’t feel like she had a replacement answer, but she was training her girls that they had to do more to get results.

Please remember – I loved Dawn Dunn. I talked to her regularly, and I was in the top three in her national area, and gang, we were sellers. I didn’t have a ton of inventory. I talked to my national, called her, was called by her, and knew her kids. We were close, given the relationship most consultants have with their national. So I’m not saying this to be nasty or exaggerate. I wish I could describe the look on Dawn Dunn’s face. Dawn’s face closed down. Audrey was who put her on the map as a National, and everyone wanted to be in front of Audrey during the seminar classes. She’s very funny, very real, and very sincere. Treading carefully, Dawn poo-pooed what Audrey said, in subtle, manipulative ways. “Things have changed for women over the years, and we do, in a service driven business, have to be sensitive to their needs. Depending on your geographic area, perhaps the numbers are different…” etc. etc. etc. I’m sure you can fill it in from there.

Can you imagine the whispers after that meeting? Audrey was practically apologizing at dinner that night. Here’s the deal – what they believe is so fragile, so founded in these roots of 30 faces, 30 days, 3+3+3, book 10 to hold 5, etc. that anything that flies in the face of that has to be silenced. But it is coming out, and pretty soon, they are going to have to acknowledge, you gotta have some serious sales chops to make it, and even then, the cards are stacked against you.

This site is so powerful, because it stands against everything they are preaching. Don’t ever discount what good you are doing here. This is not a bunch of negativity, a bunch of women who won’t get over that they wouldn’t work it, or whatever other drivel gets thrown at pinktruth. It’s the truth, the same truth that is starting to come out even at high levels.

When I got home from seminar, I (like a good little automaton) asked my director about Audrey’s statement, and she, of course, did damage control. But Audrey’s words stuck with me. I did more calls, more numbers, worked through even more setbacks. Here are my numbers, which I am copy-pasting from In touch.

Monthly Wholesale Production
Personal
$606.00 Dec 08
$1,145.50 Nov 08
$1,340.25 Oct 08
$1,264.25 Sept 08
$1,408.25 Aug 08
$1,274.50 July 08

I have no problem proving my numbers, gang. You can see how hard I worked. The numbers LIE. All that crap they teach is a lie – it doesn’t work. I did way more than that, and you can see where my belief in the spew began to waver. I didn’t have an inflated inventory. I had $1700 worth of inventory at the end, a logical amount for someone who sold as much as I did, over four years. I ordered what I SOLD – yet still can’t show a dime of profit for my taxes. I didn’t order at all in January, and I now only order for my customers when they order.

Even the high producers in MK, who are working like dogs, like Audrey who almost killed herself to finish million. I’m not exaggerating – she has severe heart problems, and she said, it almost was the end of her. They know the shpeel is dying on its precious pedestal, yet they aren’t willing to let it go, and the NSDs don’t want to face it.

Don’t give up – you are making difference…one ex-consultant at a time…

Similar Posts:

• False Earnings Claims in Mary Kay
• Lisa Madson Says You Can’t Fail
• Mary Kay Didn’t Go Bad. Think Again.
• This Consultant Needs a Little Pink Truth in Her Life
• How to Save Face When You Sell Nothing and Someone Is Watching