A Director’s Letter to Her Former Unit
Written by A Former Director
I pray this note finds you well and enjoying the new year, meeting your goals and following thru on those resolutions!! By now, you have received a letter both from Mary Kay Inc., and Executive Senior Sales Director Xxxxxx Xxxxxx advising you of the change in our unit status. While I’m sure this comes as a surprise to you, it has been a while in coming for me.
There are monthly quotas each unit must meet, or at least meet every other month. Our unit has not been making our minimum production regularly for at least the last 12 to 18 months. For the first time since our unit was formed in 1996 we missed production 3 consecutive months which is grounds for cancellation of the Director’s agreement.
While I could have easily gotten an exception from the company because of our clean record and history of great production, I opted not to do so. This was a decision that came with tears, prayer and much consideration. It was not an easy decision after 17 years of devoted attention to a dream, but I knew it was the right decision.
I have been in disagreement with the direction I have seen the leadership of the sales force heading for several months now. And in examining my motives as an active leader in this company have felt very convicted and called to take a personal stand against it. This may seem very vague to you, but suffice it to say, that I have seen such greed and unethical recruiting and business practices by other leaders that I never imagined would take place in Mary Kay. And in self-examination related to these issues, I found myself becoming part of it, if not merely guilty by association, and I didn’t like it.
So, I made the decision to pull back, pray thru my future with Mary Kay, quit pushing my unit to recruit, recruit, recruit and see where we landed. And as I suspected, when the pressure is off everyone seems to settle into what is comfortable for them, which is all I’ve ever really wanted, but that doesn’t produce numbers necessary to maintain a company car or a unit. God’s timing on the decisions that I was led to make also came at a time when my husband began a new job in which I felt he needed my full support. I gladly offered that to him knowing it would mean I couldn’t be gone at night without shuffling our son off to a babysitter, or missing all of the evening activities Xxxxxxxx is involved in, neither of which I’ve ever done and didn’t want to start doing now.
So, here I am with you. A Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. Maybe a Team Leader or Future Director! It’s all good! Xxxxxxx is such a kick, and is actually a personal recruit of Mary Kay. She’s got all of the wisdom and insight you could ever want, and is one of the old-school leaders that I am proud to call my friend. I am still here to help you, offer advice, ideas or most anything you may need from me. I just won’t get the unit commission check anymore, and that’s a-okay with me. Now I’ll be there for you just out of the goodness of my heart with no ulterior motive……..and that feels GOOD!!! At this point I’m keeping my clientelle. Beyond that I’m still unclear. I’ve been substitute teaching since the fall and truly enjoy that………..again beyond that I’m still unclear.
Thank you from the bottom of a hugely grateful heart for all of the support, team-spirit, love and memories that you have been part of in one way or another at some point over the last 11 years!! Maybe we’ll do it again when the smoke has cleared, and the Company rectifies the issues I addressed with them upon my resignation! That would be great fun!
For now, my phone number is still the same!! I still want to hear from you, and look forward to seeing you!! Really, if you have any interest in more detail or have any further questions about this change I’d be delighted to talk with you about it. You know I love to talk!! 
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Comments (13)
DLPSOY
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BRAVO!!!! This ‘stepping down’ letter to her UNIT is one of the best, if not THE best I’ve seen.
As an IBC vs Director, she’ll be able to share more details on an individual level……..NO SHUNNING (hopefully).
I hopefully look forward to seeing her list of ‘ISSUES’ on PT….the ones she requested MKC to rectify!!!
Thank you to a Director with REAL INTEGRITY for writing such a serious & caring “MKC WARNING” letter to her now former Unit members….now her sister consultants.
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DLPSOY
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PS: Thank you to ‘whoever’ shared this letter with Tracy!
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Trinity1
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Now this is the kind of moral fiber I would expect from a Mary Kay director. Kudos to her!
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DLPSOY
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Moral Fiber…….Exactly!
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raisinberry
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Bravo! And the funny thing is, I keep hearing that the “leadership” of Mary Kay is addressing our concerns by telling new recruits (after they find PT) that this was history and isn’t “the way it is anymore”.
Only is is exactly the way it is. And always will be. They simply can not change the structure and method. If they tell the truth, recruiting dies. If recruiting dies, there is no recourse but massive actual sales to hold production. Actual sales would require advertising support to the sales force that romanticize the “home party”…which for an “on trend” cosmetics company would be the death of the “brand”. You simply can not make 1963 popular again…not in the West anyway. So they lie about earnings at the IBC level, and make up pretend selling scenario’s that “blame” the lack of focus/results on the recruit, and sift through the recruit pool for Director wannabees to manipulate up the career path.
It took me 4 months to discover what this writer discovered. Run a purely honest ethical unit and production tanks. Let a newbie know what happens after friends and family. Tell a DIQ the reality of finishing. Let anyone in the sales force see your real live Schedule C.
Eh, Miss Lurking Director? So are you still an “honest” Director? Are you telling recruits,” that’s not the way it is anymore?”
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emm
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This woman is so brave! Kudos to her for being honest with others!
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KAG
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I think you have it right, Emm. Her honesty is rare and something to be rewarded. I also have to commend her on her integrity. She is standing up to the company without bashing them and warning her team without destroying their dreams while also encouraging them at the same time.
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DLPSOY
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I love you, Raisen!
Your are such as asset to PT!!!
I hope you continue to be the wonderful advocate that you are forever!!
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Marie
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So glad to have found this website! I learned a lot from a previous website, Pink Cadillac (?) awhile back. I looked for THAT website because an acquaintance had just joined Mary Kay and was hammering all of us to come over to help her “reach her goal” of making over “100 Faces” in that new year. I was so turned off , and knew MLM was a dead end, so I looked and found that website. NOW — fast forward a few years and this same person is at the Leadership convention (or whatever you call it) and is breathlessly reporting in every day on Facebook.
First day: Mary Kay rented out Disneyland — the whole place was theirs to enjoy, free food & drink, too. (My first thought was “WOW — that’s a LOT of makeup money spent!”)
Today’s post was as follows and the numbers quoted are incredible:
“Just finished Day 1 at Leadership. Heard National Sales Director Barbara Sunden’s retirement speech. She’s earned $16 million so far in commissions, highest monthly commission check is $150,000 (yes, in ONE MONTH), highest earnings in 1 year was $1,100,000; has consultants,directors and nationals in 7 countries; on 4 continents and has 32 Offspring Nationals! Now for the next 15 years of retirement in Mary Kay, Barbara will receive $83,453.16 per month every month for 15 years!”
All I can say is WOW. That’s what customers are really paying for.
I’m looking forward to catching up on posts on this site.
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Lazy Gardens
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Sunden started in 1972 …. 40 years in Mary Kay.
She got in early enough that it was easy to grow a huge National area, and easy to spawn directors and NSD offsprings.
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Imewise
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Remember- Mk is a pyramid. There is a small group of nsd’s who do make very good money in mk. Barbara sunden was the #1 nsd in mk, the top paying. The checks are not lies, but the expenses and the debt incured years leading up to that are always going to remain a mystery. She may not have incured much debt, but remember she leads an entire national area,,, at least 5k consultants.
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thinktwice
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The biggest mistake MK had made is by developing “ACCIDENTAL LEADERS” when they hit a certain level of ordering- aka Sales Directors, etc… I believe its much better for a person to “step into management” when it is a firm desire of their heart and lines up with the career path goals they have laid out. These leaders are the ones that lead IBC’s (like me) down the wrong road.
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TRACY
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NO. Mary Kay’s biggest mistake is being an MLM. It’s very profitable for the owners. But it is abusive to almost all of the participants, with almost all of them losing money.
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