Another one of those nauseating emails circulating amongst Mary Kay sales directors.  Are you convinced about how fabulous being a director is? Well it is! Even when you and 98% of the other directors aren’t making a decent living! Don’t forget – God wants you to sell Mary Kay and recruit more victims.

Dear Directors: this was on my heart this morning so I wanted to share.

Give yourself lots of credit! You are the top 2% of our entire company in Mary Kay out of thousands of women! Do you know how blessed you are that God chose to work through YOU to touch other women’s lives through Mary Kay? Not everyone makes it to Director- but you have! Not everyone is trusted by God to make a difference through offering the opportunity to women to change their lives- but you ARE!

At Pink Truth, we know that 99% of all participants in multi-level marketing lose money. Nonetheless, recruiters for Mary Kay and other MLMs tell recruits that they can make money just selling the product!  They will tell you this while knowing that they have lost money, with hundreds or thousands of dollars of inventory sitting in their basements or garages.

But the story sounds good! Buy a product for $1 and sell it for $2! You have doubled your money!

Here’s the dirty truth: Sales of multi-level marketing products to actual customers are very low. This is primarily because the products are overpriced in order to pay many levels of commissions. While Mary Kay’s products might work just fine, they are comparable to brands found at Walgreen’s or Target, and they generally cost more than those brands.

In Mary Kay, the pyramid-toppers want you to believe that you control your own income. That you don’t depend on others. If you want a raise, you just go out and get it for yourself. You, as a director, can control your income with the amount of activity you do. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Directors are almost completely dependent upon others for their income. The idea that they can “just sell more” or “just recruit more” is not as simplistic as they make it seem. The director is dependent upon others being willing to open their checkbooks or lay down their credit cards in order to be paid commissions. Dialing for dollars? Sure sounds dependent upon those who answer the phone.

Written by SuzyQ

Many of you who have posted, commented or read for awhile on Pink Truth have been able to “watch” several directors, including me, implode. It has been such a process and I can’t imagine living through all of this with any sense of humor, without all of you.

It amazes me to meet new participants… former lurkers, who are astonished at the similarities of our stories as they come out piece by piece. It is so rewarding to read the comments and know that we are providing hope to others.. .the great relief to learn we aren’t crazy, and that it wasn’t because we didn’t work hard enough or believe enough.

There have been times on here that I have defended directors and other times I have blasted them. Being a director is one of the strangest experiences I have had in my life. There is a whole ‘nother level of deceit and disinformation once we reach directorship and leaving it is incredibly difficult initially. There is a death of a dream, of hope for the future, of doing just a little bit more to make it work, trying something different to inspire the unit (“Boot Camps”, complete with Pink Camos were once populart around these parts… the fact that we are at war and people are dying has apparently escaped the attention of the people who dream this stuff up… too negative. The war thing.) And finally, the realization that it can’t work, and won’t work and it’s time to leave.

I finally go to that point, but it took a while to get to the hard won peace that I know now. My Mary Kay car was ceremoniously towed away and my unit was gone shortly after that. It was fun “meeting” other directors whose clocks were running out soon, too… 3 or 4 at the time I was leaving, plus me, and these were only the women I talked to on a regular basis. Who knows how many lurkers and those few who haven’t found us are “stepping down” or “losing” their units this month? And next month… and the month after…

The writing I’ve done for Pink Truth was for my own therapy and I should probably not have subjected you all to it, but (there’s always a “but” isn’t there…) I have discovered I am not unique and my experiences resonate with others. So, a note to my sister directors who are committed to turning their units around, and are so excited after that awesome Career Conference… it’s not going to happen. Really. You are chasing something that enriches only your upline. Yes, Virginia, we have uplines in Mary Kay. It’s a multi leveling marketing scheme. Period. Those at the top prosper at the expense (literally and emotionally) of those at the bottom. And if you are a bottom feeder (or a “struggling” director like me) it’s not going to get better. Trust me on this.

You will have a good month, or a new hotdog… maybe even in another state who is ON FIRE and will change your whole unit! And then she will burn out and you will be back where you are now. If you bring in people with large inventories, they will end up returning it. There is too much easily accessible information for them to access than there ever was before. This does not work to your advantage. Women are smart… they know deception and if anything, MK Is deceptive.

Those nagging questions you have always had?

• Like, how does MK know we are #1 year after year… but if you google lists, we are not on them… how does that work? It works because of you Sweetie… you and your unit order, that’s how that works.
• The Star Prizes? Have you priced them in retail stores? If you haven’t, it works out that $1800 = around $25 and it goes up by maybe $20 as you progress up the ladder…
• Have you thought about the ethics of not telling your units about product changes? Have you let them order things you know are being discontinued?
• Do you ask them to stand up if they are going to be a Star this quarter? Do you put their orders in your newsletter? And their sales? Have you noticed that their sales aren’t even close to their orders?
• Do you have banquets? Events? Do you announce your highest check? Do you also say that it was a one time thing several years ago, or do you allow them to believe it is a typical check for you?
• Do you tell them that it is okay to incur debt because it is a business deduction?
• If they tell you they don’t have $100 for the Go Kit, do you tell them that’s why they need MK?
• Do you talk about executive incomes for 10 hours a week?
• Do they know that your checks bounce better than rubber balls?

Have you been encouraged to leave your JOB because Mary Kay doesn’t like her directors to hold other employment? How big is YOUR credit card debt? How does it feel to buy a suit for over $400 that you wouldn’t be caught dead in otherwise? And spend the money for events and “I stories” you could recite in your sleep? Are you embarrassed because you are not in a Cadillac during director line ups at events? Do you secretly look at the other directors and wonder why they are having so much success and you are not?

Ladies, it’s all of this and more. There is such incredibly powerful manipulation afoot… read any training materials from other MLM’s (online) and you will see MK everywhere – the phrases, the suggested reading lists, the same “slogans.” We are all the same and we are not going to “make it” unless we hurt a lot of people along the way. MK is a numbers game, and there are families behind those numbers, we cause great damage in our pursuit of our “dream.”

Start asking questions and see the reaction from your forever friends. Mention Pink Truth and see the horror in people’s faces. Tell somebody you are not making enough money and have them tell you to just quit thinking and work harder. Watch your phone calls and emails decrease dramatically. Get ready for some “Hear my heart” conversations.

I do offer hope though. It is so much better to be on the way out rather than on the way in. We miss so much when we are in the fog. We can be honest, we regain our souls and our spirits, our senses of humor and irony. We sleep well. We explore other job opportunities and other cosmetic lines. We meet new friends who have seen us at our worst and still are there for us. We worship the God of our choosing instead of the one chosen for us. There is so much good waiting for you! Your family and your life are waiting… can you hear it?

Written by Chick In dissatisfAction

Are you a hypocrite?  That is the same question I recently had to ask myself.  Since resigning my sales director position and returning all my products, I have had to do quite a bit of soul searching.

I believe it takes time to fully “POP” your pink bubble.  Accepting the whole truth about your Mary Kay career and about Mary Kay Inc.  is a lot to swallow.

Imagine that you are like me:  Hundreds of consultants have been in your unit, numerous DIQs, Queen’s Court of Sales, Queen’s Court of Recruiting, several FREE cars.  For me to accept the truth that I quit a successful career for a fake one, that five years of my life were wasted with no retirement, that all my up-line was lying to me, that my friends were not really friends, that Mary Kay Cosmetics didn’t care about their sales force, and that I HAD BEEN LYING TO WOMEN FOR YEARS was too much to handle all at once.

In talking with hundreds of current and former Mary Kay sales directors, it is clear to me that many of them didn’t realize what they were agreeing to when they signed their agreements.

Another uplifting email from someone who is desperately in love with Mary Kay…

It breaks my heart to see this many angry women who could not make it in the Mary Kay world.

Why are you blaming someone else???  It sounds like you are the ones to blame for your failure!!!  All you had to do is work your business smart!!!

I have been with the company for 2 years and I have no debt!!!  And I carry a $4000 inventory!!!  If something is going to hurt me or my family financially and emotionally, you know what… don’t do it!!!  (interesting concept!!!)  (are you ladies that gullible???)

We really don’t need any more proof that the MK Marketing Plan destines most participants to fail. But, just for fun, let’s look at some numbers.

If we assume the plan is going to be executed as designed and that “everyone” can succeed with this awesome opportunity (gag) what will the numbers look like?

Here’s me…the new recruit, red, hot and rollin, sharing the opportunity with anything that moves. Yeah me!

How often does Mary Kay change products? Not often, according to the company! From Mary Kay’s online FAQ for customers :

Our core product lines are updated once every 3 to 5 years to take advantage of the latest innovations in skin care. And although we don’t do it often, we occasionally update our packaging to ensure that we continue to stay on trend and keep our presentation current and fresh. Remember that we’re in the fast-changing cosmetics business. Much like the automobile, fashion and consumer electronics industries, in the cosmetics industry, newness is what attracts customers to the brand.

One of the first things I was taught after I started Mary Kay was how to “reconnect” with old friends in order to sell the product. They get you to make a list of “everyone with skin” that you know, so you can start begging them to “help me meet a challenge” or “help me start my business” or some other lame guilt trip.

Once you get through your list of current friends and family, you’re encouraged to think of old friends you haven’t talked to in a while. You call them under the pretense of “reconnecting” (what a great buzz word), but then as soon as they ask what’s new, you launch into your spiel about this great new thing you’re doing (Mary Kay).