This article was originally published in March 2009. We are running it again to illustrate what happens to Mary Kay “stars” in a period of five years.

Written by The Scribbler

Curious about that title, dear seeker?  If you are, you’ve found the right flight!  Pass your battered Ziploc bag packed with 3 oz bottles to that TSA agent over there – the one with the barrel-chest and the Pop-Tart sized choppers – and we’ll clear security in no time.  What?  You need one of us to volunteer to be searched?  Fair enough; I’ll be the sacrificial lamb if it’ll help get everyone else to the gate unspoiled.

From Mary Kay national sales director Anita Garrett-Roe: How to get to national sales director status.

Anita says getting to national status involves making women feel “special”. (Let’s be honest though, if you contribute to the numbers for nsd status, they don’t care WHO you are!)

So tell them you’ve selected them and they can come with you to the top. More emotional manipulation, in my opinion!

Written by PinkPeace

If you had been lucky enough to be in my Mary Kay unit, at some point you would have sat down with me one-on-one to go over the following document. I liked to do it during new consultant orientation, while you still had stars in your eyes about Mary Kay and thought that the sky was the limit in this business. I wanted to put big money potential in front of you BEFORE you experienced difficulties in recruiting, so you’d have a goal to work toward.

What I didn’t tell you was the reality behind this little document. I mean, why be negative? It was my job to be a good coach and see the potential in everyone. I didn’t want to stand in the way of your success, even though it wasn’t happening for me. This business is what you make it!

Written by MKDV24

For the majority of my Mary Kay career, I was a “sales only” consultant in a high producing, top unit. And even though I wasn’t interested in doing anything more than selling Mary Kay products, I still attended my director’s weekly unit meeting.

Rain or shine, snow or sleet, I never missed a week. I was loyal and attentive. I took notes, and contributed by providing sales ideas. I could recite every single booking script put in front of me. I was a consistent seller – thinking like a retailer.

Written by Imewise

A former director’s story of her work never being good enough for success, and her realization that she is a lazy loser who just gives up.

I started Mary Kay as a SAHM with two babies, aged 18 months and 2 weeks. My husband made $7 per hour as a restaurant dishwasher. We lived on food stamps, WIC checks, and state insurance. With $742 in our savings account, I followed my Mary Kay director’s advice and ordered a $200 inventory. It was all I could afford; although I felt guilty for not bee-lieving in my business enough to wipe out the savings account with a $600 order.

I was excited to be a part of an opportunity that would bring me the financial freedom we needed.  I was told to make a poster with pictures of my goals, I remember pasting pictures of my dream house, plentiful food, the Pink Cadillac, nice clothes etc.  I set deadlines for my goals and got to work.

Yet another bunch of “false claims” coming from Mary Kay Inc. national sales director Tammy Crayk. She calls this a “tried and proven” plan, and I would love for someone to show me ONE person who did this. I bet she can’t.

And even if she could, you’d be talking about one out of millions. Oh, I know. That just shows it’s possible. It’s not Mary Kay’s fault if all of you are too lazy to do it. You could if you really wanted to.

Well, of course, I disagree with that premise. Even if a plan like this is theoretically possible, everyone needs to know that it’s not even remotely probable. The chances of a consultant being able to pull this off are so slim, yet no one in Mary Kay will tell them that.

Mary Kay Sucks

Written by JTA

If you are considering ‘moving up into management’ in Mary Kay, ‘promoting yourself to Director’,  or even just getting started in the business, here are some facts that you might not be aware of.

Fact 1: The majority of Sales Directors make very little money.

To check this fact, you can do a couple of things.  One real eye opener is to ask the Directors you admire to provide their 1099s for the last few years.  They can easily access these from Intouch.  Some may argue that this does not provide a true picture of income since it does not show expenses.  However, even without deducting expenses you will be surprised at how low this number is.

Ridiculous.  This entire document is ridiculous. It’s supposed to be an instructional document on how to become a director in one month. There is absolutely no instruction to it. There are no “how-to” hints. All it does is tell you that you should want it enough, bee-lieve in yourself and work hard.

Really? Gee. Work hard. That’s all? Because the thousands of women who visit this site each day worked hard. But they didn’t make director in one month.

Written by Raisinberry

A while back on Pink Truth we discussed an older director who shared her discomfort with having worked for Mary Kay for over 25 years, trying to build to NSD and never getting there . She was representing a group of seasoned Directors (many who taught our classes at Seminar!) who felt that as Executive Seniors, they had contributed greatly to MK’s bottom line, and would never get to NSD fast enough to be assured a retirement.

They suggested a commission raise or something equivalent so they could start some kind of retirement program. This “i-story” hit me hard. First, that a woman who has given this much time and effort into Mary Kay’s growth would find herself out in the cold come retirement age, and secondly, that a woman who had over 25 Years with Mary Kay was  dealing with having built nothing of substance.

Written by Nutmeg

Yes, MK did put a wedge in my marriage.  I was a stay-at-home mom with 2 children and was feeling a little neglected by my husband’s very busy work/travel schedule.  I decided to give MK a try to get me out of the house and make a little money.  My husband was a little worried that I got talked into over $3,500 (which I borrowed from our joint account) inventory, but was happy for me when I started making good sales and paying back the “loan” from our account.

I started MK May 28 and my NSD was doing everything possible to talk me into going to seminar.  She tried to get me to book seminar and a plane ticket while on the phone with her, but I didn’t know her that well and wouldn’t go for it.  I talked it over with my husband and we decided it was stupid for me to spend more money when I hadn’t paid back the initial loan on my inventory yet.