A Mary Kay critic leaves a comment on my business site, citing all the same catch phrases and lies, such as the one about Mary Kay millionaires, taught at Harvard, and no one put a gun to your head.

With my MK business, I don’t have a store at all, yet I seem to do just fine with it. I have several customrrs who are out of state even. I make enough in my business to pay all of my bills and have extra cash for whatever.

MK is also a numbers game. You can’t get discouraged or take it personal when someone tells you no, you just have to play out the numbers. I will admit, direct sales of any kind isn’t for everybody, but why try to turn everyone away? I’ve come across this site and pink truth several times by researching info to help me grow my business, and all I read is negativity. If you spend as much time being positive about something as you do at being negative, you could possibly change.the world.

Advice to us about how to do well in Mary Kay…. from someone who signed up to be a consultant FOUR times.

Hi, I understand where everyone is coming from. I have read all of the comments. However, I know women who are very successful in Mary Kay. Any time you have a business, you are going to invest money and time to make it work. If you don’t work, you don’t make money.

Not all women understand how to balance career and family. It does have its ups and downs, yes, but it is sales.

Yes, you invest time, yes, you invest energy.And some money to get started. It’s a business. A job.

Email from a Pink Truth Critic: 

I’ve been reading all the different topics that a lot of the Kaybots have been posting on this website. I find all your posts very amusing.

A lot of the women in here seem to be having a big hangup about Mary kay and about the way that Mary Kay does business. The REAL PROBLEM is YOU. You are the ones who are all at fault becuase you didn’t make any money in Mary Kay. It’s nobody else’s fault. It’s not your director’s fault and it’s not the company’s fault. You make your business become what you put into it. It seems like a lot of women in here are in denial that the REAL PROBLEM is themselves and NOT Mary Kay. A lot fo the Mary Kay consultants are not trained or do not want to be trained properly.

Written by SuzyQ

Many years ago, I was advised to send the third letter. Not the first or second one I wrote, but the third one I wrote, I could send.  I have expanded that wisdom to include the third email.

There is sound rationale behind this practice.  By the time you write and rewrite and rewrite yet again, you have calmed down and are able to articulate your message in a more thoughtful manner.  It may have more of an impact if we can actually understand what you are trying to say.

A comment from a typical Kaybot. I am always amused at how many tired, old scripted phrases they can use in support of Mary Kay. How many can you count?

Seriously. You women who have felt this way maybe Mary Kay wasn’t for you. But you can’t speak for everyone. The products are awesome and they are backed up with guarentees…

Written by The Scribbler

It didn’t take long for the comments section of the Hungry for Answers: One Mary Kay Consultant’s Journey video to fire up shortly after having sent my explanatory e-mail to “Vince.”  The excitement began when “Vince” remarked on my having used the names of three NSDs (one of which being that of NSD Gillian Ortega’s) as search keywords for the video.

Note:  “V” represents “Vince’s” comments, while “S” marks my own.   As you read, see if you can find any of the following tucked within my friend’s replies:  Mary Kay catchphrases, blanket statements, a continuous avoidance of discussing big-ticket issues such as inventory, and the repeated promise to intercede for my filthy, Mary Kay-theistic soul before God and all of Heaven.   Okay, “Vince”, take it away!

Written by The Scribbler

Some time ago I’d created a YouTube video titled, Hungry For Answers: One Mary Kay Consultant’s Journey .  Simple and crude in execution (hey, even Spielberg had to start somewhere, right?), it served and continues to serve as a way to encourage women to visit Pink Truth.  I was excited when it hit 15k views, which doesn’t seem like much compared to oft-viewed, time-honored classics like Chick Poops Herself in Hot Tub, but it gave me a warm feeling knowing literally thousands of women got a small peek into the reality of Mary Kay culture.  And doggone it, some folks didn’t like that.  One day I received a message in my YouTube inbox from an individual claiming to be the son of NSD Gillian Ortega:

A former Mary Kay consultant lost money years ago, but because she is so much smarter than the women on Pink Truth, she is going to try it again and she is going to make money. She will not be “silly enough” or “stupid,” and she won’t have “bad judgment” like those of us here. 

Wow! I googled how to get back in and found your site. I was in MK years ago when I was divorced and broke, living in a small town, and stopped simply because the market was saturated (my MOTHER became a consultant the month after I did–it was stupid) and I just let it go, using what product I had, writing off the loss of my minor investment mentally as a lesson learned. Now, I live in a metro area, and though I see a car with an ad occasionally, I don’t see overt advertisement here. It looks like a more marketable area.

I will, however, never be silly enough to be forced to buy products I can’t sell. Other than the most cost-effective introductory kit that I had to purchase all those years ago, and won’t ever have to do again, I would never buy in gross. After Mama died, and I had her remainders and mine when I recently moved, and all those shades of base that we just don’t have clientele for went in the trash. I’ll simply never do that again. I did use some of it for stage makeup and gave some away for Halloween costumes and for Christmas presents (along with Satin Hands sets and other products) to friends or acquaintances, but still had lots to toss in the trash–my point is, I won’t buy anything for which I don’t have orders.

An uplifting note from a failed Director in Qualification:

I stumbled on your site by accident.  I’ve been doing Mk for over 20yrs.  I’ve experienced all the negative aspects of OWNING one’s own business.  It’s surprising to me that you would spend so much time thinking and persuading others to be more negative.  You must not be very successful in other endeavors of your life.

You can bash Mk all you want and it will still stand because it was and is a company founded on true CHRISTIAN principles.  If I owned a McDonald’s franchise I would still have to deal with reality that people will like Burger King, In and Out, Sonic, Jack in the Box, etc… more than they like the food at McDonald’s.

A note from a Mary Kay consultant who says we just don’t understand Mary Kay. Use the comments section to set her straight, ladies.

I’ve been in MK for 15 years and it’s been a very positive and totally enriching experience for me and my family as a single mom.  It’s just too bad that you obviously have nothing better to do than send negativity out into the universe.  With all that negativity going out there you will get it back.  It’s called the Law of Cause and Effect, you’re making the cause and will get the effect.