NSD Linda Toupin’s Mary Kay Director Boot Camp: Training So Free, You Can’t Afford to Go!

And the worst part about these things is that you never get any REAL training. If there was some actual value in what was being taught, I *might* be able to see paying to go. But these sessions are just the same regurgitated scripts on recruiting and frontloading.

Directors always think they're going to learn the big secret that has been keeping them from making executive income in Mary Kay. They won't learn it at Linda's session. They'll learn it for free at Pink Truth: IT'S THE PYRAMID THAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM EARNING AN EXECUTIVE INCOME.

Yeah, don't waste your money, Kaybots! Just go to your "free" weekly meeting, where you will receive the equal of a marketing degree, straight from Harvard!

You said it, Tracy!

Duped, Exactly. After you pay for your meeting fee, swallow the fact that you're expected to buy a demo, samps, a couple for inventory and your own new "limited edition" products, sign up and pay for "that next event", enter the raffle, provide a bonus product for your guest(s), and bring snacks, after picking up your guest(s) on your dime of gas, then you can thank MK for that free training!

Scrib,

I knew that was you as soon as I started reading the article. As usual, you are an awesome writer, with humor, imagery, and uncontested facts! Love reading what you have to say!

I went to everything. I was always looking for the thing that would kick it up a notch. I implemented ideas that brought lots of guests and got sales for my people at meeting. And no matter what you do, it will come down to this one simple thing: mary kay signs on women who are free to perform or not.

Since you have no executive control over what anyone does, you will ALWAYS be at the mercy of the clients and consultants, with your hands tied to ways to grow your business independently. If every Director relied on actual retail sales to gain their commissions, they would be below poverty level. So these "training sessions" are nothing more than Pumps ups to get the crew out there recruiting, and learn ways to get higher wholesale inventory orders, and run a meeting that "sparkles" so guests sign on and consultants stay fogged.

They never address that Mary Kay has such a rotten reputation in the marketplace for incessant recruiting attempts that most customers would rather do business with EBAY that risk getting on a IBC's radar.

So the whole game is racing to find new people to replace the people who tapped out, bummed out, or figured it out.

cab fare too, cause it is a hellofa walk in heels.
galt to convention center. vice versa.
out of town attendees or not.

plus the location is in downtown louisville. very scary.
not safe.

What's the "Intelliverse system?" It sounds oxymoronic for MK...

Oh and Scrib...you have a way of focusing in on the utter absurdity of paying big dough to keep yourself fogged over...every person who has ever attended ANY of these events knows they are all EXACTLY the same information over and over and over and over....

I so agree. Every event that I attended was ALWAYS the same old thing, said in different words, by different woman. I self-talked myself and self-doubted myself when I would be thinking "this is crap!!" when I was so immersed into the pink bubble...and here it was my sane, rational self trying to wake me up and get me the heck OUT!!! What a waste...of time, money and most of self respect. I look back and I think of what I could have been doing with those wasted weekends, weeknights...and the money. Oh, well, better late then never. There is no training. I was always waiting for the training that never came really.

After paying for Seminar, I wonder how many are going to attend this "free training" event? Didn't they just go to
Seminar to hear the NSDs and top Directors tell all? I can save them a bundle of money even though I was just a lowly IBC. Recruit, frontload, recruit, frontload. There -- didn't cost anyone a dime.

thinkingpink,

it is lct's time of year to supplement her income.

I don't know how many more ways there are to teach book, sell, recruit. It's a shame how the NSD's immediately start to market their own product lines, etc. Rena led the way and they all followed. Aren't their record-breaking commissions enough? Mary Kay sure keeps those NSD's on a very long leash, allowing them to run amok with money-making schemes.

Just like Raisinberry, I went to everything. It wasn't until Feb, 2008, when a grievous incident made me break off from the group of Directors I worked with for over ten years. Once I isolated myself, I began to gradually see things differently. It's so true that you will stay in the fog as long as you are plugged in. I have learned a very valuable lesson about thinking for myself while on the outside of things. No more getting sucked in for me!

same old thing. As I'm reading this, I'm just getting so frustrated at how these women (NSD's) are intentionally sucking all of the willing niave sd's dry. (okay, I can hear my now sd saying to me over the last few years - "you really need to attend all the local director meetings to be successful" because I had stopped going 3 yrs ago!) What really irks me is - there is nothing new - unless it's a new way to get orders, etc. No new way to actually work with people honestly, no new way to present the product honestly, no new way for anything.

I can tell you those women who will flock to LCT's training will 1st be told to change their thinking - change their 'head stuff' - we have a director in my area - that's 90% of what she preaches - get your 'head stuff' straight - change your thinking, etc. What a bunch of crap it all is. It's a bunch of Joel Osteen crap that is so one sided, and doesn't tell the whole truth.

good grief - I've said enough.

Dare I admit this?
I am a LCT Bootcamp attendee.
I was a new Director and wanted to be successful in my business, be the best I could be, etc, etc.
Linda has changed her sessions a little but when I went it was once a month for 4 months in a row.
Here's the breakdown:
Bootcamp fee $300.
Airfare from the west coast $500 X 4 = $2000.
Galt House suite for two nights (split with a friend) $250 X 4= $1000.
Taxi from the airport each way, $10 X 8= $80.
Food during travel and meals not covered by registration fee, $50 X 4= $200.
Two outfits plus shoes to rotate during the four sessions, $400.
Total $3980!
Not to mention the extreme stress of traveling all day from the west coast
to arrive, go to bed, get up the next morning and attend sessions all day, go back to bed and travel all day back home!
I don't know that I learned anything new but I do have a nifty notebook that we had to stand, raise our hand and swear we wouldn't share the contents of with any of our cronies back home. That alone caused some huge problems in my immediate Mary Kay family!
I have an idea why she does that but I'm sure it's apparent to all here!

I desired to be all I could be for Mary Kay and my unit. I spent a great deal of money needlessly on this and every other event. It was the same old lies and scripts sandwiched in between some darn funny, down home, LCT speak.
I mean after all, if this "hillbilly" can do it, I can too. Right?
The answer is no because the only women who make money in this mlm are the Nationals. And I realize now that the reason Linda does this event is to keep women in her area stiving and believing that they can have it too. It increases her paycheck. Bottom line.

It grieves me to say that the polish isn't very thick on the packaged MK dream. Look with your head and not your heart. Don't buy in on emotion. Don't believe what you think you see. Be a critical thinker and examine the facts.
If I can help even one person by my 29 year experience, it won't be in vain. And if you are lurking please hear my heart. Consider the MK experience. Has it really been what you thought it would be? Has it actually paid off your debt? Helped your family?
Maybe you can say yes but I'll bet not. Don't give your life, money and heart to this company.
I hope this part of my story will be a word in due time for you.

freshoutofpink - Do you still have that notebook? And could I get my hands on it to share with all the readers of PT? I'd like to think we might even get some directors visiting us just to see that!

FreshoutofPink, I am curious. Approximately how many women were in this group with you?

thinkingpink~ There were about 3oo women there.
There were NIQs on down to 6 month old directors like me. She puts it on for her national area and after that opens it up for other areas. Most all attendees were Go-Give, with a large number of Diamonds, and those who weren't had to get an okay from their own national.
To make the most of it, I sat in the second row. Up close and personal.
Linda asked us all "to leave our bar pins at the door, because we were all there for the same reason". And even though I feel a certain respect for the atmosphere and I still struggle with the confidentiality she asked for, I can tell you, things were shared that gave me reason to think more Directors struggle than anyone can be imagine. For gosh sakes, there were a couple of NIQs there and a whole bunch of stress as well!

The very first CD my former SD LENT to me to listen to was Linda. It was her I story or some such nonesence and she talked about growing up on a dairy farm and milking the cows twice a day, everyday, yadda yadda yadda. Apparently she did indeed learn to milk cows...the cash cows of MK. The SDs and IBCs so desperate to be just like her. Need I say it again...money worshipping whores!

Freshout: you're right - absolutely right! We are taught to listen with our hearts - not our heads. Take away all critical thinking to make wise business choices - which in turn are poor business decisions. If I would have woken up 5-10 yrs ago and started to really listen with my head, I wouldn't have the credit card balances I have today. I know for sure, that's how they keep so many wrapped up in their pink fog - they keep them living and working on "potential". The potential of the new ibc's coming in, the existing ones that are treading water, etc, your own potential. You can't live on potential, you have to make tough decisions then act on them.

Great post ladies - you always make me think!

Hi Fresh-
Thanks for sharing your story. I never went to the bootcamp but was invited (pressured) to and almost went because I could drive there. Many directors from my area went and swore "it changed my business!" However, if you look at them now, NONE of them have advanced and are in the same place or worse than they were 5 yrs ago. Most of them have lost offspring. When I asked them about it, they told me there was homework-is that right? That sealed the deal for me that I was NOT going. As if directors aren't busy enough with all the crap they were required to do with homework on top of it. I think not.

I know this is off topic, but I just check the forum stats and we are at 5999 registered PT users!!! Who will be number 6000? Let's push for 10,000 by the end of the year! Keep getting the word out ladies, and Tracy...You ARE the best!

Scribbler- Great article!

Linda made out good if there were 300 people there. That might be a better business opportunity than MK itself.

And...it sounds like a bunch of kickbacks for Miz. Linda. You HAVE to have this hotel and don't forget to bring plenty of tip money because you can't have her looking bad.

And come on, why pay for a suite if you aren't going to be there to enjoy it?

And yes, the credit cards are begging for mercy after Dallas, but how brilliant is this timing for her bootcamp: the dust has settled after Dallas, there's been one or two payments made on the credit card...if you accidentally checked your interest rate and got depressed, bootcamp is the way to get excited again!

This is MK Corp.'s way of stimulating the economy. There is nothing that would make me join MK or motivate me to even use any of MK's products. I have observed and experienced a real life Illinois MK SD next door neighbor for 14 years. My neighbor represents a boot camp in HELL. I don't want to wear her shades of lipstick/powder or smell like her. She is not an inspiration to me at all. Her involvment with MK has taught her how to make money off brainwashing other women. If there never was an MK Corp. the world would not have missed out on anything.

Don't forget the hotel taxes - the rate in Louisville is 15.01%, so that $125 per night is actually $143.76!

[quote]Intelliverse System[/quote]

If that doesn't sound cult-like, nothing does...

This is so sad especially when you look at those numbers, and you just KNOW the reason the suites are recommended is because they have a deal with the hotel for a free room in exchange for a certain amount of rooms taken up by the trainees. Ugh!

I've a couple of questions:
1. What is "intelliverse system"?
2. Is there a way to know how certain people in MK are doing i.e directors, nsd's etc?

Angelwoman, I lived and "worked" in IL so your comment made me wanna know how my adopted director was doing. I wish them well BUT I always felt that something was a miss with them.

Thanks for sharing. Keep these stories coming coz they benefit all sorts of people: lurkers, current directors and consultants AND those of us who already quit drinking the pink coolaid.

It's so sad to read all of this and to know how expensive training is for IBC's and directors but the NSD's are getting rich by the minute! I remember hearing a NSD say she made more money on the side than in MK.
If MK was so wonderful, why do they have to have meetings trying to convince everyone?
Save your money, ladies.

Angelwoman - I love reading your neighbor posts
I can sooooo relate to it that it gags me to think of the one I know. She is so brainwashed. Its awful when you are see it/subject to it all the time.

Great article, Scribular! And wonderful comments, ladies.

Freshie, wow, what a story. And for the record, I'm with Tracy: give up the notebook, pretty please! Linda has scammed mucho dinero off of you and so many others, apparently. Make her have to reinvent the whole dang thing. Love it! Make her work, for a change. Can you imagine how many scavenger-turned-PT-members we would have here? "Psssst! The word is, Linda's Bootcamp is free on PinkTruth. com!"

Love your typo, if it is that, Apostate:
[quote]...it was her I story or some such nonesence and she talked about...[/quote]
"non essence"? Yeah, I'd pay for air!

And Raisin, I had to cringe reading this:
[quote]They never address that Mary Kay has such a rotten reputation in the marketplace for incessant recruiting attempts that most customers would rather do business with EBAY that risk getting on a IBC's radar.[/quote]

Ugh. So true. Take your pick: you get a look of disgust or a smirk. Usually I just wanted to suddenly become invisible, the looks I got from friends and strangers were so embarrassing.

Raisinberry is right - MK customers can bypass the in-your-face consultant and get their stuff from Ebay. Last look showed 26,965 items listed! Isn't it curious that Mary Kay, giant that it is, can't get MK off Ebay???!!?

Yes, all former and current SD's are familar with this boot camp. In fact, I was registered to go and canceled at the last minute. When you're in the fog you could care less that these NSD's must be making a fortune off of you attending their trainings. Once you get out you realize how much of their energies go in to tapes, trainings etc, and that not as much goes in to working the business. It would make one believe that they really didn't like working it so much wouldn't it?

thinkingpinkstinks - You're right. These events are excellent money makers. That's why the NSDs are all doing them. Take Allison Lamarr, for example.... She has portrayed herself as "doing what Mary Kay herself asked of us..." - sharing knowledge. Her sessions are not about sharing in the least. They are about her making money. (Especially since her earnings are so pathetic as an NSD! Who knew Allison would be near the bottom of the list!) Yes, there is a cost to renting hotel space and providing a meal, but it is minor in comparison to the fees these women collect from the attendees.

What many may not know is that when you bring a NSD in, it is customary to cover her expenses from the room fee. When the attendance was down, due to weather or bad promotion, the organizer would hit all the Directors to chip in a split of what was owed..after all, your people benefitted in motivation and possibly recruits, from her appearance. I have actually been asked to chip in 4.88 to "cover costs" as part of my "share".

Since the NSD would ultimately gain commissions in her newly motivated gang...it is hard to justify paying anything, much less a minutia amount. Once in Directorship you quickly learn that overhead is shared by Directors--rarely by NSD's...

Yet who is in the better position to afford expenses? I wouldn't care except that I cant think of One NSD who actually works with her people. They "provide" a training opportunity, that all must attend if they want info, but one on one? In the field? Teaching how to do a class or conduct an interview in a real live setting? Hold a real meeting for a new Director? Show how by example?...Spend TIME? Course correct a struggling Director?
Not in an NSD vocabulary. They are probably too afraid they'll fail in an out of "roll play" context, when the "scripts" don't work and the results can be out of control.

"national SALES director". Ain't that just a ridiculous title for a woman who blows into town, does a razzle dazzle I story, gives away a starter kit, and shops for prizes to hype wholesale production? Oh, and holds costly seminars regurgitating the same ole same ole?

I googled the NSD LT in the above post. The Intelliverse system is an efficient voice messaging and personal communications service to sales networks of all sizes. It connects you with hundreds and thousands of full-time and part-time sales people. It lets you get more business done everytime you pick up the phone. SD's can conduct individual sales training or training sessions with the entire unit. Also, you can message your SD at any time. Wow, sounds like this system is for selling gold bricks instead of cosmetics. A quote from NSD LT on her website was interesting, "This company gives an opportunity to develop a higher level of self-confidence and self-esteem. The end result of more self-confidence and self-esteem is cash." This quote might indicate why she does the boot camp training sessions. "CASH" Her website also shows pictures of her houses. She built one for a million dollars.

Ugh it seemed like every time I managed to drag myself to a weekly meeting, there was some new event or geteway that they were trying to make us sign up for. Awful.

Raisinberry, your post on 9/11 is right on!
"Ain't that just a ridiculous title for a woman who blows into town, does a razzle dazzle I story, gives away a starter kit, and shops for prizes to hype wholesale production? Oh, and holds costly seminars regurgitating the same ole same ole?" I have heard NSD's embellish their "I stories" until they are unrecognizable!
The NSD's should be ashamed of their behavior but unfortunately, they have leaned so far away from decency that they don't even recognize how corrupt they have become. Integrity? What is that to the NSD?
One more point - they love showing off their mansions but I wonder what their mortgages might be! They are probably in hock so much they must bury their conscience and nickel and dime their people to death.

wow-this thread is amazingly accurate. My last director meeting with my local national was 3-4 yrs ago. I stopped going for many reasons: 1. I always felt compared, compared to others in every way. 2. I always left feeling beat up emotionally. 3. Because part of the fee to attend was to cover the prizes given away to top performers.

This really bugged me because there were many of us struggling, etc., and I made a comment to my Sr about how bad the food was on that particular day - muffins and coffee. She told me that "it's not just about what we eat" some of what we paid went towards buying the prizes that were given out monthly. I was shocked. (probably shouldn't have been, but was) This NSD makes on average 15K-20K a month, and I'm paying for someone else's prizes - not her?!!! I looked straight at my Sr. and said "this is the last SD meeting I'll ever be at".

I suppose I should have been grateful to have to pay to even be in her (NSD) presence -

I love that LT shows photos of her homes as she progressed up the ladder in MK. Wow, she is one classy lady. Let's show off a little more LT.

oneless...that tops it all for me. For God's sake...YOU are expected to pay into the pool that BUYS the frickin' PRIZES?? That SHE gives to somebody else?? God, can this scam go any lower???

Yes I wonder if most of them have husbands who get real high salaries that help foot the MK bills....I don't see how anyone could make a full-time living doing MK on 1 paycheck.

I just went to LTs website and under the 12/01/09 Schedule it listed her "favorite things" because "many people contact her office and her mom asking what her favorite things are". So now what, is she expecting gifts now from her downline? Gee, I didn't even give my SD a Christmas card! (LOL my bad)!

The Intelliverse System is the new name for the old Voice Com or Voice Tel system. I think the company itself changed names. Was a way of sending messages or dialing into your number and listening daily to all the messages from your national and any other nationals or top directors she chose to share messages from. I had it for a couple of years....now I see that it was just another way of having daily input (control) into the minds/emotions of directors and consultants. Although some messages were quite touching as consulants/directors shared some experiences, many were focused on ideas regarding booking, coaching, recruiting, etc...and made you think "well if this is what the successful women in MK are doing, then I should be able to do it too." Much of it was hype about crazy little things! LCT's messages were always quite "detailed".
So glad I'm not spending the first 15 to 20 minutes of my day listening to all of that anymore. I'm THANKFUL to have my mind back to myself!!

[quote]dialing into your number and listening daily to all the messages from your national and any other nationals or top directors [/quote]

Daily?? Now, that's brainwashing.

WOW!!! All this reading is just so unbelievable. I almost signed up a few years ago. A friend of mine has done it for about 15 years. She's not making millions but she's making a modest income. She has a nice customer base that keeps reordering regularly. She's never ever been to Dallas or any expensive event anywhere, ever. She doesn't have thousands of $ of inventory in her basement waiting to be sold. It must depend a great deal on how greedy the people in your upline are. Looks like she's one of the lucky ones.

Let me do the math for LT. She had 300 people attend one bootcamp for $300 each? So that's $90,000??? No wonder she manipulate people to attend.

Raisin - that was the beginning of the end for me. Now that I look back - that's when I started to doubt EVERYTHING! I should probably send her a thank-you note!

I remember the first few times I listened to some CD's from top directors and how everything in me was screaming and made my stomach twist.

Unfortunately, in the midst of the screaming...I didn't hear the words "GET OUT NOW".

After I got away for a long vacation and the fog settled a bit, I was able to hear the words clearly, "GET OUT NOW".

All the brainwashing noise keeps one from really hearing the heart cries to go against the pulling of "I can do it"!!

An NSD visit must be much like a visit from Queen Elizabeth I.

She would show up on her "royal progress", have her ring kissed, knight a few guys, bankrupt the host who had to pay for it all, and move on.

[quote]Let me do the math for LT. She had 300 people attend one bootcamp for $300 each? So that's $90,000???[/quote]

And how many of these hoser events has she done?

I still get e-mails from LCT saying "she has an important message waiting for directors on Intelliverse". I don't have Intelliverse anymore so I can only guess what's there. I had it for about a year. It took so much time to listen everyday and I was too overwhelmed with the homework and trying to learn what all the "keys" were about. It also cost me $240 for the year and that's another ridiculous director expense.
I let it go but almost started back up again (I was getting desperate)just before I decided to exit. $20 a month to find out more ways to scam women who don't know any better and find out who's who on the pink totem pole.
LCT is a good speaker and she made it look and sound so easy and I'm sure it was for her.
She can be fun, fun, fun but she also has another side which could nail you to the barn door with just a look.
Not to make myself sound better than someone else, but in my heart I just didn't want to be a fast talking, carnival barkin', sideshow for Mary Kay!
My personal feelings only but I couldn't have even said that 3 months ago.

"An NSD visit must be much like a visit from Queen Elizabeth I.

She would show up on her "royal progress", have her ring kissed, knight a few guys, bankrupt the host who had to pay for it all, and move on."

Sounds like another one with a high deserve level.