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Everyone used to love me.  I was a Miss Go Give, in the Applause and everything.  I helped everyone and was known for building leaders.  I always taught and spoke at all the events.  I was going to be a NATIONAL sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics and everyone knew it!  My offspring loved me, and I loved them right back.  We were going all the way.

Then, after our fall retreat, when I was at top of my game, everything started to change for me.  We had our song, we had our area name, we had our t-shirts, we had our sparkly pins, we were going to make it happen…. but something was just not right!

Many things led to my change of heart, and you can read my 20 Reasons post to see more about that.  But what was and still is the most difficult part of making the decision to leave MK was disappointing and hurting my Directors.

A piece written by our member JTA, a longtime Mary Kay sales director who came close to becoming a national sales director, and then decided to give it all up.

1. I really analyzed my offspring’s production - About 1/3 of my offspring are at Grand Prix level doing that production regularly. After expenses, as you can see from the info posted on PT, that Grand Prix directors do not make very much money, 20k per year at best. The other 2/3 made and missed production, mostly every other month. Many of these were actually placing HUGE 2-4k orders on the odd months themselves to make the production happen. Almost always, in my National’s newsletter, the majority of the top 10 of personal wholesale were from my future area. This is heart wrenching. It is listed to be celebrated, like their personal sales are so huge, but I KNEW then and KNOW now that they were not selling this much. The orders are placed simply to make production. Add to this that several of those do National Court of Sales. So they are celebrated for this, when behind the scenes there are major debt issues, warehousing of product, etc. Very sad.

That's right. I wasn't a lazy loser. I was very successful in Mary Kay, just like several of the wonderful ex-directors here on Pink Truth. I was Top of Class, Fabulous 50s, a pink Cadillac driver and had 3 offspring.

It has been one year since I returned to a full-time J.O.B. (Joyful, & Overwhelmingly Blessed!) As I reflected, I realized that with my J.O.B. – I actually spend MORE time with my family than I did in MK --- and more time with family was the whole reason I joined Mary Kay Cosmetics.

One Year in J.O.B.: More time with Family
One Year in MK: Less, much less, time with family

Here is the latest on the lawsuit Mary Kay Cosmetics brough against Touch of  Pink Cosmetics and Amy and Scott Weber. It doesn't look good. Touch of Pink asked for the court to throw out the jury verdict and/or to order a new trial. Both of those were denied.

The court also ruled that Touch of Pink must pay Mary Kay $1,139,962, which are the company's pre-tax profits from 2005 through 2008. (For those doing the math, that's 4 years of business and about $285,000 of profits each year. And for those who care about the numbers, Touch of Pink had $3.8 million in total sales over that same period.) 

Even worse, the court granted Mary Kay a permanent injunction against Touch of Pink. Ultimately, the court concluded that Touch of Pink harmed Mary Kay because of the confusion of customers.  I believe that Touch of Pink has been very clear that they're not affiliated with Mary Kay, but the court disagrees with me. The court also said that Mary Kay is being harmed because the company cannot control its image as presented via Touch of Pink's actions.

The injunction prohibits Touch of Pink from:

Here's an idea being promoted by Mary Kay nsd Sherill Steinmann. It sounds great, until you get to the bottom line. Read all the way down and then see my comments at the end...

How to get New Names – the easy way!

Take 10 profile cards and slide in a plastic sleeve protector – your goal is to get 10 new ones filled out EACH WEEK! When you see a sharp woman … ask her “Have you ever heard of Mary Kay – are you one someone’s mailing list?”

If YES – “who is your consultant?” – you say – “Oh, I heard she was wonderful”

You've heard this Mary Kay lie many times before: $3,600 wholesale on your shelf is considered "profit level" inventory, and until you get to that level, you shouldn't be taking any profits for yourself out of your "busines."

Realistically speaking, there is very little profit in Mary Kay to begin with. But this "concept" twists the financial aspect even further and uses faulty logic and bad math to convince consultants to place large initial orders.

Here's how the Mary Kay explanation goes:

Please study this chart prior to sharing inventory with your new consultant. Study how long it takes to get to profit level.

Begin with 600 wholesale – Need to place 10 months of 600s to arrive at minimum of 3600. Reinvesting before making a profit.

Begin with 1200 wholesale – Must place 8 months of 600s to equal 3600.

Mary Kay sales directors are circulating this email about how to get the most out of a consultant's Mary Kay credit card. It tells them how to get the highest possible credit limit and then max it out...

Hey Directors –

Did you know there was a way to find out immediately how to get the full credit amount on the MK VISA?

I didn’t until I went on the Top Director Trip this past year and got this tip from xxxx xxxxxxx!

I hope this helps you – it works!

When Mary Kay recently announced a national contest encouraging consultants and directors to hold skin care classes, I felt hope. I am an eternal optimist, even while railing on the destructiveness of multi-level marketing. Could "Party With a Purpose" be a step in the right direction?

My heart and soul just will not let me believe that all in Mary Kay are corrupt. I tend to believe that there are many at Corp and some in the sales force that just grieve what has happened to this company. I actually believe some insiders want to find a way for consultants to have fun, make money, and not be manipulated into the staggering debt that ultimately happens if they “stay plugged in”.

Now these people are also in denial, let me make that statement plain. In their hearts, they are clinging to a simpler time, with simpler values and less greed. In their naiveté, they actually will not consider that Mary Kay was at its core, a system that guaranteed corruption. 

The 5 million parties contest is a show to take the focus off ordering and recruiting alone, and put it onto face to face selling that could legitimize the “Mary Kay opportunity” while also holding the FTC dogs at bay. Above all things, Mary Kay fears the “full disclosure” legislation that surfaces from time to time (for the Direct Selling Industry) because they know it will drop the last nail in Mar’s coffin.

Make Money For Mary Kay Inc.

The company is very clear in describing Party With a Purpose to its directors. Don't be confused and think that proceeds are being donated to charity or anything of the sort. The purpose is to make money for Mary Kay Inc..... called "supporting a company whose mission is to enrich women’s lives."

At least this time the executives at Mary Kay Cosmetics are being truthful about their money grubbing ways.

Q: What exactly is the “purpose” behind “Party with a Purpose”? Are we raising money for The Mary Kay Foundation?

Party with a Purpose isn’t tied to The Mary Kay Foundation or any specific charitable cause. You might want to think about it this way: When you hold a Mary Kay party, you’re supporting a company that does good. Whether it’s through charitable acts of giving or helping women build a business to make their lives more enjoyable,

Mary Kay has a history of helping others. By holding more parties and reaching out to more women through the products and the opportunity, you’re helping them look and feel their best – and quite possibly begin a new business that offers them newfound freedom to balance their priorities. And whether they purchase one of the Beauty That CountsTM Mary Kay® Creme Lipsticks or any other of Mary Kay’s fabulous products, your customers can feel good about supporting a company whose mission is to enrich women’s lives.

Mary Kay Cosmetics is currently running a "special" for new consultants. Instead of paying the regular $100 to sign up and receive a full starter kit, you can pay just $50 and get a mini kit in the month of October. They're calling this the "Opportunity Kit" with fewer products, and the opprotunity to get an extra 5% off the suggested retail price of her initial product order. (Consultants normally receive a 50% discount off retail price on their orders, but that's upped to a 55% discount this month.)

So what's the catch? Thanks to our member Ciavyn for bringing this email from a Mary Kay national sales director to our attention. The truth is actually told about how much it stinks to become a new Mary Kay consultant... 

Let's talk about this "deal".

When you are recruiting someone this month - don't talk about what she gets in the mini starter kit and that it won't be enough for her to do shows......