Kimberly Perkins and the REAL Pink Truth

Former Mary Kay sales director Kimberly Perkins is now a “biz coach.” She admits to cheating and helping her nsd Somer Fortenberry cheat to get her title. But you should listen to her when she talks about leading with integrity and you should hire her to coach you in your direct sales (really MLM) business.

Kimberly didn’t like our discussion of her quitting MK and becoming a business coach. I’m sorry, Kimberly, that you admitted publicly to being a big cheater pants, and we thought that worthy of a discussion. Yesterday Kim decided to post an IG TV about “the REAL Pink Truth.” I thought it was worthy of a response. #pinktruth

And then Kimberly said:

Well, Kimberly, apparently God wanted me to become a fraud investigator and spend the last 20+ years uncovering fraud and exposing the truth about scams. I sleep well at night making an honest living and giving of my free time to make Pink Truth an educational resource for women.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. So providing real facts and educating women about MK is “bashing”? Funny that she won’t address specific items because she knows she can’t defend her position. Does she not see that it is all about recruiting and ordering product (whether needed or not) and calling this “a career”? Who calls filling your garage with boxes and boxes of product YOU WILL NEVER SELL a career?

    Repeatedly bringing God info her narrative does not make her point valid or truthful- it only makes it nauseating and manipulative.

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    • How does she think that she looks good and honorable because she walked away? She was a huge cheater, and she admitted it. She messed up but wants to coach others in the right way to do things. Sure, Jan.

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  2. I find it interesting that so many Top Trip Directors end up walking away after the trip .
    God gave her “clarity” during the trip….. smh I’m sure it was hearing all the other trip directors admit to how they actually earned the trip . I would like to hear Chelsea’s version or better yet watch the UPS deliveries or see a credit card statement.

    I am debt free except my mortgage, stress free, and enjoying my real job and my life ever since leaving MK. I’m so glad I am out of the pink fog.

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    • She doesn’t tell the story quite right. She went on the top trip in 2017. She left the company in 2021. There was a WHOLE lot of time in between.

      Time that involved her being demoted from Cadillac to Equinox.

      So when Kimberly says “we were up 40%,” it’s important to know that’s up from the barely premier club level. Making the big money? Nope.

      Remember, a Cadillac driver grosses about $40k in commissions. She was well below that. So maybe (if I’m being generous) she walked away from $25,000 in gross commissions (less business expenses, of course). She wasn’t nearly as successful as she would have you believe.

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      • Yeah, she thinks saying she’s up 40% conveniently leaves out the massive drop from Caddy to whatever lower car level she’s ended up at. If she’s learned nearly nothing about PT, at least she should know that we use actual facts, right? Like the difference in production requirements from Caddy to lower levels.

      • “a Cadillac driver grosses about $40k in commissions”

        That’s all? Wow. Subtract expenses and there’s not much left. A tremendous amount of time and energy for very little payoff.

        • And remember, that’s only if the director is making production. Think of all the directors who buy their way into the Cadillac because they’re told to do so. They make less than that AND they have a copay every month.

        • Well, actually those business expenses incurred, are “tax deductible”. Right down to the mileage and that Dollar Tree Pen you purchased. The space for your office, and any party extra’s you buy. All those expenses that go into doing business, one gets back at the end of the year. Your cell phone, your car insurance if you are a two car household. At least that is what I do. Some make it to the top fast, and others, like myself have taken my time. The experience has been rewarding for me and my BSBA and MBA are a great asset for running this business successfully. It is all a matter of perspective. Those that are doing well, work their business and stick with it.

          • A “tax deduction” still means you spent money. And remember that you can only deduct the part of your phone and your car insurance that are actually directly related to business activities. You don’t have a business. You have a hobby that costs you money, and after 10 years, you’re no closer to being successful than when you started. It’s sad.

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  3. She says we should “go to the source”. The vast majority of us who come here have been to the source already. She’s clearly still in The Pink Fog. I hope she comes out of it soon.

    • As far as I’m concerned, we ARE the source for the truth about Mary Kay.

      Who else will give you unbiased information? We have nothing to gain from your decision regarding whether you sell MK or not. On the other hand, MK Inc. and the recruiters have a lot to gain if you decide to sell.

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    • God led me to start sharing info about the MLM scam twenty years ago, and I’ve been truly blessed to find PT to further the message. Can I get an “Amen”?

      Since he has saved many of us from the MLM scam by leading us here, he must only love us – not her, right? He must *really’* not care about her to have her coach scammers. What did she do to deserve that? Cheat? (That’s exactly what she’s saying in the video. That God is looking out for her, not PTers. He allowed all the folks here to “fail”, but not her. SMH because none of this crap makes sense.)

      God also wants me to expose MLM scam participants and coaches. In fact, the Lord spoke to me this morning! I prayed, and prayed, and prayed for that. He was very “clear” what he said, “Stop that woman and others from lying, scamming others, and profiting on teaching people how to scam. “Post on PT”, so hear I am. Don’t believe me? Just have “faith” that it’s true.

      Jesus also told me to give a shout-out to all those who “bash” and are “downing” rapists, child abusers, and drunk drivers – and to double-down on MLM scammers for using his name to promote scamming.

      (If you can’t beat them, join them. If she can profess to know what guides us, so can I – and any other looney tune out there.)

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      • I personally do not see my Mary Kay Business as a scam. My experience has been, that I get out of the business what I put into it. I did not go into it looking for the “quick fix”. I saw it as an opportunity to learn, grow, and help others who are looking for an opportunity to learn something else, with women who are with you every step of the way. I am blessed with a wonderful director who has been with me 10 years, cheering me on. I am not in a caddy, nor have I “earned” the car. But, that is all my choice. Long-term success takes time to build on a solid foundation. No matter what your profession is in life. I am blessed to have a BSBA and MBA to help me build my business.

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        • You don’t have a business, Jackie. And you’re still spinning your wheels after TEN years but you think it’s awesome? Oh my.

        • Jackie, just wondering, how much money are you making from Mary Kay – net profit. That means, gross sales minus inventory costs and other overhead expenses. Yes, this is a rather personal question about your life you wouldn’t want to share with most people, but you are anonymous on this website. Nobody knows who you are. If Mary Kay is so great, then how much NET profit did you make last year, or this year to date? If you want to tell us the net profit in earlier years, even better. The women on the 20/20 show a few years ago couldn’t seem to tell us, but how about you?

          • Right??? We are all dying to see proof that anyone is actually making any money at this! No, not “I know women who are” or “I’m going to eventually but I’m taking it slow”. ANYONE can say they are making a great living. For example, I am paid over a million a year at my teaching job. I could say anything I want. But I cannot prove it. I’m afraid there are only a handful of women that have made a fortune scamming all the others who are taking it slow and faking it til they make it.

            • Another poor woman posting on a month old blog post hoping to “set us straight” and tell her admiring cohorts how her reasoning had left us speechless. Rather than post on today’s post, she wants to remain hidden.

              Ladies, posts on the current blog post. Surely you have nothing to hide.

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            • Whenever I ask this question of someone in multi-level marketing/direct sales, I get one of three answers, typically:

              1) No answer at all or they find some way to avoid answering
              2) They claim to be “just getting started” but expect to be making a profit very soon
              3) They state that they don’t share their personal finances with anyone (even in an anonymous forum like this one)

              Now, on an extremely rare occasion, maybe twice it’s happened, the respondent has said it’s just a part-time, side gig and they earn a few extra bucks here and there with no expectation of becoming wealthy and will not make any effort to recruit anyone. I figure those people are being somewhat honest and I respect that. If they’re putting a lot of hours in to earn the extra bucks (like more than some weekend or evening part-time job), it seems silly but they don’t seem to perpetuating the scam or giving anyone else delusions of grandeur.

  4. Did you catch her slip at the beginning? She started to call MK an MLM but caught herself.

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    • Eee-yeah, pre-e-tty sure the first syllable of “direct” isn’t “mul.” Nice try, though, Kim.

      Honestly, she was only 15 seconds in on a solo shoot. She couldn’t have started over? Bush league all the way.

  5. Looks like MK doesn’t pay for dental. SMH

    And she is so NOT convincing, and BTW why is she back peddling?

    Not credible, why does she have to respond? We are ‘clarified’ already.

    Low energy – would you sign up under her?

  6. You. know, that was way back in March that she made her big decision to post WHY she cheated the system to help out a mentor who she “didn’t get along with.” She posted back then about some of her poor choices that were then posted about and discussed here. Apparently some PT members reached out to her to offer support, which she mocked in her video. If any PT members were mean to her she would have said so…but she didn’t. She mocked their offers of kindness.

    Here’s my question. Why then did she wait nearly 4 months to make this “Real Pink Truth” video? My guess is that the offers of support isn’t what she expected from our members and it really irked her. OR…people in her MK circle regularly read here and said they didn’t want her coaching services because of what she publicly posted.

    I found it telling that she wore pink, wore her MK jewelry, etc. Part of her identity may be as a child of God, but honestly, I think it really as a MK SD. If she were settled with what God asked her to do, she would have truly laid down that identity and all of the trappings that go with it. But, she didn’t. She hung on to the jewelry, the identity, the people by trying to coach them, etc.

    Kimberly, you know you pushed women who were naive about mlms and how it works into ordering boatloads of product they could not afford or possibly sell – not just for Somer but for your own gain. You still love EVERYTHING about MK. Well, then…you may not be committing acts of commission, but in your heart you are.

    • I have a couple of theories about why she is making this video now:

      1. She has to show her support for MK for when she signs up again next year. She’s sitting out a year so she won’t be under Somer anymore. She has to make it clear (for recruiting purposes) that she has always loved MK.
      2. She just NOW figured out that Pink Truth comes up when you search her name.

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  7. One part that disturbed me the most was the number of times she repeated some version of “Pink Truth reached out to me” when Tracy has confirmed that this did NOT happen. The lie just rolls out of her mouth with nary a flinch. And more than once. I looked for some kind of “tell”— a behavior—to know when someone is lying (like Taylor McKnight’s, I think but not positive it was her, in a video where she had this weird nervous laugh when she said the few things we knew were lies…it’s somewhere on this site). I didn’t see a tell with Kimberly here.. The lies flow smoothly, and I find that scary.

    She also seems quite vindictive, and methinks she believes that video was her mic drop to show that she somehow “won” this whole back-and-forth.

    And while I can’t speak for everyone here, I most certainly am not miserable. I like coming here because as someone who worked a good career in legit sales and also owned an actual business, I am both dumbfounded and miffed at the many ways MK folks, including ones like Kimberly here, have actually NO idea how sales businesses really work. It’s like a train wreck for me. I cannot look away!

    I am interested in how the next chapter of “Kimberly Perkins vs Pink Truth” plays out. Really, it should just be titled “Kimberly Perkins vs the Truth” because she seems to have little grasp on what that word means.

    • “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
      “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
      “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

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    • I’m not miserable either. Posting here is my way of volunteering to “take a bite out of crime” and expose those people to the dangers of cult thinking. MLMers are scammers whether they know it or not. The successful leaders are definitely in on the con – along with each company that drives their own ship among the MLM scam fleet.

  8. Hmmm…Kimberly’s new target customer is the failing MK rep. Of course she is not going to say anything but good things about Mary Kay. She needs her target customers to continue to fail so they are in need of her services!

    I’d like to know the average improvement in net profit her coaching customers have achieved under her leadership. I am guessing none of her customers are cash positive with Mary Kay, and most don’t know how to properly track their cash flow (losses) in any case, and are instead looking for coaching only to “level up”. I will also bet that most of her customers fall further into the red after paying for her services, but don’t even know it.

    If you are looking for “suckers” to exploit, why not go after those with a proven track record of gullibility?

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  9. I’ve been a part of.mk for almost a year. I am finally finding my way out of the pink fog. My director was bragging about a diamond award ceremony and how we were going to be showered in diamonds and gifts bc Mary Kay spoils their consultants.. I got a few home made printer “awards”. Our nsd did not even show up and made a cameo appearance via zoom kissing a few butts and that was it. I put more money in this company just to be” active” to get a discount. You still.need to pay tax on the retail price item when we get it for wholesale… So stupid. Im out Mary Kay.. Thank you pinktruth for helping me realize im part of a scam
    Xoxoxo

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    • Oh, the “place an order to be active” scam. They say there are no quotes. Oh sure, technically there is no quota. but if you want to be “active” and not lose recruits you have, you gotta place the order to stay active.

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  10. I just watched this again for funsies. I think I’ve figured out a bit of a physical “tell” for when she’s lying (though she doesn’t do it every time; I think she’s been lying for a long time…at least since the age of 19, lol):

    She uses a hand to smooth her hair. Rewatching it with that in mind, when you get to near the end (about 4:20-ish), you’ll see the BIG tell…right when she says “to be totally transparent”, she uses BOTH hands to dramatically tuck her hair behind her ears. BTW I think it came right after she was talking about how she didn’t lose her unit, that she was still making money, and that she had to walk away even though she was making good money…or something like that.

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