Written by PinkPeace

We often discuss Mary Kay director incomes on Pink Truth, criticizing how the numbers are presented. I want to show lurkers and other readers how directors twist the truth to present an unrealistic picture of income potential in Mary Kay. The sad part is that, not only do they deceive prospects, they deceive themselves.

I would venture to say that every recruit was presented with the Applause magazine pages showing NSD incomes and top director checks. I know I always showed those pages to prospects. My national was Christine Peterson, and she was consistently in the top three of the Sapphire sales division, with monthly checks ranging from $40,000 – $75,000.

“Can you believe it?” I would gush. “She was a kindergarten teacher making little more than $20,000 a year. Now she makes three times that in ONE MONTH!” I would explain that this was our “legacy” in our national area. “Christine just teaches all of us to do what she does, so that we can make the same kind of money she does.”

Then I’d point to sales directors who I personally knew, and show the prospect their paychecks. “I know Susie Smith – she’s just the nicest person – and she made $8,500 last month. And here’s Janie Jones. She’s a single mom with three kids, and look at her check for just working part-time: $6,000 last month. Can you get excited about that?”

Inevitably, the prospect would ask me what MY check was for the last month. Rut-roh. I had to scramble, because chances were I was trying to block that number out of my mind (especially when I subtracted chargebacks, car copays, director suit fees, car insurance and whatever other expenses were taken out that month). I didn’t want to lie to the prospect, exactly. But I didn’t want to tell her the hard truth either, because why would she want my job then?

So I quickly added up my base check – you know, the one that gets published BEFORE any deductions are taken – plus my sales for the month. That usually came to around $4,000 or so, which sounded a lot better than the maybe $1,200 that actually got deposited. But, oops. I guess I didn’t really tell her the real sales, per se. Maybe I told her what I ordered during the month, instead. Well, whatever. She didn’t need to hear all the details, right? The NSDs always taught us not to clutter the minds of prospects with lots of picky details. If she wanted to know all the info, she’d ask. Otherwise, just give her the basics.

But then, the question would come. “Why aren’t you making the $10,000 a month paychecks?” It wasn’t asked in a mean way. The prospect was just curious. I mean, it’s only logical. If there’s that kind of money to be made, why wouldn’t you go after it?

Now I had to get really creative. Deep down I wondered why I wasn’t making that kind of money, too. I worked so hard, but I couldn’t get to that magic number of unit members where that money would just flow to me. I saw other, much less ethical directors make it big, and I couldn’t understand. Mary Kay was God first, so why didn’t my above-board/Mary Kay way business practices get me farther along?

It must be me. It couldn’t be Mary Kay. I obviously didn’t have enough charisma and people skills. I needed a better work ethic. I had to boost my “deserve level.” I was deficient in my faith in God and living out Biblical principles. And I wasn’t trusting the company the way I should.

After all, Mary Kay is the greatest opportunity for women! Mary Kay works when you do! The only way you can fail is to quit! Winners always get up one more time when they’re knocked down! Mary Kay isn’t for the chosen few, it’s for the few who choose!

So, I’d blame my lack of income on myself. I’d say to the prospect, “You know, I make the money I make in Mary Kay, because I choose to work very part-time. I’m not saying that every woman in Mary Kay makes a six-figure income. But isn’t it great to know that that’s the potential we have in this awesome company?

The money is there when you’re ready to step up to the next level. What other company would have that kind of money waiting for you when you’re ready for it?” I’d point to the NSD checks in Applause, and the prospect would nod and get starry-eyed, and we’d go on to the next part of the presentation.

Whew! I got through that question. Again.

It didn’t seem like such a lie to me, because there were women getting big checks. But what I neglected to explain was that only the tiniest percentage of sales directors would ever make that kind of money. The remaining 98% – 99% of the 14,000 sales directors (which included me), would never come close to the famous “executive income” that was promised us by our uplines. And certainly a mere consultant would never make commission checks.

I also never spoke of all the director business expenses that can eat up hundreds of dollars every month, BEFORE the company takes out chargebacks, copays, insurance, etc. Why bother with all that, when chances are the prospect would never even be a senior consultant, much less a sales director?

So no, I didn’t make that kind of money in Mary Kay, even in my best month.

But, hey! Isn’t it great to know that the money is there when you’re ready to step up to the next level? Isn’t it?