That’s Why You NEED to Go to Seminar
Here we go again with the question of whether women should go to Mary Kay’s annual seminar in Dallas, Texas. As you know, they haven’t had an in-person seminar for the last two years, so this year it’s an even bigger deal than usual.
The first thing that you need to understand is that EVERYONE is told they NEED to go to seminar. It doesn’t matter how much or how little money they make. How much or how little they work or want to “move up” in MK. Whatever reason or excuse anyone gives for possibly NOT wanting to go, she will be told THAT IS WHY YOU NEED TO GO.
It’s gross and disgusting, like most things in this predatory company. A discussion just happened on one of the “consultants only” Facebook pages, and you can see for yourself some of the comments.
Women are saying they can’t afford to go. That’s reasonable, right? You don’t put yourself in the hole to do these things. Nope! To the true Kaybots, if you can’t afford to go, then that’s why you NEED to go! Also, if you have anxiety and have trouble with large crowds, then that’s another reason why you need to go.
I absolutely love the woman who admits she spends more on MK than she makes. (Because that’s just about everyone in MK, even though your recruiter will lie to you and say lots of people are making money.)
Visit the
I liked this one…
“I’ve talked with my director… not overly helpful. ”
There is no training. It’s mostly rah rah rah… motivating encouragement… you can do it… the next time you’ll do well… when you decide to be director you will be…etc.
“The reason you can’t go to seminar is “the reason” you need to go.” Yes. Lots of pressure to go. “Profit level business or not you should go.” Whether you can afford it doesn’t matter. “That will change your life…” yes, more debt and dependence in this “opportunity” so that you have a bigger reason to stay.
More brainwashing like crying, singing and dancing. Not much or great food. Not even in the special lunches that you need to earn. You get to stand in long lines waiting to eat, herded like cattle through minimal lunches. Get to watch musical shows that hits on your emotions but no real training. You’re told lots of stories that seem real but probably aren’t. Women getting crowns for being queen and then are gone the following year. That crown was paid for by their personal finances and some sales to customers.
I went to many seminars and was in the court of sales which should be called the court of buying. The seminar is about wanting this business enough and that will help you be successful. It doesn’t teach you real skills of how to do the “business”. It’s about their success story.
An “I story” sounds like this. “I was challenged in (my finances). But then I became a mk consultant. And then I realized that I could make good money and I decided to become a director. I kept working my business and now I’m successful. If I can do it so can you. “
“There is no training. It’s mostly rah rah rah… motivating encouragement… More brainwashing like crying, singing and dancing.”
It depends on what type of training. Newbie consultants expect to be trained to sell product, when, in fact, the participants are literally being trained to be cult members and milked of their money. They are also being trained to “spread the word” to get more participating members to give money to MK Inc. using products as their vehicle.
Poor Sarah Jane, the introvert with crowd anxiety. 😣 She is exactly the wrong type for sales (assuming it was possible to sell much in Mary Kay). Yet, undoubtedly she was told that ANYONE could do this. She didn’t need to talk to strangers in this business. Whatever script used to counter her objections to joining apparently worked. Maybe it is for the best. Quick failure and rip the band aid off quickly.
I think you can measure the degree of brainwashing by directly counting words used IN ALL CAPS WITH EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those who are still living in the real world use appropriate grown-up writing rather than shouting stupid platitudes.
Poor Sarah Jane as well. I’m an introvert too only I have an aversion to strong smells. I’d have a migraine in half an hour.
“(Rain GS): Sarah Jane, actually these are all the reasons why you SHOULD go.”
That bit of unhelpful “advice” reminded me of a Saturday Night Live sketch where Kenan Thompson, impersonating baseball player David “Big Papi” Ortiz, claimed he had a cure for depression. Turning to the audience, he said, “Are you sad? Are you depressed? DON’T!”
Maybe “Rain GS” saw that bit and thought it was real.
was never in MK, but seminar sounds like a mean girls clique fest nightmare. Want to push Sarah Jane right out? tell her she *needs* to go. ughhh
It really does with a Room Captain just to infantilise you even further.
There’s also a virtual version this year. Just stay home.
“thenn im gonna hit these men up to get their ladies some MK products for mothers day to pay it all off” (sic)
I feel sorry for any person in her vicinity for the next couple of weeks as she tries and fails to make good on her promise.
Let me get this straight. The rep told her director that her family finances are such that she can’t afford to go to seminar. So the director indicates she is going to get the husbands to buy enough product to produce the commissions to cover the costs of the seminar.
The director is actually going to try to convince the husbands to spend 5 times the cost of seminar in MK product so the 20% commission to the rep will cover the cost of seminar. All in the name of “mother’s day”.
Yeah, that will go over well.
As a man who has next to zero idea what his wife of 40+ years would want to put on her hands or face, I’d be a pretty hard sell. In any case, I think a make-up or skin-care “gift” sends the wrong message. “Here, Honey, I thought this Mary Kay goo might make your face look better.” Yeah, no, thanks, I prefer to live.
Funny that the financially responsible comment stating that she is already losing too much money in MK to warrant the expense of seminar is so quickly dismissed. A real business MUST look at financials and take into consideration every expenditure in order to be successful.
But we all know MK isn’t a real business and consultants are expected to blindly spend money on unneeded inventory and silly rah rah trips.
“… the financially responsible comment stating that she is already losing too much money…”
Ack! Close your eyes and stick your fingers in your ears and yell “NA NA NA I CAN’T HEAR YOU” a la a five year old!
Does anyone know what’s happened to Shauna Abbotts? I’m no longer on social media, but, I remember her posts about her fancy room and all the free gifts she would get (on the backs of her consultants!). I check her site out of idle curiosity from time to time and it doesn’t look like she’s anywhere near her goals. Curious if she’s gradually getting out or if she’s still running on that wheel.
Once upon a time I was jealous of her, but, no more! I do feel badly for her husband and kids.
This was her future national area as of September 2021. I suspect she’s still on the hamster wheel.
Thanks, what a way to live 🙁
Wow. Not so “awesome”, is it? I doubt she is even in the top of directors (those making anything over $48k or so a year, or even over minimum wage).
It would be interesting to see an itemized list of mary kay seminar expenses such as:
Dress – $200.00
Shoes – $45.00
Travel ect….
As somebody who never went because I was never in mk thanks to the people here I would love to see.
I bet that trip alone is a ton of money per year. And yet can you imagine telling your downline you need to go if you can’t afford it. How cruel if that’s what it takes to be “successful” I want no part of it. Thanks!
I want to know more about the lady who said Seminar changed her life, her actual life not MK Life. I traveled cross-country to get to Seminar, and it didn’t change my MK “business” and it certainly didn’t change my life. It did cause me to question a lot about MK.
I saw & heard a lot of fake enthusiasm, and shared a room with a stranger. I didn’t get the sense it was life-changing for any of us from our unit who went.
As I was leaving Mary Kay, a newer consultant said she had heard hints that you should start saving all your money for Seminar right away and was that true. I unequivocally told her the truth. Yes. Save all your money. Every time you turn around there is another thing you need to pay for. If I could go back in time I would change my answer. I would simply tell her not to go. It’s not worth it.
The last seminar I went to was in 2019. I had been in mk for over 9 years and it was my 7th time going. Something clicked at that seminar and I realized it was never going to happen for me. I quit for good 3 month later.
I’d like to know how many people have the same experience as you & leave shortly after Seminar. I bet it’s not rare.
Seminar helped take my blinders off, fore sure and showed me just how often sales directors exaggerate things: the gourmet food! The fun! The girlfriend time at Seminar! The exciting Awards Ceremonies! NONE of it was as good as I was promised, and Seminar showed me that’s the MK way. Plus the misuse of spirituality got my attention in a negative way.
“Seminar helped take my blinders off.”
Just look around at seminar…you can see how tiny the potential market can be for any one consultant. Why does a make-up company need hundreds of thousands of sales consultants? Mary Kay could eliminate all that overhead to get their prices down and sell directly to customers online, like regular companies. Unless, of course, those sales consultants happen to be the target customer of Mary Kay (which they are).
Few people buy/sell door-to-door in 2022, except maybe to “help a friend”. That’s called “charity”, which is not the same as running a small business. The Ned Ryerson character in Groundhog Day should have been enough to steer people away from this very outdated marketing model. I guess not enough people have seen the movie.
Seminar was what pushed me to quit. I HATED it. The hours of applause for people I did not know. The feeling of “Why am I the only one who sucks at this?” The dinner where my millionaire NSD Suzanne Brothers made me pay for my Diet Coke at her “free” dinner for us. I don’t know. There was something about it that made me realize it was never going to happen for me. The product did fly off the shelves when I got home. Right into some boxes. Then it flew back to Dallas.