17 Years You’ll Never Understand
Anther email from a “fan” of Pink Truth:
I have been a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant for 17 years. In that time, I have earned recognition, built friendships I cherish, and grown personally in ways you could never comprehend. You keep talking about profits as if money is the only measure of success.
Some of us stay because we love the community and the positive environment. I have more confidence, stronger speaking skills, and a sense of purpose thanks to this opportunity. Not everything is about whether you made a certain dollar amount each week.
I know the women on this site wouldn’t understand that because you are obsessed with negativity and blame. It’s sad that you think you know everything about Mary Kay when you clearly don’t. There is value here you will never appreciate.
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“…I have earned recognition, built friendships I cherish, and grown personally in ways you could never comprehend.”
And here is something you probably don’t comprehend: Those friendships will last only as long as you keep ordering.
Making money from an endeavor isn’t the only measure of success, but it’s the most important in the current world. Speaking skills don’t pay for groceries. Those cherished friends, who as Data Junkie rightly points out will ditch you in a hot second if you quit toeing the MK party line, aren’t going to pay your gas bill. The bank won’t accept “a sense of purpose” in lieu of cash on your mortgage.
She’s also fallen into the Kbot false dichotomy trap: within the bubble lie all good things (confidence, recognition, sense of purpose, soft skills, growth) while without we’re all just a bunch of hateful clueless personally stunted troglodytes.
Personal growth, job satisfaction, learning, and friendships can be found anywhere out in the world. The problem is that it takes trial and error, failure, introspection, and a willingness to learn from past mistakes and experiences, something very not allowed by the relentless toxic positivity of MLM.
Instead of lashing out at us, try looking within to understand why you felt it necessary. You might experience some actual growth.
Hobbies are wonderful. They’re the things that fill us up, ignite our passions, push us to learn and experience new things, and keep us fully ourselves. They also usually cost money. If Mary Kay marketed itself as an expensive hobby, rather than a legitimate business and way to earn money, I’m totally fine with it.
However, the reason we harp on about how much money you (don’t) make in MK is because of all the money you’re promised to earn when you’re recruited. Stop promising income, and I’ll stop pointing out that you’re not making any.
You must have come in to MK strictly for the friendships and not for the money. Most of us came in for the money. I didn’t need more friends. I needed my bills to be paid and I needed to feed my family. We don’t have rich husbands to pay the bills and give us the ability to play around with Mary Kay friends and makeup all day. We were told executive income with part time hours. We did not get that. So we’re mad about it. We lost a lot of time and a lot of money listening to people who made money because of us continuing to push. If you came in for girlfriends and didn’t get life long friendships, you’d be mad about it too. You have the friends you came for so you’re not mad. We were lied to. You were not. Congrats to you.