Mary Kay Is Hiding Information
Written by Parsons Green
Mary Kay sales director Shari Schlapman is still worried how she will sell her $20,000 worth of inventory once Mary Kay My Shop launches on December 17th. She is also concerned that payments for online orders will take three days to be deposited in consultant’s stripe accounts. She is also puzzled that there are still unauthorized sellers on Amazon.
Shari finally had enough and asked anyone if they had a direct phone number for whoever is in charge of My Shop. Sadly, only two consultants responded and neither had the info.
She called corporate again and got through to a kind soul. The corporate employee listed to Shari’s concerns. Sheri begged that someone from the project call her directly. Shari received a call back from the employee. She was able to get the feedback to the right department, but sadly they would not be calling Shari back.
Marcia Lapastora was happy that Shari got to speak to someone. She would like to know what Shari’s concerns are. Shari is still upset that the new My Shop will not allow a consultant to fill an online order from their inventory. She is an independent business owner and Mary Kay is taking away her control of her business. She needs answers for her team. (And remember, she’s got $20,000 of products that she over-ordered, and those need to be unloaded!)
Cheryl Sheedy is reminding her customers to screenshot their orders before submission so she can check them and help the customers fix any mistakes they made. Sherry Hanes is shocked to learn that the stripe deposit will take three days.
Melodye Lemon laments that she also carries a full inventory and she will be advising customers not to use the website. Why won’t Mary Kay let her use her inventory for website orders? (Because this is a huge move in the direction of an affiliate model!)
Shari then admits she feels that the company is deliberately hiding info from consultants. Jenean Hammer-Huber sweeps in to say consultants need to be patient with Mary Kay. Everything they do is to help a consultant. Do not call the company during this change. They are too busy. She doesn’t want ANY type of negative talk or pot stirring. She will focus on accepting orders from her customers the way they want to order, but will be including special scratch off tickets for future orders in all her deliveries.
Shari then claps back that she does NOT need to have any lectures on how to look at things with rose colored glasses. There are too many unanswered questions. Nathan Moore always thought that the company needed feedback from the sales force. (However, Nathan Moore was terminated by Mary Kay so…..) Shari then concludes this chapter by saying if the company does decide to sell, they will do it without any notice to consultants. She will not judge the company if they do this.
Sherry Hanes shares her strategy. She is sending a lengthy explanation to all her customers. They will never get free shipping through My Shop, but she will deliver for free.
Shari has been a consultant for over 30 years and it should be totally obvious to her that the company no longer cares about any of her opinions. How much of her inventory will still be sitting on her shelf this time next year?
Visit the
This is a total cluster and apparently the company has no plan/desire to provide more detail. I am spit-balling here, but if I was still a director sitting on the HUGE inventory I had and this change happened, I would be filled with the rage of 10.000 suns, a devasting sense of betrayal, and an incredible, crippling fear about not being able to pay my bills. Especially in this economy, especially during the holidays. But that’s just me.
(excuse the typos– if I made them, I didn’t catch them)
It’s almost like, hmm, if this was really HER business, she wouldn’t have these issues?
I can well imagine that Shari and co. feel like the floor has dropped away beneath their feet, like Wile E Coyote in that split second where he holds up a sign saying YIKES before he falls to become a puff of dust on the canyon floor.
Decades spent believing in the company, believing that they cared about the “sales” force, that giving them your money meant you were entitled to information: gone.
Don’t waste your time and energy trying to get anything out of corporate. You’re actually not entitled to squat and you’ve seen that that’s exactly what you’ll get.
The company you thought you knew is going to vanish in 3 weeks. You can’t stop it. They don’t care about you.
They care about money. So return as much inventory as you can. Encourage your downline to do the same. Shake the dust from your feet, take some time to address your anger and betrayal and disappointment. They’re honest emotions and you’re allowed to have them
Then, find something else to do (NOT ANOTHER MLM!!!) Even in this economy, there are jobs, volunteer opportunities, and hobbies out there.
Get mad. Get even, too.
I think it will always bother me that some women refer to other women as “girls.”