Written by Sojourner

Regarding Mary Kay’s changes to My Shop:

My guess is that the PITA factor for those who carry inventory and pride themselves on personal service was factored into the discussions when this new approach was first being developed, and they see the disgruntled sales force as a positive, not a negative.

I say that because all signs point to MKCorp desperately needing to divest themselves of the “Mary Kay Way™” the sooner, the better, in order to: 1) Better position the company for a sale (my guess)*, and/or 2) Go to an affiliate model. I think MKCorp knows what a goat-rope this is going to be, and is counting on it to hasten thinning the herd of consultants and directors, leaving them “no choice”, but to look to other business models or finding a buyer.

It will be couched as being “very difficult” to make this decision, full of treacly nothing-isms (some things will never change), but “regretfully, the decision had to be made.” So long and thanks for all the fish.

What few consultants and directors seem to fail to grasp is simple business 101: A for-profit business IS in business to MAKE MONEY for the company. It appears MKCorp is rapidly bleeding out. They are – and always have been – concerned about THE COMPANY’S BOTTOM LINE, NOT the consultants and directors. The founder herself said cycling through consultants (the ones who ostensibly sell to eager customers) was like filling a bathtub without a drain plug. Never-ending turnover. That benefited who? The company! NOT the vast number of consultants who have rotated in and out over 60 years.

When you step back a bit and look at the actions MKCorp has taken over the last 5 – 10 years, it becomes clear they’ve known their business must change. So many things that formerly supported the consultants and directors have been phased out:

• No big pow-wow meeting of the Nationals at Corp to get their input
• Shuttering the Ruby division
• Shortening Seminar, now with fewer freebies
• No career cars for IBCs
• NSDs retiring at an astonishing rate without replacements waiting in the wings
• Changes to the formerly bullet-proof NSD position
• Discontinuing samples (for cryin’ out loud, I can get a sample of almost anything I want at Sephora and most of the time at Dillard’s)
• The overall caliber and quality of the recruits has gone down (catty, yes I realize that’s catty, but I’m right)

Cui bono is a Latin phrase that means “who benefits?” It’s often used to question who stands to gain from a particular action or situation. Who, indeed, benefits? MKCorp! The house always wins. And since business is down, MKCorp is changing things so they’ll continue to win (or not lose as much while they’re trolling for a buyer). The consultant, not so much, sorry.

Some will blame the pandemic shut-down for the downturn in business, but that’s just a convenient excuse. The MLM business model is going the way of the buggy-whip maker, and has been for quite some time. Society changed. Technology advanced. They know it, and should have recognized it and taken action long before now if they want to salvage their “good name and reputation”.

But what reputation do they really have, out in the wild, the general public?

Mary Kay is woefully behind the curve on skin care innovations, and skin care was the foundation and hallmark of the company at its inception and for many years. The color cosmetics and other items were added as an afterthought; something to up sell, and they’ve lagged in that department, too. They offer outdated colors, formulas, and packaging.

Their pricing is laughable; in no way are they comparable to similarly priced higher end products from Kate Somerville, Dermalogica, Lancome, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, etc. Drug store skin care has made enormous strides in quality offerings over the last 20+ years, with Neutrogena, Olay, ROC, Strivectin, and other well known, popular brands delivering great products that work for a fraction of the price of the Mary Kay line.

Color cosmetics? Pffft! Revlon continues to make some of the best lipsticks I’ve ever used (I’m in my 70’s); creamy formula, long lasting, very wide range of colors (some of which have been popular for decades), and very reasonably priced. Even the ever-lowly Wet’nWild eye shadows – once the equivalent of using cheap colored chalk as eye shadow – is dang near a dupe for many Urban Decay shades and creamy blendability at a fraction of the price. E.L.F. is another company that upped their game from their humble beginnings and offers very effective, on-trend color selections, and affordable products.

I don’t have a feel, time-wise (or should that be TimeWise™?) for the end to the MLM phase. I can’t see them lasting more than a couple of years, but certainly don’t see them limping along another five. But who knows, except “The times, they are a’changing”.

My heart is full of compassion for those who, having the very best of intentions, were unwittingly roped into this destructive scheme; there are many here on this site. I don’t think anyone was stupid.

People were deliberately manipulated, lied to, and gas-lit into believing that because they couldn’t replicate the “success” of others they were led to believe could also be theirs, it was all their fault. It wasn’t, never was. It was (and is) their business plan. Shame on them! I’m glad y’all made it out, some very financially battered, as well as your sense of self taking a hit, but you are winners. I despise the liars who perpetuate this sham, more often than not couched in ersatz-“Christian” platitudes. You learned a lot.

* It’s my guess they’ll end up trying to find a buyer instead of going affiliate because once the front-loading and sales to consultants/directors falls off even Stevie Wonder will be able to recognize the Emperor has no clothes. The sales from the general public aren’t going to be enough to sustain the company, even if they’re selling on Amazon and using an affiliate model. There are simply too many other, better choices for less money and much less hassle, and those other, better choices aren’t burdened by the stench of an MLM, nor do they have a reputation for being “old lady” products. For years they’ve been riding the wave of the Mary Kay Ash persona, not realizing they were riding the old gal right into the company’s grave.