Mary Kay Seminar Will Change Your Life
Written by SuzyQ
Seminar will change your life? Um, not so much. Mary Kay Seminar will change your economic picture for a while. When seminar happens in Dallas (as opposed to the virtual options a couple of years ago), just try getting away with spending less than $1,000 to attend seminar if you have to fly there. Between airline tickets, transportation to the hotel, the hotel room, meals, banquets, etc, it adds up fast.
Ask yourself how much REALLY changed in your Mary Kay business after you came back from seminar???
It’s interesting. We are told that the training at seminar will change your business. You will go from mediocre to stellar after your classes. And then Mary Kay tells us there is nothing new… it’s the same thing… no magic: Book, Sell, Book, Recruit. So simple.
But not easy, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. You have to raise your deserve level. You have to understand deep in your heart, that you are NOT “bugging” people when you call, you are offering them the #1 selling product in the US, and you are offering them the opportunity to change their lives! You have to listen to my heart and know that MK is the BEST OPPORTUNITY around, and you might just be the answer to someone’s prayer.
Newbies will be told how to get to Red Jackets. Reds to Team Leaders, and Team Leaders to Elite Team Leaders (we used to call this “Future Director). Your name badges will be checked prior to entry into the rooms, so no sneaking in on the higher level training…
New directors will be taught to build their units to 50. Those with 50-75 will be taught to find DIQs. And those with 100+ will be taught retention, and how to build offspring. All will be taught about recruiting. Very little about how to sell. Selling is not the point. Ordering is the point.
The directors will have their own special meeting. They will be told what the fall launch is ( and will be told how to use all the unit training materials that will be coming out in the fall to help with retention and recruiting. They will talk about how fantastic all new My Shop is, while directors know the truth about all the problems for customers and consultants.
Everyone will be shown a video clip of Mary Kay, herself, speaking at a long ago seminar. Remember though, nothing has changed, so it’s okay. And you will again marvel at the width of her shoulder pads and the height of her hair, and secretly wonder if anyone else is marveling at this, too. Some people will cry here, too.
You will be herded like cattle this way and that, and everyone will be really polite, and really heavily fragranced, and really hot and sweaty. You will also witness the Christian/Faith first thing at various times. Much praying at seminar. Lots of Scripture will be cited and Jesus will be called upon more than usual. Are you Jewish? Muslim? Agnostic? Wiccan? Anything other than “Christian?” Geez, so sorry, but this may be the opportunity for you to take a look at that, too. Gotta love those “Christian” values.
Things you will hear ad nauseum:
1) Mary Kay is recession-proof (OMG there has never been a better time to be in MK!!!!!)
2) You are at the right place at the right time
3) You are poised for success
4) Once again, Mary Kay is #1 in sales
5) The sales of ___________ exceeded all projections, by at least 400%
6) The Mary Kay US is growing by leaps and bounds; recruiting has broken records
7) Mary Kay International is growing by leaps and bounds; recruiting has broken records
8) These are tough economic times, and aren’t you grateful because you don’t have to worry about job security
9) The sky is the limit, so shoot for the moon and you will land among the stars
10) If you believe, you can achieve
And my personal favorite:
11) Mary Kay is cutting edge and trend-setting
See? You didn’t even have to go!
Visit the
If recruiting is in fact growing by leaps and bounds, then consultomers overall can expect to individually sell less…
I just chose that one statement. Lots to unpack/myth bust here.
Things you WON’T learn at Seminar:
– How to run a profitable retail business
– How to keep an accurate business ledger
– The importance of tracking your time spent on your business
– The shocking number of attendees who are losing money
– The shocking number of attendees who are losing A LOT of money
– How MLM differs from franchising, particularly the lack of territorial protection in MLM and the implications to your business
– Recruits quickly become your own direct sales competition
– No downline can be profitable as a whole. Any upline profits produced are funded by losses in the same downline
– Most of the product ordered in MLMs like Mary Kay is never sold to outside customers
– Only a tiny fraction of MK products sell at full MSRP
– The high churn rate in MK
– The high loss rates in MK
– How MKs products have to be priced so high to cover all the upline commissions, that end-consumers laugh at the high prices for the quality, making it nearly impossible to sell
– Your family and friends would be happier if got a regular job and stopped peddling MLM products
I could do this all day, but alas, life calls.
The one and only purpose to seminar is cult indoctrination, not learning.
Ding-Ding! Tracy, that is exactly what Seminar is… to keep you indoctrinated. Nothing new is taught, learned, shown. It’s all the same – year after year.
Looking back… I don’t EVER remember coming back from Seminar energized. I was always exhausted. Now I understand why… it’s because cults keep you constantly moving from one thing to the other, so you never have a chance to sit and think. Thinking is detrimental to their cause.
They always crow about all of the incredible things they learned but none has ever written so much as a list, much less a manual to detail what they actually learned. Not a single one. Where are the books? Why pass up an opportunity to write and sell books about what they’ve learned?
Because they haven’t learned a damn thing.
I have stacks of notes from the seminars I’ve gone to for my topics of interest with actual practical advice I can organize into information sheets or books and pass along to anyone if I want to.
I forgot to mention that usually the days and nights are packed, leaving us feel exhausted, wired, and sleep deprived (strange rooms, roommates, evening activities, little time to spend alone, noise, smells, lots of walking, expensive food, impulsive vendor purchases etc.)
And hot (outside) or freezing (inside), and dehydrated, and under-nourished, and overstimulated. It’s a recipe for snippy arguments, not business success.
And Seminar does not offer a single class on product knowledge, safe ingredients, product benefits, make up application or anything that will help you SELL products and build a client base. At least they never did at the Seminars I attended.
Nope, not a single class offered to help you sell stuff or understand how your products worked, what was in them, or how to market them.
Yeah, we had a chance to talk with the scientists (HAHAHA) at the Expo about ingredients and products, and I think they were stumped by our questions most of the time. (I swear they had scripts, too.) Depending on what was debuting, you MIGHT see one of these scientists on stage talking about the new stuff, but it was just platitudes.
The post said “have a blast learning make-up tips and tricks!” And I thought “I wish!”
There was no application tips or how to color match. The biggest thing I remember about actual product knowledge was to buy X book about ingredients, buy Y DVD about application tips. (This was back in 2009.)
So much for free training.
It also got really boring. I mean how many stage walks can you clap for before getting bored?
I was never in MK, but I’ve learned from PT about the “guilting” around Seminar attendance.
You have a team/downline? “You set the example! The speed of the leader is the speed of the team.”
You’re a consultant? “If you’re serious about your business, you’ll go!”
Not attending? Your director will absolutely fawn over those who are going. But you’re left out…snubbed. No photo of YOU in her latest newsletter. Post-seminar, you’ll be told over and over how you “missed so much” by staying home. You need to be sorry you didn’t go, you lazy loser.
Not to mention you are told by your director to wear dresses at all times, even on your flights to and from. Also, I quote “everyone looks better with pants hose and shape wear right?!!” Wasted so much money on seminar outfits gowns.
If there’s one “silver lining,” I was in MK when it was still “classy” attire. Now, seminar looks like a literal Nashville bachelorette party. Some of these pictures are atrocious. As an insurance professional, I wouldn’t be caught dead at a business function in that attire.
I went….once. Confirmed my suspicions and promptly sent my product back. Unless you are caught up in the things of this world (diamonds, gold, furs, pink caddys and envy baiting on social media) then scaminar will be the biggest waste of money you ever spent on so called “training” or “vacation” or award recognition IN YOUR LIFE. Don’t believe us? Well, you were warned. Buyer beware. Dont you think it strange that you and your director are the only ones going or how come the entire unit isn’t going to the biggest even of the year??? How could they be so poor as to not afford one very short vacation???
But what about the Broadway quality SHOWS? I mean that’s all worth it right? People spend hundreds/thousands on a ticket to ONE show in NYC. MK Seminar is a BARGAIN!
/s