Mary Kay’s Succession Plan
Written by Parsons Green
Dawn Otten Sweeney is a national sales director who has been with Mary Kay for almost 40 years. She’s two years away from having to take mandatory retirement. She wants to leave her unit to her daughter, Aulden Sweeney-Wydo, so she keeps busy busy busy attending every event she can so she can make sure her unit count and commissions keep growing.
Dawn shared a video last year at event. She tells listeners how she joined Mary Kay. The full video can be seen here. In this excerpt, she describes The Mary Kay Succession Plan
Mary Kay wanted to make sure the company always upheld:
- The Golden Rule
- God First, Family Second, Career Third
- The belief everyone has a seed inside of them waiting to grow
Dawn states some Mary Kay consultants are not carrying inventory. They fulfill orders through the Customer Delivery Service where the company sends product to the customer directly. Dawn bumped into an acquaintance who said that her consultant never has the oil free eye makeup remover. The acquaintance wondered if the product is even popular, because the consultant doesn’t keep it in stock.
Dawn is SHOCKED and tells her that this product is so popular and effective that she has had referrals to buy it from customers who were told by MAC Representatives that it is the best makeup remover around.
Dawn believes that the Golden Rule also applies to customers. They deserve to have a consultant who is actively involved in selling the product. The consultant needs to be on top of learning about new products and trends so she can give their customers the best possible service. Therefore, it is okay to sell to a customer that originally belonged to another consultant. I wonder… Would Dawn be as happy if Kimberly Copeland stole one of her customers?
Although Dawn feels that career should come third, she’s hosting a Mary Kay Fall retreat.
The Friday event is for leaders only and is $45.
The Saturday event is for leaders and consultants and is $75.
There is no discount if you want to attend both sessions. Lunch will not be provided on Saturday and there’s not enough time to leave and get it on your own. So, bring a bagged lunch or buy a pre-made boxed lunch for $20. Do not ask Dawn any questions about this boxed lunch. She cannot help you.
And even though Mary Kay consultants are independent contractors, Dawn will not let you attend in pants. Also, don’t bring your service animal because the venue does not allow for animals. No exceptions.
It is so much fun to be in Mary Kay. What’s offered in Mary Kay is more needed then ever. Women need hope and they need cash. Mary Kay helps your customer save money and time. It offers them both a plan B and a plan A if they want to work part or full time.
She then states that the average household needs to spend $12,000 a year more just to maintain the lifestyle they lived the year before.
I wonder if Dawn is using this same number in more current speeches or if she’s made up yet another number. You need to pour gasoline on your goals. If you watch the news, you will see you need to amp up your business.
Her love for you is unconditional, but unfortunately her time is NOT. She works with women that she can see God is already working with. Meaning, the ones that are ordering ordering ordering. I wonder if Dawn would ever purchase a starter kit for someone.
Would she let someone attend this event for free?
Visit the
The sales force pays for everything in Mary Kay…including events like this. Real companies pay for sales conferences…using revenue from sales to outside customers. There is simply too little of this type of revenue in Mary Kay for the company (or the upline) to pay for events like this.
So it falls to the “real” customers…the downline…to pay for everything.
Exactly. The revenue stream in MK is a closed system of corporate => consultomers => upline and like every other closed system, it can’t sustain itself because there are always losses.
So, not only are you paying for your own travel, accomodations, and food. You’re paying for your own training. You’re paying for some probably hefty speaker’s fees for the almighty Dawn Otten Sweeny to descend to earth from her roseate cloud-draped throne. You’re paying to be told what to eat. You’re paid to be told what to wear. You’re paying to be told how to manage your disability – fun fact: in PA, at least, it’s a summary offense for a business owner to refuse to allow a registered service animal or charge extra to allow it.
You’re paying to be told the same old crap that you’ve been told a million times before, that does not and has never worked because it’s all hot air meant to cover up the fact that the MLM game is rigged against you.
October is the time for fall carnivals, and Halloween parties, and pumpin picking (or chunking), and haunted houses, and hayrides, and stockpiling little Snickers bars, and chilly nights spent wrapped up in a blankie on the couch watching stupid TV.
Platitudes in pantyhose, or caramel apples. You pick. It’s all your money, after all.
Not to mention every other cost in Mary Kay:
– Corporate salaries/bonuses
– Corporate utilities
– Corporate taxes
– Corporate facilities/maintenance
– Manufacturing/material costs
– Supplier costs
– Upline commissions/bonuses
– Car leases
– Trips
– Seminar
Mary Kay has no other real revenue source to pay for these things. Direct online purchases by outside customers represent only a teeny tiny fraction compared to the revenue paid in through the real gravy train: consultant and director orders.
In other words, in the aggregate, the sales force effectively pays for all of it!
I’ll give Dawn two and only two kudos for using an unfiltered photo of herself and makeup that isn’t horribly clowny, minus several million for the Elvira-wannabe hairdo and fashions.
“She wants to leave her unit to her daughter, Aulden Sweeney-Wydo…”
Is this what Aulden wants, or is this just another Linda Toupinesque manipulate the strings from behind situation?
“Dawn is SHOCKED and tells her that this product is so popular and effective that she has had referrals to buy it from customers who were told by MAC Representatives that it is the best makeup remover around.”
*snknrrrrrrrrrrk*BWAHAHAHAHA
Peasants, the mighty Dawn Otten Sweeny is far too important to answer your plebian boxed lunch questions (and $20 for a meager sandwich, bottle of water, and a tiny bag of chips is one hell of a racket in and of itself). It doesn’t matter that NSDs are MK royalty and filthy rich (BWAHAHAHAHAHA) and that providing a few supermarket sandwich trays and two-liter bottles of soda wouldn’t cost all that much and would earn a lot of goodwill. Hell, you can even cheap out on store-brand soda and pour it into those plastic pitchers every church hall has in their multitudes.
It would make sense that someone stuck in the 20th century wouldn’t have heard of DoorDash.
It’s awful that they will not allow service pets.
Another 6 figure leader charging for a mostly free event. Nothing new under the sun. Still pisses me off tho. They’ll only appreciate it if they have to invest they say. Can’t wait for Aulden to finally hit million and show us yet again that the only way to succeed in MK in 2025 is to have a mom pass a unit down to you.
So much for Free Training in Mary Kay. It doesn’t exist.
That’s quite a little racket she’s got going there. Is the guest speaker a relative? They have the same last name so I guess that keeps the $$$ in the family.
I believe it’s her husband. Also known as Jake and he owns a fitness center (?)
She has some nerve holding such a pricey event in a church, when Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. The thing that really gets me is her charging the consultants more than the directors.