Mary Kay Sales Director Earnings: Less Than Minimum Wage
The hallmark of pyramid schemes (masquerading as something legitimate under an innocent-sounding name like multi-level marketing) is false earnings claims. We at Pink Truth know that time and again, research shows that more than 99% of people LOSE MONEY in MLM.
Nonetheless, practically all you ever hear about is how much money participants are making. And these claims are largely lies. When confronted with the reality that so many people lose money in MLM, the companies themselves resort to excuses like “women don’t really want to make money with Mary Kay… they do it for fun and as a social outlet.”
Yet when we look at Mary Kay Inc.’s website, the recruiting focus is on ALL THE MONEY YOU WILL MAKE!
Women at all levels in Mary Kay are guilty of making false earnings claims. Here is top sales director Roya Mattis lying about her income. Here is the reality about how much the pink Cadillac directors (the very top directors in Mary Kay) are earning. Here is a typical Premier Club director (also high in the director line-up) making about $20,000 per year. Here are the earnings of the very, very top directors in Mary Kay.
Here is one more example of a Mary Kay sales director who worked very hard and had the typical paltry earnings. Pink Truth member Gooberoon sent in her income tax return to prove her numbers.
She became a director within 4 months of becoming a consultant. She worked an average of 70 hours per week, and was a director for a little more than 2 years. Gooberoon had 4 offspring directors, and her personal unit ranged from 75 to 100 members. She personally recruited more than 100 women while she was in Mary Kay. Gooberoon was in the Court of Sales and Court of Sharing in 2011, and was in the Court of Sales, Court of Sharing, and Unit Club in 2012. And she drove a Pink Cadillac.
These details are important. No one can claim she wasn’t doing it right! The first claim Mary Kay supporters make when someone says they made little to no money is “you didn’t work the Mary Kay way!” Well that is obviously not the case here, as Gooberoon worked fast and worked hard, with all the numbers in her favor (except for her income!).
Her numbers are as follows for 2011 (full year as a director) and 2012 (half year as a director before quitting Mary Kay):
Working 70 hours per week, and assuming 2 weeks off per year…. Gooberoon made a whopping $3.84 per hour in 2011 and $2.21 per hour in 2012! Now that is some EXECUTIVE INCOME, my friends!
Again, we have clearly demonstrated the failure of the Mary Kay “business opportunity.” A Cadillac director working hard and working fast, creating offspring sales directors, personally recruiting, getting high unit production, working more than full time…. and she can’t even make minimum wage. Mary Kay is pathetic.
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This is almost identical to mine! Just because you’re driving a Cadillac doesn’t mean you’re actually keeping all that you earned, but that’s what no one in this company wants to admit. It’s so expensive to be a Director, and the bigger your unit gets drives more costs. I had the Gold Medals, the personal sales, and I know lots of others who’ve done even more than I did and still aren’t in a pink car, don’t have Offspring, and are chasing that carrot still. Thank you for posting facts again, PT. Hopefully more will visit here and see the facts and not think we’re all just “quitters” who never even tried to “work smart”.
Here it is all in black and white, numbers don’t lie. But, I tell you who does…these women who are still in the pink fog. When you ask any MK consultant how much they’ve earned AFTER expenses, you get no real answer. Just a lot BS about how wonderful MK has been to them. It’s just ridiculous.
These are horrifying numbers! So many directors are still in denial, it’s so sad! I’m so glad I was never “good enough” to make it to DIQ.
I’m very happy to see someone send in the taxes so we can see the numbers (we already knew, we had taxes too haha). Numbers don’t lie.
If you’re in MK, slowly you’ll see that the top directors who seem to be making the most really have husbands who make a lot, so it looks like they’re living large on MK but they’re not. It’s when they divorce and move in with their parents that you see it was all a sham.
“If you’re in MK, slowly you’ll see that the top directors who seem to be making the most really have husbands who make a lot, so it looks like they’re living large on MK but they’re not. It’s when they divorce and move in with their parents that you see it was all a sham.”
I noticed that little inconvenient truth too. Funny how that never makes the recruiting pamphlets…
What little cash they do have left after expenses goes right back to Mary Kay as car co-payments and to buy more inventory to make monthly “production” quotas.
Meanwhile that credit card debt keeps growing and festering.
Mary Kay directors confuse cash flow with profits. You may have cash in hand, yes, but that’s not profit. Once you subtract all the other cash you spent to get there, and make that minimum monthly credit card payment, there’s nothing left.
You can probably live on $30K a year from MK when you’re sucking money from your husband’s paycheck.
You can leave that Pink Monster out in your driveway day and night to make everyone think you are rolling in money, when all you have is an expensive hobby. Yepper…and driving around your little town wearing those huge sunglasses…woohoo! And all those dress-up girl-friend party pictures on Facebook…why, you look like you’re a millionaire who just parties all the time. Just take tons of selfies making silly faces and you are on your way to suck-cess. But make sure you post at least one photo a day from home or the playground to make it look like you’re with the family and living your dream-life.
I heard a good one in a YouTube video…the IBC told her party guests that “everything in MK is a tax write-off”…in fact, she and the family went camping, and she wrote part of it off because she held a SCC there.
And now we know what bears do in the woods.
The fact that for all these 50+ years, they have been pretending all these recruits and Directors have a business, without ONE IOTA of business training, is unbelievable! No discussion ever of monthly profit and loss. No accounting of all expenses. Sixty-Forty! Hilarious! As if that was ever a legit accounting practice…or something that any IBC could follow. Imagine a Director being told, in answer to her last day of the month production call, ” Well, I accounted for all my expenses, and my wholesale order was at 60% of what I sold, so there is nothing left to “stretch” for our Unit Cadillac goal.
Please lurker! Please…just tell your Director that…make my day!
Silly raisinberry! P&L stands for People and Love in Mary Kay Land!!
Every IBC, SD and NSD who’s worth their salt, can track every single one of their numbers with only one exception. Don’t ever ask them about income or profit. They stammer around like a bunch of fools!
Just watch the 20/20 episode if you don’t believe me:)
Advertising- What a huge personal expense to promote MK. This indicates that MK corporate doesn’t do very much on behalf of the sales force.
Travel- Too high for a cosmetics position, shows the pressure to attend events.
Misc. – Good grief! What a huge funnel, to ultimately keep the unit going…….way to costly to be in MK and make a profit.
And then doesn’t she also pay Social Security for self-employment at something like 15%?
Yep! It’s 15.3 percent. If you are a traditional employee, your employer pays half of that. If you are self-employed, all of it is your responsibility.
“Other expenses” is the biggest number on the list. Funny how there’s no detail for that…
Want to guess what “other expenses” is? My guess is that it’s buying more inventory to “finish production.”
Other expenses also includes cost for Seminar, Leadership, and other conferences along with hotel, food, etc.; suits; cheapie bling that generally adds up; and more. And of course inventory.
I think under expenses, a real category should exist called, Production Bait. That would be all the weekly prize gimmicks, the Star Quarter Event prize (in addition to the company prize) the Recruiting prizes, and the year end Seminar awards!! The faux glitz prizes were pretty pricey at year end…upwards of $200-300. range for CZ baguette rings and ear rings and bracelets…plus Ribbons! Sheesh. Anybody remember when they awarded faux fur vests? Mink key rings? Add-a-Diamond RIngs?
Production bait: aka the box full of crap that you will end up throwing out because it’s full of cheap stuff that turns your fingers//ears/wrists green, breaks the first time you use it, or gets chewed up by the dog.
For correct accounting purposes, you would need a category for Production Bait and another one for Recruiting Bait. A good business woman should be able to know if the crap she is giving as prizes are working on the target market!!!
You wouldn’t want to spend one cent more than absolutely necessary:)
” faux fur vests? Mink key rings? Add-a-Diamond RIngs?”
Oh dear, how gawdy and tasteless.
Then again, this is Mary Kay we’re talking about. Nothing GOOD ever comes out of MK
There’s quite a bit of it on Ebay.
The add a diamond rings, lol. My stupid director was too cheap to pay to have them set in to the ring!!!! What kind of “prize” is that???? Here is a junk ring and a teensy little diamond chip that probably cost her a dime, but go have it set yourself to the tune of $50 (more than the cost of the whole thing combined LOL) what a JOKE!!!!
For real?
I’ve seen cheap, but that’s a whole new level of cheap. And I’m willing to bet that “diamond” wasn’t real carbon, but a CZ knockoff!
100% truth. I threw the crap away.
You are correct Rasinberry. The prizes and recruiting material that I had to purchase from my NSD Cyndee Gress killed me. That woman makes a HUGE profit off of her SD’s. They all need to find other ways to make money.
“prizes and recruiting material that I had to purchase from my NSD Cyndee Gress”
You HAD to buy them from her? Shame on Cyndee.
But, again, it shows that NSDs are trying to make money any way they can because things aren’t so rosy at the top.
Yes we HAD to buy them! Every time you wanted to share the opportunity, you needed to gift that person a DVD of “the facts” that cost $7 each. They could not be copied. Also, every time your unit had a new consultant, you had to give them a “new consultant training” dvd at the cost of $5 each. These could not be copied and she kept track of how many you bought to make sure it added up with the “interviews” and new recruits in you unit.
Now remember, I had hundreds or interviews and new consultants. This woman is making a mint off of her area. When I asked why she didn’t have the video on her website with a passcode we could give to our potential recruits, she said it was “because of the quality of the video on line was not good enough” she also told me that “if you want to be successful, do what I say with the tools I give you and don’t question me”.
Do you know hoe LITTLE it cost her to have those DVDs made? She was making a few bucks with every one of them, on top of her commissions.
http://www.mixonic.com/dvd/dvd-replication/
The tools she GAVE you???
Didn’t you just say you had to BUY the tools?
What in the world could happen if you refused to buy her stuff?
I was in deep and brain washed. I would be shunned, bullied in front of my “sister directors”, emotionally and verbally abused. I know it may seem crazy to some of you and think “how stupid could this chic be?” But I am not the only smart woman who fell for this type of abuse….heck, there wouldn’t be this website if that were true.
Ridiculous.
$2.21/hr after it’s all said and done.
Ironically, depending on where she lives, this former MK director might have qualified for government assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid with the kind of money she was bringing in. I say ironically, cuz with the looks-is-everything corporate management at MK, how bad would it look on the company if their “executive” directors have to rely on government assistance to make sure their children don’t starve.
Mlm radar…Believe me, NOTHING was given to me. What would I have to gain by making this up? Yes, I said BUY and she said GIVE.
That’s what I was trying to say. Two faced b—- the words coming out of her mouth condemned you because she was “giving” you tools. But her hand was deftly reaching for your wallet like a professional pickpocket.
And she still had the nerve to use the word “give.”
The only person on the receiving end of her gifts was her.
I have no idea how that woman sleeps at night!
tamtam what Gooberoon says is truth.
Now she doesn’t include her Cadillac in her list but it is considered income. So she would not qualify for any type of assistance because a Cadillac Escalade goes for at least 60k and considered income.
Yes Gooberoon is telling the truth with the “give” and “buy” terminology. What she is saying is very much like how MKCC says they have an opportunity to give you for only for 100.
NSD Linda Toupin Choices CD follows suit saying she has a wonderful tool for recruiting she wants to give you for 7.00.
The shunning for a renegade SD who hears her GPS of integrity directing her out of the fog of terminology brainwashing is socially ignored. Horrid. Despicable. Confusing.
Her love for all the god fearing women she has been honored by, mentored and developed friendship with is dissolved quicker than adding boiling water to gelatin mix. It truly is a soul burning experience, many loved ones gone over night.
I believe Gooberoon. I don’t doubt that the Pink Beast took from her until there was nothing left and cheated her in every way. My apologies if there was any misunderstandings about that.
Naw I didn’t think you were doubting her.
One thing that got me were the prizes. Our weekly meeting consisted of awarding the ones that sold $200 plus and if you completed a challenge. At first it sounded nice but then it was extremely frustrating to see the same ones get prizes. Later I realized that was a strategic plan to keep the ones making money or spending their own money happy. It was like being punished for not contributing. Another thing that got me was having to pay for the mandatory weekly meeting that was not told to me until my first meeting. Then we had to volunteer to bring snacks? Anyone else experience this? But now i understand its to help the director pay for things while they drive in their free cars and I have to help support my own family.
It’s been a little over 3 years since I was “defogged”. I am 3 years into my bankruptcy and slowly digging myself out of this mess I got myself in. Correct me if I am wrong, but am I still the only one to show proof of income (debt)?
During my 27 years in MKC the most I earned according to my Social Security print out was18K. I had the use of a MKC and a Unit member in a red car. The following year I discovered I was being conned and quit MKC this was in 2006.
The 20/20 SDs who claimed they hadn’t any idea of what they earned? They were genuine, in my opinion, they really didn’t have a clue. Let me tell you why.
I had unquestioning commitment to May Kay, the MKCC, and all of the leaders, SD and above. I saw the system as a family I could trust without doubt. They said they knew what was best and I believed them.( I know it was naive. Well I know it now but I came from the era of “children are seen but not heard. Respect your elders, say yes sir.” But that is another story) The doubt MKCC discouraged by name calling me a Negative Nanny by merely asking a question. (Stung my soul. Familiar fear as a child not being accepted by my Mother. ‘Nother story)
It was especially difficult for me with a product improvement of what I already had on my shelves. I was very careful with my finances because I had none. 🙂 What saved me was my integrity. I considered it stealing by charging the new products and not being able to pay for them. So I dealt with the “your customers are doing without,” shameful herding at Area Director Sales meeting, shameful herding is what I call it, from my leaders.
The MKC has a, us against the world type of mentality. I felt this in many ways but especially when they shamed me for wanting to get a J-O-B, referring to it as journey of the broke.
So with this type of brainwash thinking, when I did discover we all were being scammed I knew what I was up against. I told a few SDs I knew would believe me. Well that experience was very much the same experience I felt when I asked my siblings how they felt when Mother abused me and my brother? (‘Nother story) Silence. Body language of no longer accepting me socially. Polite tolerance of me in their presence. (‘Nother story.)
So the three SDs I am referring to in the 20/20 segment are clueless they are earning minimum wage. They really don’t know.
I can’t help but think when they got home they went to their previous years income tax papers to find their answer. I say this because of how MKSDs like to know it all. Not because they doubt. But because they were asked a question they were not able to answer and were made to look reckless with their status.
About those prizes. Mary Kay told SD to purchase prizes based on the amount of commission she earned from the IBC order.
So if the SD earned 100. off of her IBC then she could award her a prize of 5. This is why Mary Kay suggested a ribbon off of the SD order sheet.
This is to all the people who have a very one sided opinion. Mary Kay has been is business over 50 years! They are thousands of women who do this for a multitude of reasons and yes there is the pyramid. So what. That’s business. You have to spend money to make money. Wealth is not going to fall in your lap, you have to work! you have to talk to people. In any business if you don’t talk to all people then you might as well stop because you have certainly missed the point of business. Women can bring home the bacon too you know and what the heck why not feel and look good in the process. Mary Kay has brought positive aura and well being in my life and my husband even told me ” I’ve been waiting not days, weeks, months but YEARS for you to dress more like a girl! It’s nice to have my wife back”Hats off to all the Entrepreneurs of Mary Kay. May the success continue to thrive and show everyone We can do this!!! We got this!!!
Deborah – You didn’t need Mary Kay to dress like a girl. You could have done that for free all by yourself.
Mary Kay is not a business and the participants are not entrepreneurs:
http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2015/03/multi-level-marketing-is-not-a-business-its-a-pyramid-scheme/
The idea that you have to “spend money to make money” works with real businesses. It doesn’t work with MLM. The proof? Almost everyone in MLM loses money and never turns a profit:
http://www.pinktruth.com/mary-kay-facts/myth-of-mlm-income-opportunity-99-lose-money-in-mlm/
But let’s set all those facts aside and go back to the original point of this particular article. Sales directors… the top 2% of MK… making minimum wage. What I’ve shown you here is not the exception, it’s the rule. How on earth can anyone think that MK is a good opportunity when the top 2% of people in the company are making minimum wage?
Mary Kay has been in business over 50 years!
Bernie Madoff was chairman of his investment firm for 48 years!
See how that works…?
What a load of thought-stopping gobbledygook…
The fact that MK has been in business for more than 50 years simply means that the business model has proven successful FOR MARY KAY INCORPORATED.
But not for 99.9% of its “independent consultants.”
That’s business. You have to spend money to make money. We got this!!!
WRONG! You have to spend money WISELY to make money. Merely spending money on whatever the company offers (inventory, conferences, seminars, samples) will NOT make you money. Having a positive “We got this!!!” attitude will NOT attract money to your wallet.
I’m so tired of hearing people parrot this line. That’s what you’re doing. You’re parroting MLM sales slogans without stopping to think. Time to wake up.
At the end of the day, real entrepreneurship isn’t about how much you spend. It’s about how much you get back. And in a business where you’re competing with 60,000+ listings on eBay offering “50% off – free shipping” you aren’t going to get much back at all. Good luck with that.
By the way, the next Pink Truth hater who came by just said that we “should have had more common sense and not spent money they didn’t have”.
Gotta love ya. You kaybots have an answer for everything. First we didn’t want to spend the money, then whatever we did spend was too much. Bottom line: It’s all our fault.
Wrong again. But it’s OK. We’ll be waiting for you when your own “business” fails and you’re blaming yourself trying to figure out why.
May the success continue to thrive and show everyone We can do this!!! We got this!!!
Would you care to send PROOF of this thriving to Tracy, in the form of your last couple of tax returns from your Mary Kay business?
She’s a real accountant and can tell you whether you are actually thriving.
Just because a company is 50 years old doesn’t mean it’s a solid business model. Any MBA will explain that to you. You poor, uninformed soul.
” the Entrepreneurs of Mary Kay.”
You’re not an entrepreneur if you signed an agreement and have to follow Mary Kay’s rules. Mary Kay can terminate you at any time. Doesn’t sound like an entrepreneur to me.
You simply buy products that Mary Kay manufactured and then try to re-sell them while convincing other women to do the same and become your competitors! A real entrepreneur would never do that.
“This is to all the people who have a very one sided opinion.”
Funny thing is, virtually everyone on this site used to have her opinion, which is why they joined MK in the first place. After seeing and experiencing the flaws of MK, we now see the flip side of the coin. It’s important to look at both sides of a coin. If you only look at one side, you will never see on the other side the counterfeit mark that will be refused when you want to cash in the coin at the bank.
This post is eye opening. I quit Mk seven years ago because I was not allowed to run my “business” as a business. I can see how MK discourages the idea of realizing the income that the “business” is making/not making does not equate to what the IBC truly earns. It is an abusive system that targets women.