Written by Saw the Light

Every now and then I read how someone claims to have known Mary Kay, yet still calls her such names as a "greedy old hag" or worse. Now, I don't know everyone's definition of knowing someone up close and personal, but mine doesn't mean having heard her speak for years on end at events, or shaking her hand after having had her teach a class.

For the record, I became a Consultant in the 1970's, so yes, I've been around for a while. I've had many a meaningful one-on-one conversation with Mary Kay over the years, both in her home and in her various offices. I have stacks of personal letters from her. She has done a lot of special favors for me and we enjoyed a lovely relationship. We were not "best friends" but I considered it a privilege to know her well enough to know her thoughts on many issues. The thing that disappoints me so in this company is the chasm that exists between what she intended it to be and what it has become.

Mary Kay HAD to work like a dog. Her worthless first husband deserted her for another woman when she had three tiny children and that was not in an era when child support was easily obtainable. She raised them alone. Yes, she did remarry. She was widowed twice. I have a real hard time holding that kind of pain against her, and I am here to tell you that Mel's death was almost more than she could bear.

For those of you who have grandchildren, and I guess especially for those of you who do not, I have a bulletin for you. God has blessed me with them in a wide range of ages. Now, that range is a pretty good indicator of just how much time they desire to spend with the old folks. They have this invincible outlook on life that has them believing that they (and we) will be around forever. The amount of time that Mary Kay's spoiled rotten grandchildren (and great grandchildren) chose to devote to her has absolutely no correlation to the amount of time she would have desired to spend with them. Their primary interest in her was always how much she'd leave them when she kicked off, inherited I suppose, from their equally greedy parents.

Ah yes. The infamous Richard Rogers. Remember the year he first reappeared at Seminar, gave that sickening speech that John Rochon had gone on to pursue "other interests" in which he wished him well, and said, "Yes, Mother, I'm back." That would have made ANY friend of Mary Kay's privy to the truth throw up. But instead, the Dallas Convention Center went totally wild on cue, Consultants and Directors alike sobbed openly, and Richard beamed widely like the polecat Cheshire cat himself.

Mary Kay had a deep and most sincere desire for women to have the ability to make a living for themselves with or without a husband, and it was born from the pain of having had to do it herself for so long. No one will ever convince me any differently because I did know her well, and I believe with every ounce of my being that I knew her heart. (No reference intended to "hear my heart" intended).

It is no secret that Richard was a huge and bitter disappointment to Mary Kay. Not all of my own children reached adulthood free of mistakes, but I love mine unconditionally and so did she. It's just that we are all left here to see the mess Richard's choices have caused, and what the greed of the very women who Mary Kay called her daughters has done to her legacy.

You are correct when you say she died a lonely death. But look once again to Richard who banned her beloved friends from seeing her. Ask yourselves why. She was more than ready to go home to the Lord. He isolated her and no one close to her was ever able to come up with any good reason for it. In my personal opinion, the biggest mistake of her life was leaving more than one dollar to any one member of her family. Might have created a little backbone in some of them if they'd ever had to work a single day in their lives.

I think you all know I have ZERO tolerance left for this company and the women who have ruined it. But when you speak of your dislike of Mary Kay the woman, let's instead for a moment focus upon the REAL "greedy old hags," those NSD *daughters * she lovingly spoke of and blazed a trail for, in order to provide a living beyond what they could have ever imagined.

Were they content with more than they'd ever had? Was the Golden Rule sufficient for very long? Of course not! Few people in this world can handle real money. We all know what happens to most lottery winners.

The NSDs were as unable to handle unaccustomed wealth as Richard Rogers was. Money was the ruination of them all. They worship at the Golden Calf to find it made of pot metal, but continue to deceive others in their pursuit of more, swearing that it IS gold, that if the masses will simply believe enough in what they hear from the gods of Seminar, untold riches are theirs. The holy grail is just within their reach! Do you see? There… Just one more Star… another Court Of Sales … you can do it… you can do it…. Believe…. Believe!!

Mary Kay is disintegrating because it is imploding from within. I think of the Nationals and what their utter lack of ethics and morals has done, and I see in my mind's eye a picture of the twin towers crumbling from the top down. It is inevitable that what was once a strong, viable company cannot conceivably withstand the irreparable damage that has been done by the very ones it was designed to benefit.

They dare to say Pink Truth is hurting Mary Kay. Perhaps Pink Truth is frosting the cake. But had Mary Kay's "daughters" been content with "enough" and had the Golden rule stayed intact, this company could have survived generations more. Had Corporate spent as much time creating updated marketing strategies to replace home parties instead of figuring ways to yank Directorships indiscriminately, they might not be a laughingstock. And Corporate, you ARE a laughingstock and an utter failure. Mary Kay Inc has no resemblance to what Mary Kay Ash dreamed of in 1963, and YOU have allowed it to happen under your watch. S-h-a-m-e on you.

There will be those who will shout back at me with all their might that Mary Kay provided for Inventory from the beginning. Well, so she did. I for one am glad that I never had to make the sale, wait for the product and deliver it. My friends, I submit to you there is a mighty big difference between having some skin care on hand and $3,600 (or more) worth of product that a Director knows full well that is either going to be discontinued, or does not suit the climate or the ethnicity of the people the Consultant is most likely to start out with.

Depending upon a Consultant's desires, her skill level and the amount of training she receives, there really isn't much need for more than $200, $400 or perhaps $600 if she has a successful Business Debut. We all know the difference between having product on hand for immediate delivery and the common practice of frontloading.

What has happened to what Mary Kay truly desired for the benefit of women is unconscionable, but what we do to her memory is equally so. Every now and then I read what some ill-tempered Consultant would do to desecrate "the old hag's grave" if they could. Let's set that record straight once and for all while I'm at it.

There IS no grave. In one final act of selflessness, this woman whose name I am sick of seeing defiled on the Internet, this woman who could have afforded any monument created in granite built to her memory, quietly and unceremoniously had her body donated to science so that if her suffering could help one other human being, her living would have made a real difference to mankind.

Please. Could we direct our anger where it actually belongs, and let this woman who truly tried to help us all finally, and for all time, rest in peace?