Former Mary Kay Sales Director Debunks Mary Kay Marketing Plan
Chase Williams, a former sales director with Mary Kay Cosmetics reveals the truth behind the company’s marketing plan. Before you become a consultant or try to earn the car or directorship, you need to hear these facts about Mary Kay.
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I love that Chase is continuing to post these videos. Hopefully more and more people will watch them.
Great video Chase. Good job for sharing the truth!
So many people – when they leave Mary Kay – just quietly go back to the real world without telling what really happens in the crazy scam of Mary Kay.
It is easy to reflect on your time in MK and get caught in the trap of thinking “If only I was more persistent and diligent. If only I was a better time manager. If only I knew more people. If only my family had been supportive. etc. etc.” But that my friends is stinkin’ thinkin’! That is exactly what we have been programmed into thinking while in Mary Kay! That is what your directors and corporate want you to believe is that you were not right for Mary Kay, NOT that Mary Kay is a pipe dream.
Sure, you can dream BIG all you want, but no amount of working works where wishing wont, WONT! lol! Ever. Joining Mary Kay, no matter what your personality, attitude, education, or deserve level may be, is always a lose – lose situation. Every MLM is the same too! Leaving Mary Kay or your current MLM will always be a better situation for your sanity, your family, your finances, and your future.
If you are looking for the facts before you sign your direct sales contract, look no further. 99% of people WILL lose money in their MLM. And that statistic holds true for Mary Kay, too. Spare yourself, and don’t find out the hard way. If you are currently in Mary Kay then look at your schedule C because people will disappoint, truth hurts, and numbers never lie!
Hey Chase,
Great Video! Keep them coming!
You mention that the tax “benefit” was too much hassle to claim, and would have cost you something like $300 to have a professional tax preparer compile the document.
True – the Mary Kay tax “benefit” is that you get to deduct your Mary Kay LOSSES on your tax return. And for every $1000 you LOSE you can reduce your income tax bill by about $150. The other $850 is gone forever, lining the pockets of Mary Kay Corporate.
What can you do with an extra $850? Isn’t that why folks sign up for Mary Kay in the first place? So we have a Mary Kay “benefit” that for every $1000 we LOSE we can cut our tax bill by $150. HUH????
Now if you’re one of the lucky few who actually MAKE money in your Mary Kay “business” you DO have to declare that to the IRS. If do-it-yourself business tax return preparation is not your thing you ‘re going to get stuck paying that $300 to the tax return preparer, like it or not.
By the way – most of the claims about the deductibility of Mary Kay expenses are lies.
— Mentioning Mary Kay over lunch does NOT make the lunch bill deductible.
— The Director suit is NOT deductible. Neither are the Red Jacket, the black skirt, or the closed toed shoes.
— Going on vacation and spending an afternoon pitching Mary Kay does NOT make the airfare and hotel bill deductible.
— There’s more. Lots more.
If you’re not familiar with the rules of expense deductibility that $300 you pay the professional tax return preparer is cheap, especially compared to what the IRS would collect from you on an audit when they disallow all those deductions.
I know a sales director who claims that every year she gets a “huge deduction” for all her MK workspace. That workspace is all of her closets, which are overflowing with unsold product. I’m not sure if she’s actually claiming a deduction for it or just telling people that she is, but whatever she may be getting back is surely nothing compared to the amount she has paid for that unsold product.
I have been a director in mary kay as well and fell out a few short months later. HOWEVER i find your comments about the business not quite correct. Women who are willing to do it the mary kay way, with integrity and getting on the phone, having a great attitude and work EVERYDAY can, will and do succeed. Faith first, family second and career third. I am back in diq, have quit my full time job and am on target for my car. Integrity, honesty and good old fashioned hard work has brought me to this place.
Mrs – I am so sorry that losing your directorship once was not enough. Please understand that all the money you lost the first time around will just get worse this time around. You lost your directorship because this is a rigged game that almost no one wins. The company and the top nationals win, but that is about it. Please try to get your job back. You will make so much more there, while you will just keep losing money in Mary Kay. No amount of integrity or “doing it right” helps you win this game. It is just that: a game. A horrible, horrible game.
You gave up a full-time job in this economy? I have friends and relatives who would do ANYTHING to have a FT job and a steady paycheck!
If you had kept your job, at least you would have had money to buy your way up the MK ladder. That’s how everyone else does it (or they have a wealthy husband, or they have a ton of debt…) It’s then easier to suck others in because you “look” successful. If they only knew the truth.
You must now go forth and do unto others as it was done unto you.