How Much Do Mary Kay NSDs Make?
Yesterday we saw that one Mary Kay NSD admits almost everyone loses money in MK, and she doesn’t make an executive income (even though she’s at the top of the pyramid). Did you ever wonder exactly how much the Mary Kay national sales directors are making?
Wonder no more!
I’ve taken the liberty of adding up the numbers for the seminar year that ended in June 2020. Mary Kay has a bad habit of presenting the numbers in a way that never gives you the full picture. So this forensic accountant is happy to put the pieces of the puzzle together for you.
I took the numbers presented in Applause magazine through May 2020, then added June 2020 which was presented separately, to come up with numbers for the whole year. Behold:
A few at the top (Gloria Banks, Lisa Madson, Patricia Turker) make massive amounts of money from this pyramid scheme. It’s interesting that of the approximately 200 NSDs in the US, only the top 24 make more than $200,000 a year. Reminder: this is the very, very TOP of the company. This is also the commissions they make BEFORE chargebacks and business expenses. Those making gross commissions in the $200k range probably have business expenses around $50k (or more) per year.
We’ve learned before that only about half of the 200-ish NSDs make $10,000 per month or more.
How are they at the absolute top of Mary Kay, and not pulling in an executive income? How often do we hear the phrase “executive income” thrown about in MK? And yet almost no one is making an executive income.
You should remember this too: These women are making their money off the backs of other women. Thousands of women below them are losing money so the money can be passed up the pyramid to these NSDs. The NSDs run around and hold events where they say “anyone can make money” even though they know almost everyone is losing money. They pretend they are offering an opportunity to sell products, knowing you can’t make a living selling products. They know the real deal is recruiting people into a sham and getting them to buy inventory packages. Selling a scam is not a career or an honest living.
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Look how much less Stacy James is making now. And Pam Shaw and Dacia Wiegandt. Wow!
No wonder why Dacia is peddling “influencer” stuff so hard!
What was her income before ?
As an example, for seminar 2016, she had $318,370 in commissions through May, compared to $276,037 shown above.
For seminar 2013, she had $342,052 in commissions through May.
Do you have enough data to do a year on year comparison of the top NSDs … showing the reported income? Because I think they are sliding. Especially the 2nd tier.
The issues of Applause going back to 2006 are all here. I just don’t have the time to put the numbers together.
Dear Tracy,
I would be more than happy to put it together for you.
Just email me!
And I think all of the top 10 are close to retiring. Look at what the top numbers will look like then. No more Inner Circle!
Could you imagine if the chargeback totals were reported too?
Chargebacks aren’t very obvious until you look at the YTD commission total and compare it to their months’. Example: Someone with a $20,000 check consistently should have $120K YTD by Dec. 31 (6 months x 20K). If they’re lower than what they should be, it’s likely chargebacks being subtracted from what they earned.
And that’s one of the most unfair practices of MK Inc. We earned our commissions, spent them on prizes and supplies to run our units/areas, and invested countless hours in building people. When they quit, we lose more than our money even 11 months later.
Dacia says her highest check is $60k+, but the official # from MK is $55Kish. That was $5k back then. Her higgest check was around the time she debuted, or within 2 years after.
Ahhh, the many and varied secrets of the Pink Bubble….
“These women are making their money off the backs of other women. Thousands of women below them are losing money so the money can be passed up the pyramid to these NSDs.”
^^^^^This. But these victims actually worship those perps. Why is that? Please, comment. There’s many reasons, and I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.
@Lurkers Please don’t give the excuse that your boss at your corporate job makes more than you do. Here’s why that argument doesn’t work: The corporation pays all its employees, the CEO to the mailroom, from money made from OUTSIDE of the corporate structure. It’s not the lower employees spending their own money (ordering) to fund the upper management’s paychecks.
I’m thinking about the image they create of the MK NSDs. Reasons to worship these perps. Lots of brainwashing. Fancier st. John suits. Their framed pictures up at Mary kay museum and through out the seminar walls. Their “executive income” being talked about in hushed reverent terms. Special events with them like “special lunch” where people have to qualify to get an OK lunch at seminar. Directors showing them respect, elevating them to a higher status. More brainwashing. Consultants recruiting others by showing their applause income. Brainwashing and self brainwashing. “Oh, BS, etc.. is so amazing. Do you know what she made last month? She’s a Mary kay millionaire.” Oooooo, ahhhh. They crown the queen of sharing or recruiting in the consultants or directors. There’s special fancy dinners at seminar, that you pay for. I’m sure there’s lots more opportunities to worship these con artists.
My Director calls herself a MK Millionaire, yet she’s averaged <$30K/year net profit in almost 30 years of trying to make it. Just because they call themselves that doesn’t mean they are.
If that’s the case, teachers, nurses, and even Target employees are millionaires, too.
“they lose money so the money goes up to the top people” makes no sense..if they’re losing money, what money is going to the top??.I don’t get it…I haven’t been captured into the pink bubble, but seems to me there’s a common thread of no common sense…spending 1000s for inventory and no established customer base is plain nuts….I’m not seeing where anybody is being forced into anything…if sales consultants can’t sell their products and recruit others who also can’t sell, how is MK even in business? Top it off with 90 percent refunds on unused products, where is the money coming from? If nobody makes money, MK should be bankrupt…makes no sense.
I didn’t say “no one” is making money. The 99% who are losing money are paying Mary Kay Inc. $3 billion a year. The people at the top of the pyramid receive some of that, and Mary Kay keeps the rest.
We never said anyone is “forced” into anything. They are lied to on a grand scale, however.
” ‘they lose money so the money goes up to the top people’ makes no sense..if they’re losing money, what money is going to the top??.”
The money they lose is going to those at the top. What part of that doesn’t make sense to you? At the bottom are hundreds of thousands buying products, most of which they will not sell. So they lose money and end up with unsold inventory. Few will bother to return inventory, either because they want to toss it and put the episode behind them, or because it’s over a year old and ineligible for return, or because they’ve been told if they return inventory they can NEVER sign up with Mary Kay again, and that dissuades them (sadly, they hold out hope of trying again later).
Mary Kay Corp kicks back some of the sales revenue to the uplines of the bottom dwellers in the form of commission. The higher up you are in the organization, the more you have under you buying inventory, and your cut adds up to more income. The way the system is set up, only a very few earn what anyone would call “executive” income. The rest are either losing money or earning a pittance.
It’s little different from a lottery, where very few win at all, and a tiny, tiny few win big. Most people lose so a few “at the top” can win. The difference is: a lottery (assuming it’s honestly run) is a game of chance and everyone knows it. Mary Kay and other MLMs make out like everyone can earn a decent living, and that’s a lie. And they know very well it’s a lie. They only get away with it because they have a powerful lobby called the DSA.
And sure, you’re “not seeing where anybody is being forced into anything,” because using force wouldn’t work. Lying and manipulation are much more effective; subtle seduction is the way to con someone. That is, after all, the “art” in “con artist.” It’s insulting to the victims to say “no one forced you,” so please stop it.
“if they’re losing money, what money is going to the top?” Commissions. The lower ranks are buying product. The “upline”, which is the chain of people who recruited people all the way up to the NSD, get part of what the consultant pays Mary Kay as a commission – as much as 25%. Even if the consultant can’t sell what their upline urged them to buy, the upline gets the commission.