Mary Kay or a Job?
This is one Pink Truth reader’s experience with Mary Kay when she needed a job:
I joined Mary Kay because I had been unable to find a job in my chosen field after two years of searching, many job applications, and only a few interviews. I decided to join Mary Kay because I was at the end of my rope.
Well, no one actually talked me into it and I did not hear the “opportunity” story. I just went to the Mary Kay internet site and put my zip code in. Within a few hours a girl called me and invited me to a “Success Meeting” the next evening. Considering I was very vulnerable at this point (and they knew it) I probably would have signed up for the Foreign Legion.
I sat there and watched this unbelievable meeting with a lot of kissing and hugging and dancing. I sat though a facial and makeover and a lot of fussing. After all this was over I was shown pink shiny rings and told that if I signed the agreement that night a ring would be mine. So….I signed the agreement.
The SD made an immediate appointment with me to meet for an orientation at her house the next day. Little did I know that I would be told that I “could order inventory only if I wanted to” but it would be wise if I did considering I would be having lots of parties and taking lots of orders. I told her that I did not have the money and did not want to use my credit card. No problem…I can get you a MK credit card.
So begins my MK career.
I was given a challenge of having 5 skin care classes in my first few weeks. What is a skin care class? I stayed up two nights in a row reading every piece of literature I could find and watching videos from my SD.
Every single success meeting consisted of learning how to encourage women to book classes and recruit. I never learned about the products and had no idea what some of the products actually do. I finally decided that I was tired of driving the 55 miles round trip to these stupid meetings. Oh, did I forget to tell you about the new meetings that are every other Sunday for anyone interested in the DIQ program.
Well, here I am five months later and some of my friends are avoiding me because all I ever talk about is MK. No one wants to have another party or do they want to sell MK. I am going to send everything back within the next few weeks and chalk this up to a scary experience.
I know that everyone in the MK sisterhood talk about the new friends you make and the wonderful women you meet. I met a lot of women in the same boat as myself: scared, intimated and thinking that they can be millions just by selling MK. I also met some very snobby and annoying SDs and NSDs. I am going to get my life back and forget this experience. Maybe it will make me a smarter person.
Congratulations on seeing the truth so quickly. It took me nearly 14 years. Send it all back, block your director, embrace what you learned, and take the resiliency and boundaries you just built to head back to the drawing board and figure out what you truly want from your life.
Good for you. Always remember that all MLM, an inherently flawed method, is the same. The name of the company and the products they offer are irrelevant to the method. If you can be recruited, and you can also recruit endlessly, run for the hills. This is also known as “building a team”. There are many MLMers aka scammers on LinkedIn, so be careful.