Mary Kay Sales Director Laura Holland Will Not Help You
Laura Holland will recruit you into Mary Kay, but she won’t help you if you want to leave the company.
Remember when you were being recruiting into Mary Kay and they told you that if you tried it and you didn’t like it, you could return your products to MK and get 90% of your money back? They told you it was almost no risk to you!
What they didn’t tell you is that your sales director might be like Laura Hamilton Holland. She’ll be very happy to get her commission check when you buy products from Mary Kay. But if you want to return those products, you’re on your own. She’s not going to help you with that. Why should she? It doesn’t make her any money.
On this thread in a Facebook group for MK sales directors, someone asks about a consultant returning products. Several people respond, and Laura Holland‘s brilliant advice is:
“I tell them if they want to return product they have to find out how. I’m not going to spend my time helping them take lots of money from my next commission check.”
Hint to Laura: You should help her because you recruited her into this company with promises to help her. You lied about the opportunity, she found out the truth, and now she wants to return her products. A decent person would give her the information she needs, which would take about a minute of your time.
This, my friends, is the heart of the Mary Kay business. Take, take, take. Don’t let anyone tell you that this company or its representatives uplift women or help other women or empower women. It’s a selfish pyramid scheme with everyone scrambling to take something for themselves while making it appear like they are helping others.
Here’s Laura reminding us that “Mary Kay works if you do.” No, it does not.
Also, Laura wants you to invest in her family instead of shopping online. If you shop online, you “steal” from your local community. Much like Mary Kay steals from women who are recruited?
And here’s a great little piece that Laura has on her website, totally violating all of the rules against making income claims. (And pretty much guaranteeing that you’ll move up.) And no, one out of every 4 people interviewed does not join Mary Kay.
Visit the
Oh, I do love the glimpses into the icy little pink pebbles of their hearts when they let their real selves show. And let them show where anyone with a FB account can find them 😀 Pink sistahhood doing life together! Woohoo!
1) It’s up to Dorothy and Faye, and for that matter you and your spouse, to make your lives work. And since the hopes and dreams of MK consultants are false hopes built on lies and manipulation, I’m doing them more good by not buying into the fantasy.
2) I’m all for shopping local and woman-owned (and Black, LGBTQ+, and other minority owned) businesses but MK isn’t one. IBCs aren’t business owners, and the upper echelon of MK, that feminine nirvana, is MEN. Furthermore, men related to Mary Kay Lotsa Lastnames Ash so there’s nepotism as well.
3) Once again for the people in the back, that $4B in sales (cite from a reliable source, pl0x kthxbai) is inventory sales to consultants, not retail sales to end users. Because MK does not track retail sales to end users.
4 and 6 together, because sneaking one in between isn’t going to make people forget that these two are totally contradictory) So MK is sinking megabux into building facilities in the US because they just wuv America and their people so much, yet they also produce product in China and also conduct animal testing there? No thanks. Plenty of American and European, certified cruelty-free brands that are easily obtainable.
5) Green initiatives are good. You’re going to remind your fellows that virtual events are also green, by eliminating jet and motor fuel, heating or cooling of the venue, food waste, increased water use, lighting, and other stuff I can’t think of offhand the next time they whine about events not being in person, right?
Plus, what about all that moldy old product that’s unusable and unreturnable and basically all that can be done is throw it away into… A LANDFILL? Lotta plastic and cardboard and glass and ingredients tied up there.
7) Gosh, being able to throw the word “million” around really sounds like something until you remember the points about (allegedly) $4 billion in sales and the $100 million facility they built and suddenly $3 million sounds like spit in the ocean. And if you’re in a crisis, there’s one number that is free to call and someone will always answer: 911.
8) For a long time women in China were limited to one child, period, no matter how many they could afford, and what the heck does that even have to do with MK in the US? And in the US, not every woman wants to have children and some want to but can’t, notwithstanding the ones who can raise multiple children on their MK earnings are few and far between.
So try having a heart and actually READING and THINKING about what you’re posting instead of just accepting it as gospel.
Yeesh.
Bravo!!! Great response!!!
It got me a Ridiculous Downvote ™! Woohoo!
Popinki you dropped the mike and shattered it there. I’m reading the Saint Pink Hun post and all I could think was, isn’t this “women empowered company” completely owned by and run by men and nepotism?
She talks about supporting local small-businesses, yet proudly shows off her haul from Kohl’s.
And the huge plastic bags of “stuff” pose doesn’t mesh with her zero-landfill spiel.
And she recruits people to buy products direct from a “4 billion in sales last year, debt-free company”. The direct buyers aren’t required to resell anything or get a storefront. Sales tax was already paid at the point of sale, MK Inc.. The only requirement for that “direct buyer” is to BUY MORE from the billion dollar company, $225 every quarter.
MLM corporations like Mary Kay allow their customers to order direct from them for a small fee. They give kickbacks and stupid awards to existing customers who bring them, the giant corporation, more direct ordering customers.
Consultant = Registered direct customers “buying online” from Mary Kay .com
Right…she proudly touts that there are 600,000 consultants in the US (and 3.5 million worldwide) like it’s some type of advantage she has to be proud of…no, Laura, more consultants mean more competition for sales…you know, the retail sales that are supposed to be the heart of MK success? Again, clueless about the basics of sales. She wouldn’t last a day in a legit sales job.
Has the company always been like this from its start?
“shows off her haul from Kohl’s.”
Nice catch enorth! Surely there are some local clothing boutiques, jewelry stores, consignment shops, etc within a reasonable distance from her where she herself could support actual local businesses. What a rude, self-righteous, clueless hypocrite.
3,499,998 consultants give not one rat’s ass if I buy make-up from my consultant. More likely they’re jealous that someone actually made a sale. Altho I probably didn’t pay full-price so no 50% profit.
I would never buy from a makeup company that tests on animals–no matter where in the world the testing takes place. AND, gee I didn’t realize that Kohl’s was a small local company that we should all be supporting.
No but Kohl’s is based in my hometown and a wonderful employer and corporate citizen! 🙂
Kohl’s was where I got my working woman wardrobe for many years before I was able to afford Macy’s. And I still shop there occasionally. We have a store in my town and it employs several local folks.
I don’t know, I just may have been brought up in a different type of a household, but a debt free Christmas shouldn’t be that tough to do if you actually have a budget set for Christmas gifts… My parents had a Christmas Club account and put an amount of savings into it from Jan – Dec and that’s what they used for gifts…. I don’t understand how living within your means suddenly became trendy?….
Also the communist regime in China starting allowing 2 kids per family 6 years ago, because the birth rate had dropped so significantly in the country. And in May 2021 China’s president said they allow 3, because the birth rates are still extremely low and their military isn’t going to sustainable within the next few decades. Couples aren’t having children due to the high cost of living in the cities and housing shortages. A donation from an American company isn’t going to solve the cost, housing and low birt rate issues…
This list is ridiculous and oh yeah Kohks isn’t locally owned and the Kohks grocery stores were far superior to the super centers of crap they sell today…. Seriously I would give anything for a donut from the Kohls bakery department right now….
Sell for 50% first before getting 90% back? Laura. Ok. You are awful.
It sounds awful, but IF a consultant can can sell it at 50% off, that’s more beneficial. If the consultant sells at 50% off, retail price she’s selling it for what she paid (minus taxes & shipping.) But if she does the MK buyback, she’s only getting 90% back of what she paid, and again is out taxes and shipping.
The risk is it’s not easy to sell. And 90% back is better than 0.
“The risk is it’s not easy to sell”
People don’t want it at full price. They don’t even want it at half-price.
They just don’t want it.
You get 100% of the taxes you pre-paid back when you return product.
The big advantage of returning is that it is ONE shipment, ONE transaction, and it is OVER QUICKLY with one check. If you have a 50% off retail sale you have to make a whole bunch of transactions and spend a lot more time.
Laura Hamilton Holland Other than that they’re on their own.
That’s the go give spirit that MK is famous for. Ready to help out a fellow consultant.
As for the rest
1) If yours or Fay’s or Dorothy’s marriages are depending on my financial support, your problem is bigger than selling overpriced make-up.
2) Love shopping local. My favourite local supermarket is here my friend of nearly 20 years works. I also know A who works in the deli, D and F pack bags and stock shelves. For the past 10 years, I’ve known around a quarter of the student staff due to them attending the same school as my children. They are happy I shop there and get whatever from my purchases.
Local businesses and shops I have known and loved over the past forty years in two countries,
the dairy farm who made their own butter and cheeses
the man who roasted his own coffee beans and made ground coffee
the specialist butcher who sold 20-25 different varieties of sausage
the pie shop with both sweet and savoury pies
far too many micro-brewers
far too many farms come to think of it, those farm stalls are just too tempting
new age shops with candles, crystals and oils
the boulangerie with the smell of baking bread
Local shops are my thing, a special mention should go to the sweet shop that was on the High Street of the town I grew up in. Made their own sweets, the smell was divine and if you were lucky enough, they would let you crank the handle and make your own pennorth of what they were making at the time.
3) Kool-Aid successfully swallowed. Just don’t look behind the curtain, Dorothy.
4) I wonder if the Australian and New Zealand consultants are still saying “Thank you’ after the way they were treated?
5)MK tree count is supposedly now 1.2 million. And the global manufacturing facilities claim zero landfill but that’s not where the buck stops. The waste comes at the consultant or customer’s door-step.
6) for cruelty free. https://crueltyfreeonly.com/is-mary-kay-cruelty-free/.
7) $4.2 million out of $4 bn.. That’s a little over 1% per annum. I’m not downplaying how valuable that money is to any woman who needs help but I’m not looking at Mary Kay as an example of female philanthropism. That is Our Lady of Country Music, Dolly Parton.
8) The One Child Policy was lifted in 2015 to two children, May 2021 to three and by July 2021 all penalties for exceeding them were removed. So Ms. Holland was out of date in 2016. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy). But hey, lying and Mary Kay can you name a more iconic duo?
So in conclusion, I’m not changing the world very much, if at all, should I opt for MK products.
DA, your local shops sound like a dream! How awesome to have so many around you! I had to look up “ boulangerie”. Sounds fabulous. I’m not sure where in Canada you are, but my one short trip to Quebec City (love love love) I tried to fit in a visit to every local shop possible. Here in my town we do have a fantastic specialty wine/Italian foods shop (named the best between NYC and Chicago) and a new age shop, a few bakers, a 100 year old nationally renowned seafood market, and a few other fun shops. If I were a “small business owner” like Laura, I’d spend every dollar I could afford at my fellow local small biz owners first, then go to the box stores when I had to.
Sadly, the first four were in the Uk. Several of the microbrewers and farms ditto.
But there are breweries and farms in Quebec along with maple syrup…yummy. And I love all the local farm stalls. I’m not a big fan of pick your own (auto cueillette)
I’m about 80 Km north of Montreal, cottage country so we have a lot of stores catering to the full time inhabitants as well as those who used to come up week-ends and holidays.
Due to the pandemic, there has been an increase in the population as city dwellers freed from the office and school due to distance work/schooling but they are slowly returning to the city.
As a child(1960’s/70’s UK), I had fishermen in the family. I love sea food but I’m too far inland for getting the stuff off the boat.
I spent a couple of hours talking to my mum today about the sweet shop. So many happy memories.
My husband and I enjoyed many ski trips to the Lauentians. We have wonderful memories. Beautiful area.
DestinyAngel:
Re: point 7), $4.2 million out of $4 billion is a little over one-tenth of a percent, not 1%. That is, 0.105%.
In other words, in terms of magnitude, a rounding error.
Math is not my strong point ,but then neither is twisting the Christian faith to act as Judas to betray other women.
Cool, I got the good ole Ridiculous Downvote as well!
All. the. spelling. errors.
“Advise needed!”
So let me get this straight. It’s not about what’s best for the consultant. It’s about what’s best for your commission check. Thank you for clearing that up Miss Director. I love it when you guys make our point for us. 😁
The “Returning Inventory” tab is right at the top of this website, thus proving that the “lazy losers” at Pink Truth care more about the welfare of Mary Kay consultants than their own directors do.
We aren’t losing (loosing??) money if her downline returns everything she can.
The Golden Rule, Go-Give Spirit, and Servant Leadership are MIA.
Her website is interesting…she’s advertising MK’s 2018 Seminar. Her 5-Year Vision Statement link is dead. The “Congratulations on Your Accomplishments” page is blank.
Wow. Yet she makes time to spew her disdain for chargebacks on FB. Priorities.
Well who needs a website when products sell themselves?
I love when Tracy et al link the website of the subjects on PT. It is so much fun to find gems like the income claims, the flat out lies, the ridiculous fonts and emojis, etc. Laura here pulled a Chelsea with the whole “name it and claim it” farce…from Laura’s “meet Laura” portion of her site I found this : “ Claiming NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Seminar 2020!”
Lol! She isn’t an NSD, is she? So her “goal” hasn’t been edited or updated in two years at least? Nice.
“I wanted something that would give me more flexibility and options as a mommy. I planned to go back to work after my littlest one went to school but now my plans are to further my career in Mary Kay and continue to climb to the top and bring others with me! Claiming NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Seminar 2020!“
The link to her 5 year Vision Statement is broken. The newsletter is blank. Half of the links on her New Consultant Center lead to one TED talk. The events finish at why should you go to seminar 2019.
It’s an unorganized mess. It doesn’t scream professional at all.
Whoever is behind girlboss graphics has never met a font they dislike nor a pastel colour that fades into the background.
http://www.jonisjems.com/uploads/2/6/4/3/26430872/practicepinkportfolio_1.pdf
Also Laura claims:
“ What brought me to Mary Kay was extra money. What made me decide to work more was how quickly I was moving up and earning cars and increasing my paychecks.”
Whoopsies Laura, those claims are not permitted per MKC! But hey, if you can provide Tracy here with undisputed evidence that you were and still are “increasing your paychecks”, we’re all ears!
The more I read from Laura (and it’s nauseating), the more I see that she is probably a classical narcissist. And lacks even basic business sense. She would flounder in a non-MLM legit J.O.B. Plus the narcissism…she is ALWAYS right, SHE KNOWS how to run her “business” and will tell you how to run yours as well…but, she’s what…at best, a mediocre SD in a world of thousands of SDs? Oh Laura. You’re not always right. You don’t understand how actual businesses work. You get angry when you “suffer” a chargeback because you’ve already spent the commissions you received from your consultants’ purchases before confirming that they have already sold the product, while you SHOULD have been helping them sell the stuff to begin with.
What a self-centered, clueless crybaby. I hope that when prospective recruits Google your name they see this post and tell you to screw off.
Another fun tidbit from her “Meet Laura” page on her site…when talking about how she’s doing MK to support her family and be a role model for her kids, she states:
“You cannot pass down to your children or to other women something that you do not possess.”
How true that is, Laura! While you claim to own a business, you don’t actually own any business to pass down to your kids! If you’re still in MK one day when you’re ready to retire, you have NOTHING to leave to your kids. You don’t own a brick and mortar location, you don’t own any trademarks, you don’t own your own customer list, you don’t own your unit/area. The only thing you do own is the MK inventory in your garage (or basement, or shed…whatever). You will have no 401k to pass down to your kids. Even your pink Caddy (if you’re still in one when you “choose” to “retire”) is a lease…you don’t even own that.
Tell us again what you plan to leave to your kids and others via your MK “business”.
Oh my. I’m sorry to keep adding comments about this woman but there are so many fun tidbits on her site. If I find any more (and trust me, I will), I’ll save them for another time so as to not hijack this whole thread. But anyway, here’s what I wanted to add…it’s one of her Uber-successful scripts for “reaching out” to prospective recruits:
“Hi Ali, I’m Laura! You dont know me, but your friend Amy gave me your name & said you were super sweet & might be willing to help me out! I’m a Director with Mary Kay and I’m working on a skin color and color certification and need some girls for demos for a few clinics and portfolios. I wanted to see if I could borrow your beautiful face? I’ll have a free gift for you as a thank you for your time! 😍 Is there any reason you couldn’t help me out? I so appreciate you.”
“I wanted to see if I could borrow your beautiful face.” Ew.
“I wanted to see if I could borrow your beautiful face.”
Holy Shades of Jame Gumb!
“…might be willing to help me out!”
“…any reason you couldn’t help me out?”
That’s not running a business; it’s imposing on people’s good nature. Add a dash of insincere flattery and you’ve got…one creepy script is what you’ve got. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking this lowest of low roads, Laura.
5,100 employees, 3.5 million consultants all over the world, 600,000 of those in the USA, $4 billion in sales, $100 million manufacturing plant…
Yep. That’s definitely a small business. 🙄
$4 billion in sales. 3.5 million consultants. Less than $1,150 per year per consultant. That’s less than $100 per month. Assuming every purchase results in a sale at full retail, the average consultant isn’t even close to meeting expenses, let alone earning anything.
This math is not unique to Mary Kay; it’s typical of nearly all MLMs. The tension between continuous recruiting and high drop-out rate stabilizes at sales of around $1-2k per person per annum. There are a few at or near the top of the pyramid that do all right — just enough to attract more recruits. But most recruits, unable to bear continuing losses, (wisely) give up after a few months, only to be replaced by fresh victims, who lose money, rinse and repeat.
That’s MLM in a nutshell: a few successful people, a whole host of victims who lose money, and an average of $1-2k per year sold to distributors. Tracy has a trove of income disclosure statements on her Sequence, Inc. site if you want to see the numbers for yourself.
PLEASE prove “our compacts are made from Toshiba laptops”! WTH??
I just can’t stay away. Laura’s website is an untapped mine of cringy MK-related things. For example, she has a section about how to overcome objections when you’re trying to recruit. That in itself isn’t super bad IMO. But the content of her “suggestions”…oh my. How about this one, where you’re (the MK hun) trying to recruit someone and the argument is that she (the prospect) declines the invite because she “doesn’t have enough friends nearby”.
Laura’s recommended response to such an objection is to tell the prospect (with a straight face, I’m assuming) is “Let’s just play Mary Kay with the two of us or you can join one of my pink parties and meet new friends.”
Is she trying to recruit ten year olds??? Ew, so childish and patronizing.
“Let’s just play Mary Kay with the two of us or you can join one of my pink parties and meet new friends.”
Have I ever mentioned why my sister in law keeps me away from her hun friends??
She knows I have no tact when I’m faced with this crap.
We can be princesses !!!!
“Let’s just play DOLLIES with the two of us or you can join one of my tea parties and meet new friends.” That’s the level of maturity I’m hearing.
Google search: laura holland mary kay
🙂
Looks like Laura may be aware of this post. Her comment has been deleted from the original post.
😂
Then thank goodness Tracy has it preserved here forever, where it’s safe and sound and will never be deleted and will still pop up when someone googles her 😜
I can’t think why. It was so warm, moral, kind and helpful. /s
And also so very instructive as to how damaging the mind-set these women take on as they fall further into the MK abyss.
So you saw the post about me on Pink Truth?!? It is full of lies, told by a failed NSD who tried to work the business the easy way and FAILED. Can we meet for coffee to go over the real pink truth?! I’ll bring samples too. Bring three friends or four. I love girlfriend time. I’m my own CEO. Please take a pic for my portfolio. PLEASE. I want to borrow your face. It will help my marriage.
“ Can we meet for coffee to go over the real pink truth?”
Aha, this line reminds me of the infamous video “The REAL Pink Truth” (for newbies here, just look up Kimberly Perkins on Pink Truth. I wonder what failed SD Kimberly Perkins is up to lately? We’ve had an eye-opening thread about her on the board, but nothing recent. IIRC, her last stab at success was offering her services as a kind of office assistant to current MK directors. At least she didn’t try to parlay her extremely unsuccessful run in MK into a coaching gig. She must have realized that she doesn’t have the skill level to attempt coaching.
“totally violating all of the rules against making income claims.”
I wonder how quickly that Results Chart will disappear from her website.
Laura can’t even come up with her own content. She got the results chart from Joni Cool.
https://www.jonicool.com/q–a.html
Here are some of the gems.
https://i.imgur.com/VidM23y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xeQTp8l.jpg
Her “21 Day Voxer Challenge”, whatever that is, is real interesting. Complete the challenge and you “earn” a phone ring! Wow! Gotta get that. Sign me up.
Darn it Charles, I didn’t know how hard I had prostitute myself for a cheap piece of tat from my local liquidation store.
This Laura person really is despicable. Reading all these comments, over all the posts, you think no one could possibly be worse, but then – you read about someone like Laura, and realize you were wrong. Worse IS out there!