A thank you note from new consultant, who was saved thanks to the Pink Truth we are telling here! This letter is very informative for anyone thinking about joining Mary Kay. Here’s the REAL story on how the recruiting and inventory talks go down.

I have to take a moment to say thank you, thank you, thank you for what you do. Thank you for this website to help people understand what joining Mary Kay really means. Today, I ended my Mary Kay career after a solid five days. I had been on the fence, but decided to order the starter kit with promises of turning those tools into anything I wanted and then the inventory chat began.

I am employed full time and have spent the last year working to pay down credit cards and take my financial future more seriously. For me, Mary Kay presented a sort of “fun challenge” and a chance to maybe add some extra cash to my bank account. I had used the products in the past and liked them. The only reason I stopped was consultant fatigue. I never understood why I couldn’t just buy the products without someone trying to get me to work for the company. I don’t go to dinner and have the waiter ask me if I want a job. I never got it. Now I do, I expressed those concerns initially and it was very much, “ooooh, I know. It’s not like that. Some people choose to run their businesses that way. You tooootally don’t have to.”…..(except, it turns out, that you totally do)

I also now more fully understand the look on the director and recruiter’s faces when I mentioned being nearly debt free–something I am very proud of. I was also very surprised when I expressed wanting to have a smaller, part time sort of business and have her suggest a $3,000+ inventory package which she quickly followed up with talk of getting a credit card. I never entertained the idea of buying that much but I did seriously consider ordering some sort of inventory–$600 or maybe $1,200.

The idea of “having it handy” made sense, but ultimately, we agreed my decision could be left to the next meeting with my recruiter and thank God for that. That sort of “assumed compliance” thing kicked in when, later that same night, I received an email from the recruiter about ordering sooner rather than later because….blah, blah, blah…I realize now they wanted to secure the sale before I had time to change my mind.

I found your site, funny enough, by searching for a woman they had mentioned who had left the field I am currently in to work as a Mary Kay consultant full time. I was very interested in her story and wanted to learn more. Top in the search results was a Pink Truth article and my true education began. Had they not mentioned that person, I never would have discovered Pink Truth and I would probably be sitting here waiting for a boxful of unsellable junk. Little did they know, their excited chatter about a successful woman opened the door just enough for me to walk (or more likely run) straight out.

I was shocked and embarrassed at having been so easily taken in by all of it. I consider myself to be educated, somewhat street smart. I have always thought I have a fairly decent sense of people and their motives. It was like lightning striking to realize that Mary Kay’s true customers are its consultants. That is the truth–no matter how much concealer you delicately pat on it with your ring finger. It just made me ill. That next meeting I simply stated I had decided Mary Kay was not for me and while I could sense disappointment, there was no pressure. In my mind I thought that the pressure would be felt by her–thinking of how she would have to start over with another person–hoping for it to stick the next time and the inventory order to go through, thinking about what she would tell the director.

But then I got a voicemail from an “unknown number.” Sure enough, it was the director “just wanting to touch base” because she had heard the news and was “afraid someone rained on my parade” and “wanted to discuss options with me as there are no quotas or territories…and…”

I did consider just selling to family and friends, seeing if I could at least make back the cost of the starter kit and then calling it a day but I realized I could consciously open up those people–the ones I love and trust the most–to something that I now see for what it is–pink smoke and mirrors. It would not be right for me to continue on in any capacity. I don’t even want to use Mary Kay products much less sell them. They are selling a false sense of success and empowerment. At the end of the day, none of it is real.

I’m thankful that I have the ability to just walk away and chalk it up to experience. I fear so many women are not that lucky particularly those who do choose to try to make it work full time believing that they will be able to achieve all that is promised. I am so thankful that I do not owe anyone anything except the debt of gratitude I owe to Pink Truth. You are doing invaluable work and I imagine it must be very difficult when you are dealing with a company steeped in the sort of history and rhetoric as Mary Kay.

I cannot say it enough. Thank you. You saved me so much time, money and effort that I can now put toward truly rewarding endeavors and you have taught me that no matter how old we get or how much we think we know, there are those who may try to take advantage and as always–if it sounds too good to be true, it is.