Mary Kay Gives False Hope
Written by Diana
I wanted to write and share a little of my quitting experience. I am mourning my MK business. I thought it was my ticket to financial freedom. I thought I had found a business that was faith first, family second, and career third.
I was wrong.
I couldn’t even bring myself to attend meetings anymore. I couldn’t contact my leads anymore. I was frozen, the dream was gone. I was a team leader before I really saw the greed. I missed so much time with my family. I knew it was time to quit.
I only did MK for one year. I was a star every quarter, and from sales. I only borrowed $1,200 total for MK and I had over $9,000 in retail sales. No credit card, but that does not mean that they did not try to get me to get one. (The $,1200 was a small personal loan from a bank, not revolving credit.)
I could have made it as a director, but I saw the greed and the stress. I saw my director ask for orders at meetings, smiling and nodding, while saying, “you know you will sell it” and “you don’t want to miss it because it will sell out” etc….. I thought I wanted to be just like her. I mourned for the business I thought I had.
My last month I needed my team members to order so I could stay active. I ended up not caring. I knew my director would hound them to order more of what they didn’t need.
I sold a lot while I was in MK. I moved everything on my shelf. I was good at it. Morally I couldn’t do it anymore, though.. I couldn’t take advantage of the ladies I was supposed to help. I couldn’t ask them to order all the time, it felt wrong.
My director was one of the better ones. She actually trains people on how to sell and books a ten show week every month, she works hard. I was sad to end my friendship with her, because she stopped talking to me all together. She wouldn’t return my phone calls or respond to my texts. It is sad to lose a friend like that.
Mary Kay gives false hope and false morals. Some can ignore this and be directors and NSDs. We are looked down upon if we question and we judge on accident because we can’t continue with the business after we find out the truth. We judge by our action to quit.
The products are good and they got me hooked. It was fun. I liked teaching skin care. It was just so hard to get that good skin care class. So much rejection and work. I figured I was making about $5 an hour doing MK. I am worth way more that that.
Oh, and a few more things…..
Constant events that drain cash and take away from money making activities. To have so many and to make the consultant feel bad if they do not want to go. This is wrong too. The list of wrongs gets longer with the little white lies and the pressure to order.
Example: With one of my first big commission checks ($300) my director said to me, you can use that for some more inventory. I thought this was strange, because my plan was to use it for my son’s preschool. In fact I never reinvested 50%, I always used the money for my family and constantly got flack for it.
Need I go on…. I mourned for my business that turned out to be something different than what I was shown from the beginning. I think I was most angry about the faith first, family second, and career third moral standard, because it simply is not true. When I was working so hard to become a director, it was MK first all the way!!!!
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“I am worth way more than that.”
Yes, Diana, yes you are. Congratulations on seeing the truth so quickly. I commend you for not compromising your morals or your financial peace. The grief is real, the mourning period is real. But it’ll get easier with time. And you’ll come to realize that your director wasn’t really your friend–you were just another “number” to her, unfortunately. Lean into your true friendships and your family, and your eyes will open even more to the relational manipulation at play during your year in MK.
Again, congratulations, and welcome to the community!
Good for you for listening to your conscience, and for keeping yourself out of credit card debt in spite of the pressure. And for using what earnings you got for your family – what the heck kind of company hassles you for taking care of your family with your wages? Especially a company that touts family before career?
Of course your director was your bestie while you were a rockstar making money for her unit. Finding out that she used you sucks and it will take time to get over that. As Frosty Rose said, your real friends and family who appreciate the real you will help you heal in time.
If you’re still interested in working, I hope you’re able to find a position where your enthusiasm and talents are appreciated and you live a life aligned with your values. And that pays more than a measly five bucks an hour!
A friend who will drop you like a hot potato because you don’t want to do the business anymore isn’t really a friend at all, even if she was great while you were in MK. She was great because she was getting something from you and was using you, not because she really cared about you. Once you were no longer a source of income to her, she showed you her true colors and who she really was as a person. I would rather be alone than have ‘friends’ like that. It goes to show a person who is really good at selling can’t even make money to make it worth their time. Also a company that claims God first, but will encourage lying, deceiving, and using really isn’t about God first.
The grief of losing a “business” like MK is real. We thought we had found the right thing for us and our families. It’s devastating to find out that we were so wrong. You will heal; we all did. Give it time.
“I was sad to end my friendship with her, because she stopped talking to me all together. She wouldn’t return my phone calls or respond to my texts. It is sad to lose a friend like that.”
As others have mentioned, your director was never your friend. You were a means of income to her. Nothing more. MK loves to tout friendships and relationships as why women join. Yet the second you leave, you are dead to all of them. You no longer exist in their world. Who wants so-called friends like that?
“I could have made it as a director, but I saw the greed and the stress. I saw my director ask for orders at meetings, smiling and nodding, while saying, “you know you will sell it” and “you don’t want to miss it because it will sell out” etc….. I thought I wanted to be just like her. I mourned for the business I thought I had.”
Good you were able to see the greed. My director would give me the same lines you got. I thought it was genuine but I guess it was another con. The pain you feel is real. Allow yourself to grieve the illusion. This is not a real business but a scam. Then forgive yourself because MK has decades of experience in manipulating women. They know what they’re doing to manipule from the top down. It’s not your fault and I’m glad you’re strong enough to get out now. Great job! It’s hard to break the brainwashing that they do. They do it so well.
“With one of my first big commission checks ($300) my director said to me, you can use that for some more inventory. I thought this was strange, because my plan was to use it for my son’s preschool. In fact I never reinvested 50%, I always used the money for my family and constantly got flack for it.”
Good for you for using it for your family’s needs. I wonder if it was really your business then why were you getting pressured to buy more? Is that how it works in real businesses? No but this is not a real business. It’s a scam. Welcome to the light. It took courage to get here. You really put your family first now. If your family was really important wouldn’t mk want you to use the funds for them? No, they want you to prioritize mk before everyone else. They lie to you to convince you otherwise
“faith first, family second, and career third …because it simply is not true.”
And that’s confirmed by looking at NSD Dawn Otten-Sweeney’s website. Her ranking is:
— Work Hard
— Dream Big
— Trust God
Congratulations on seeing the light!
I want to point something out. You considered yourself successful because, during your MK year, you borrowed $1200 and had $9000 in retail sales. As you describe it, “products were flying off the shelf,”. You were a star every quarter.
The $9000 retail got you $4500 profit assuming you sold it all at full price – which is unlikely, but I’ll play along. Once you paid yourself back the $1200, that leaves $3300. That’s for a year of work. It comes to less than $300 a month, less than $75 a week, BEFORE expenses.
This is so far from “quit your job” money that’s it’s laughable, and you were the success story.
Anyway, I’m glad you got yourself free. Sales can be a great career if you work with a reputable company and have a protected territory and an unsaturated market,