Written by Raisinberry

When I left Mary Kay, I was torn because I felt I was leaving behind a bunch of good women who were at risk of being preyed upon by my senior sales director. It didn’t take long for my fears to come true.

I had a friend who was also my recruit. We’ll call her Jenny. Everyone knew Jenny was inconsistent at holding appointments and had no consistent record of selling success. But she got pushed up the Mary Kay career path because she was cute, young, single and had good credit. She responded to recognition and praise to cover an insecure soul. She wanted to belong to the big girls club. She was perfect.

Jenny ordered what she had to in order to get recognition at Seminar (no, she hadn’t sold those products). She ordered even more upon returning from Seminar to keep that production going. Someone benefited from that and someone was encouraging it.

The director tells herself that it is okay because she needs the production, and after all, Jenny can “learn” to become a selling professional. The rationalizations that are made to get the almighty buck speak to the level of denial that permeates this sales force and its leadership.

And then came DIQ. Jenny went into DIQ despite the fact that she hadn’t held 10 classes in 5 years, and my senior director (who was now in charge of her) knew it. Jenny ordered her way into DIQ, and was no doubt given the same advice by my senior that I was: “Find a way or make a way.”

As Jenny recruited some team members and got some production, she no doubt hit a bump in the road. After all, she doesn’t hold many classes. But she was probably told not to “lose” all that production that her (weak) team had already contributed, and to top off the production requirement herself.

My beloved recruit, who rarely booked an appointment in her entire career, probably ordered thousands of dollars of products herself. All that stock, just sitting in her house. What’s worse is that I warned Jenny that this very thing would happen. She was advised not to listen to me.

She never responded to my warning, and that’s how I knew I was something akin to a virus. Somebody had to warn her that my counsel (to not order what she had not sold, not to “buy” her unit, and to perfect her class consistency before trying DIQ) was not “positive.” To them, my counsel is a lie and negative.

One can only imagine what other things were said about me, based on false beliefs, misinformation, wrong conclusions, and self serving attitudes. Can we ever defend ourselves against the statements of others who have an agenda to make themselves look good, at our expense? Truth is truth. But if someone Jenny admires tells her I am lying, then do I become the liar? For her, I do!

This is the story of our world. Opportunists take advantage of the naïve and willing. Wolves dress like sheep and hide their deception. Whistleblowers are mocked and despised because they hurt the bottom line. Detractors tell only a portion of the full story to “sell” their version of truth.

My senior director demonstrated her motive and her method. She got her production (even moved up a car) knowing full well it was opportunistic and was detrimental to Jenny. My senior’s self-preservation was at stake. My counsel hindered her self preservation, therefore, I am a liar. But I am not a liar, am I?

You know how this story ends. Jenny failed spectacularly and was left with piles of products and a bunch of credit card debt. And the upline is on their next up-and-coming director who has room on her credit card and is motivated to get into the big girls club….