June Madness in Mary Kay
Written by SuzyQ
June, the final stretch! June! We could sing “Promises, promises, I’m all through with promises, promises now.” But that would date me, so, never mind.
Hi and pink hugs to all lurking directors and consultants! So happy you stumbled upon this negative site. It’s hard to find it you know, you have to type in www.pinktruth.com or google something (negative) about Mary Kay. Before you dismiss me, I have typed Mary Kay so often as a former, non top-director type, that when I type Mary, my word processing program helpfully finishes it and adds a little bubble that says “Mary Kay” so all I have to do is press enter. So, I know what I am talking about here.
June is deadly. Horrifying, for a number of reasons. As consultants, you will be asked to stretch and order more than you may be comfortable with. In fact, I am willing to wager that you have already received the first of the June’s emails from your director.
She will say something to the effect that 1) She needs your help to keep the Unit, or 2) You are sooooooooo close to a super spectacular goal, and she needs your help. Regardless, no order is too small as they ALL help, and U and I Together means UNIT… get it?
What’s really fun is to watch the $1 million units scramble for a repeat, or in one case I know personally, a Three-Peat, and it just ain’t gonna happen, again. I admit I am stunned with this news because we all know how successful all these top directors are… heaven knows, for years, I wanted so badly to be one, but it wasn’t in the cards, because I was a lazy “looser” and didn’t work hard enough. Mea Culpa.
So, my dear directors… are you running special ordering prizes for June ONLY? You really should. Of course, you know our favorite vendors are just waiting for you to order their June promos.
Our super terrific NSDs are hitting the road for their annual June altar calls (just back from ________, and really, really pumped up) and you are hitting WalMart and your customer list to find some lovely guests to accompany you to this great event! Guests are always free (Thank God) and if you arrange this correctly, you really don’t have to offer your guest a light dinner before the event.
I know your fingers are crossed and you are going to work until 11:59 June 30th to make this happen. (PS. The company will probably allow the orders and agreements posted after 11:59 to count this year, because that’s just the sort of company they are! Always looking out for you.)
Those who are sighing, and knowing that it is NOT going to happen this year… this paragraph is for you. WHO CARES??? We all start at ZERO July 1. The counter rolls back and you can start over this year. Next year will be YOUR year. Really. THIS NEW YEAR IT WILL BE DIFFERENT.
You have beaten yourself up one side and down the other and know that it is because you didn’t work hard enough, didn’t recruit quality people, had boring meetings, not so great newsletter, boring social media posts, you didn’t give God the glory or even a business to bless, and you can’t follow a parked car, and honestly, you need a new unit. Not that you don’t LOVE all of your consultants WHERE THEY ARE, it’s just that you need a couple of super stars, someone like YOU, who gets it and understands what needs to be done, AND doesn’t let her emotions get the best of her.
I mean, you are not the mother of these people. They get too distracted with LIFE things and all that does is distract you too, so THIS year it is EYES ON THE TARGET WITH FOCUS . And everybody knows that the “Big Girls” take July off, so ha ha Big Girls, watch out, here YOU come. No July vacation this year for you. You are working, because if you work hard now, when nobody else wants to, you can play later when nobody else can. OK then. No sour grapes for you! Change the date, not the goal!
Consultants, what can I say? The gifts and prizes and recognition are terrific in June. I’ll bet if you can pronounce your name correctly, you will get recognition for it at a meeting in June. I will also bet that the dress code is relaxed a bit. I’ll go so far as to suggest that there will be something pretty wonderful, in a tacky sort of way, for you if you bring a guest or two to the meeting! Can you feel the excitement???
Are you going to seminar? No??? Oh my, you just don’t know what you are missing. Wow, hope that doesn’t happen next year. I mean really, it WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Not always in a good way, but for years, I was oblivious to the fact that the “sales” for the courts were really based on what people ORDERED from the company, NOT what they actually sold. There’s a bit of a disconnect there with reality. The NSD area event will be boring, except for the people who “do” her courts, and the food Mary Kay provides is okay if you like burritos and chicken.
Okay. I have gone off on a tangent again. The point of all of this is to remind you all of the futility of this grand adventure… here are the take home messages:
- Mary Kay is MLM. There is no such thing as dual marketing. I think they made that up.
- Mary Kay rewards orders placed by consultants for courts and awards. There is no tracking of actual sales.
- Mary Kay is not #1 in sales. Their sales are to consultants.
- There are quotas. Try ordering at 50% off when your status is I1.
- The cars are not free and they are not yours.
- Directors triple their income and quadruple their expenses.
- You can promote yourself and get a 9 to 13% commission WHEN YOU place a $600 w/s order AND 5 of your team members order.
- Charge-backs happen more often than you have been lead to believe. AS A RECRUITER WHO ACCEPTED THE COMMISSION CHECK AND WERE THRILLED AT THE TIME, YOU ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO PAY IT BACK IF YOUR RECRUIT IS NOT THRILLED AND RETURNED PRODUCT.
- The whole point of “giving your business your best for a year” is to perpetuate the lie that you cannot return product after your first year. THAT IS CATEGORICALLY NOT TRUE.
- Really, if this was such a great opportunity, why would this site be here and why is it growing?
Visit the
The clock is ticking…stress is rising…June 30th is just around the corner…
TIME TO ORDER!
Or, time to step off the hamster wheel and take stock of your life. With the exception of folks working at Mary Kay corporate, this company is not “helping” anyone. Even the NSDs at the very top don’t have half the quality of life as someone working a typical steady salaried J-O-B.
(Great write-up as always, SuzyQ.)
The annual flogging of a dying horse.
I used to loathe June. There was nothing but pressure from the NSDs and corporate to “finish strong.” When the end of the month hit, and you were still short of your goals, you did nothing but neat yourself up about it. That continued into July, and there was little to no production in July since you had already squeezed that turnip dry. You hope for a few new, qualified consultants who will make up most of your July production because your cards were maxed out. There was nothing left in the tank.
Fast forward: I love June and July now. Summer here can be HOT and humid, yet the beers on the porch with your neighbors are cold and the company is grand. Fireflies start showing up, and cornhole is played in the cul-de-sac until it’s dark. And there isn’t an MLM in sight.
Heather, I can’t think of a more perfect way to contrast MLM to “normal” careers, than what you just laid out there. I don’t think your second paragraph can even be comprehended by someone caught up in the pink fog. They would look at such activity with FOMO. In reality, they are the ones missing out.
11. If this were an opportunity as it’s characterized to be; why isn’t everyone selling MK?
Well said T. You inspired me to misquote Buddy/Syndrome from The Incredibles…
“And once everyone is selling Mary Kay…no one is selling Mary Kay.”