The Electric Pink Cadillac
Since 1969, The Mary Kay Pink Cadillac has served as a symbol of excellence to Mary Kay Consultants. Only the top of the top earn this privilege. When in fact, most consultants will never earn this car and those that do are only averaging around $30,000 in income (before expenses).
Mary Kay announced in the April Directors memo that beginning in September, the only Cadillac option available to directors would be a fully electric Cadillac. There is no gas or hybrid option available.
This news generated more buzz in the Directors group than anything has in YEARS.
Cari Hall and other directors are thankful that they can choose the cash option instead. They can then use the $925 award to pay for the car they want. (They also don’t have to worry about making a copay if they don’t make production. They just get the cash)
Christine Van Ackeren is disappointed. These changes would not make Mary Kay herself happy. She also lets slip that the company is no longer mailing copies of Applause Magazine.
Susan Hattem Celi whines that she is glad that she was able to earn 16 Normal Cadillacs, but it really doesn’t matter to her now cause she’s already taking the cash option.
Azzari Jones reminds everyone this wasn’t Mary Kay’s choice. General Motors is no longer going to make the gas vehicle they currently offer to Mary Kay.
Karen Mitchell Saphos is worried for her health if she sits in an electric vehicle too long.
Idra Green states that Mary Kay doesn’t have to even offer the car. Consultants can’t even earn them anymore. Just be grateful.
Jessica Zondag admits that there won’t be much incentive for anyone to earn the Cadillac now.
Pam Potter Hillard is FIRED UP. She is close to qualifying for Cadillac for the first time in 36 years of Mary Kay. She will NOT pay extra to get her home ready for an electric vehicle. She has sent a strongly worded email to corporate.
Diane Kuciel laments that more directors in colder climates will simply just take the cash option due the troubles electric vehicles are rumored to have in the cold.
Shanna Nowling-Brannon is worried that if more directors take the cash, there will be less Cadillacs on the road, so there won’t be as much visible advertising which will affect the entire company.
At the end of the day, the company has made their decision. Backlash from consultants will not change their mind. Just be grateful you are an independent contractor for a corporation who can take anything away from you at anytime.
Visit the
I am a big fan of EVs (I have owned two now), but I am also a big opponent of EV mandates. EVs are a fantastic option for folks with a dedicated at-home charging solution, and who have an ICE vehicle as a backup for long trips. EVs cost less to operate, and you can charge when you are at home doing other things (like sleeping). Imagine never having to stop for gas…especially with a car full of hungry kids!
For those without a dedicated at-home charging option, EVs are a nightmare to own and operate. Finding an available (and functioning) public charging station can be a challenge in itself. Paying for a public charge significantly reduces the cost benefit. Waiting hours away from home for your vehicle to charge is not time well spent, especially if you have a car full of kids!
Mary Kay Corp appears to be slowly adding barriers to traditional MK success. While this one may not be MKC’s fault, it still adds to the list of things eroding the “opportunity”.
Agreed with all points, DJ. EVs are a significant lifestyle shift that not every family may be prepared for.
While this shift may not be corporate’s fault, it’s absolutely something they could have pivoted around. They chose not to, leaving a big barrier in place for the cream of the crop directors. Bad move.
Agreed also. I couldn’t do an EV if I wanted to; I doubt my house’s prehistoric wiring could handle it and there are zero public charging stations that I’m aware of around here. And if there were, what the heck would I do while it’s charging?
It seems like yet another move designed to make people nope out of the career track if not quit altogether, and using that as an excuse for ditching the consultant model. Strip away the fantasy of “Anyone can drive that pink Cadillac if you BEE-LIEVE!!!!!!!!!!” and the rest of the illusions will start to crumble, too.
Make irrelevant social media videos from your car. 😀
In parts of the country where electrical vehicles are a “thing”, i.e. San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, Portland, etc., there are charging stations that charge faster than one you might have at home or use overnight, and they are in places where you could be doing something else while the car charges, i.e. libraries, supermarkets, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. but I will agree that it can be lifestyle shift and you have to plan things differently than just going to a gas station. But really, none of this should matter. ANYBODY with half a brain (and if they’re in Mary Kay, that’s debatable) should just take the cash rather than the car. Cash is king, do what you want with it and don’t worry about this requalifying nonsense or the embarrassment of having to return the car if you don’t requalify and don’t want to make the co-payment. None of this would be an issue if you just held a regular job or were in a business where you had a chance at doing well, whereas in Mary Kay and any other MLM, the odds are stacked against you.
Regarding the consultant who has done Mary Kay for 36 years and *might* qualify for a car this year, that’s kind of pitiful, sorry to be so harsh… I would seriously question any business where it took me 36 years to see any level of success.
The Gouvernment du Quebec is pushing for EVs. Nearly all gas stations have charging points as do town halls (hotel de ville). Most malls have dedicated charging areas.
There are grants to buy in-home chargers.
https://www.quebec.ca/en/transports/electric-transportation/financial-assistance-electric-vehicle/charging
So I’m supposed to turn my car off and not go near my phone because a spark might light a fire at a gas station, but they’re putting charging stations at gas stations. Someone is pulling my leg.
Why would you think that? The stations are not on top of the underground fuel tanks unlike gas pumps and are generally situated at the far edges of the property.
Neither the Gouvernment du Quebec nor the fuel stations are going to put themselves at risk of potentially massive negligence lawsuits.
My stepson in LA has an EV (not Tesla, but I forget the brand) … between overnight charging in his garage from the EXISTING outlets feeding the adapter and an occasional top-up at a charging station he’s happy.
“Waiting hours away from home for your vehicle to charge is not time well spent, especially if you have a car full of kids!” … the commercial charging stations are FAST because they aren’t limited to the voltage and amps of a home electrical system. Hook up the charger, take the kids to the potty, get a snack, wash the windshield, load the kids and you are 85-90% topped up.
Good point. But you must have convenient access to and be willing to pay the higher cost of a high speed charger. On a level 2 charger (the most commonly available), most newer EVs get 25-30 miles of range per hour of charge. My 1st generation EV got 4 miles per hour of charge on a Level 1 charger, and 12 miles per hour of charge on a Level 2. 80% charge could be achieved in 30 mins on a high speed charger, if I could find a functional one without a line to wait (I’ve had to wait…it sucks)
My current EV gets 24 miles per charge hour on Level 2. High speed chargers are not nearly as easy to find as gas stations…and they cost a LOT more per mile of range than home charging or Level 2.
If you live in an urban area with abundant high speed chargers, and if you don’t mind paying top rates to charge, this remains an option, of course. For the folks who are good candidates for EVs, they are wonderful to own and drive, and I can testify to this. For those living in high-rises, apartment complexes, rentals, or rely on on-street parking, live in the mountains, or in rural areas…not so much.
The bottom line is EVs are not for everyone, which is why I oppose mandates.
I think a lot of Cadillac Directors will take the cash option instead, with the excuse being that the electric vehicle won’t work for them and their lifestyle. But they will secretly be glad they won’t have to make a copay.
Karen Mitchell SaphosSuper bummed. A Dr at MD Anderson hospital said he would not put his family in an electric car because, we don’t know the long term effects of sitting in that big of battery. I don’t want to have to be on the lookout for charging stations.
Nice vaguebooking about an un-named doctor who may or may not have said anything about the effects of EMFs on people’s bodies. We do however know the effects of ICEs on people’s health. Does Ms. Mitchell Saphos hope she randomly stumbles across a gas station when she needs on or does she know or plan in advance when on a trip?
Alicia West FancheKaren a few guys I know had to push an electric car that shut down in rural WV. It was even in the newspaper.
Also does not provide a cite.
I got a call a few days back asking me if I could bring a jerry can of gas to where my friend was waiting because she had run out of fuel. I imagine a lot of us have either delivered to or had delivered gas from either a friend or a towing company. It’s not an uncommon experience.
It’s why I’ve had a AAA membership since I started driving. I’ve never run out of gas (knock on wood) but I have had flat batteries, locked the keys in the car, popped tires, run into creative tricks the car likes to play on me… (once I got it stuck in manual driving mode. That was not fun.)
I have a great relationship with my locksmith from the sheer volume of business he gets from me.
This may be the Cadi-lyst (pardon the terrible pun) to eliminate the Cadillac. Oh shoot, nobody wants to drive an electric car?? Guess we are done with that program as well!
Shanna Nowling-BrannonHave you ever had a cust call or text u and say I saw a Pink Cadillac and thought of you and need to get my moist.
Talk about Pavlovian conditioning. See pink car, buy make-up/skin care.
ROFLMAO! “Just be grateful you are an independent contractor for a corporation who can take anything away from you at anytime.: This totally sums it up … be grateful for the crumbs and scraps that fall from the table onto the floor.
“…designed for doers, opportunity seekers, and possibility thinkers…”
Dude it’s a hunk of metal on four wheels. Calm down. It ain’t that deep.
Wow! This is big news, I have never joined mary kay thanks to this site but
I’m pretty sure The #1 insensitive to join Mary kay was that pink Mary kay car.
You see it parked at the grocery store or out and about while doing errands and it’s considered a trophy of success to people’s eyes to sign up. If I was in Mary kay I would get the car because it’s what gets people in.
But now that the #1 insensitive “The Mary kay Pink Cadillac is NOT an insensitive to get, this company will be ruined. In my opinion.
Women will get unmotivated for sure when the #1 insensitive is no longer sought after!
Blast from the past for me– Christine VanAckeran was a sister director. That pic of hers is at least 20+ years old. Since I am mid 70’s y/o, she must be at least mid 60’s, still a director with no hope of a cadillac or nsd. Tragic, misguided, and willfully ignorant.
I have to say that This love my son’s Tesla. The cameras that show you where people and cars are, the hands free driving, etc. elevates driving in a way that my Mustang can’t. However, I live in rural Indiana. In my town there are zero charging stations. An EV would not be practical.