Written by The Artist

As I stepped away from Mary Kay, I remember thinking of all that I could have done if circumstances in my family had been different… shoulda… woulda… coulda.

I felt that I did the best I could under the circumstances, but I knew I coulda done better. Then one day I said to a friend at Pink Truth – ‘well, it’s my fault,’ and she went ballistic on me. And I thought she was nuts. She said… “Hold onto your armchair. It’s not your fault. Mary Kay is a cult and it’s set up for you to fail.“

And somehow her words began to register. I started to realize that in any other job, I would have been able to maintain my job and take care of the family business simultaneously – even in a crisis. I also realized that if I made more money holding events and classes, I would have done it all the time. I mean who wouldn’t?

Last night my good friend said to me – well it’s my fault that I haven’t done more with Mary Kay. And I went ballistic on her. I said honey – if you made more money when you held events, don’t you think you would have wanted to hold them all the time?

She held a 3-day holiday open house last year that yielded over $1,000. Friends of the family came to support her business. I said to her, if they really loved Mary Kay, don’t you think they would have called you to order again once they ran out? They were just helping you out because they love you, not Mary Kay.

We all have a few regular customers over time, but we have to account for attrition as well. My best customer, who I’ll call ‘Dee” bought all the time and spent lavishly on herself, until she got married and her priority became fixing up her new house. Now Olay seemed like a better deal to her. It was cheaper and more convenient for her to buy.

Woman can be fickle. Many like to try new things all the time. But I considered it my fault. I didn’t call her soon enough. I didn’t get her excited enough about the product. I didn’t solve her problems properly. I wasn’t a good beauty consultant.

In reality, some women like to shop around. Some like to multi-task and pick up all they can while grocery shopping. Some like to shop with me. Others like to spend some time at Ulta or Sephora poring through the many products they present at a great discount.

The true workings of this business are finally becoming clear to me. We are trained to only ‘dump up.’ That means you only ask questions and express doubts to your up line. And they are trained to make you feel that it’s your fault.

‘What did you say? How did you look? Did you leak something in your attitude? How did you choose your prospect? Are you pursuing only the poor and the pitiful or people with the money to buy? Are you doing 3 + 3+3? Do you have enough inventory? Do you have another credit card?’ It just goes on and on to a myriad of reasons that you failed and it’s entirely your fault.

As a Director I failed miserably because I couldn’t keep up my unit size according to my up line. Actually, I couldn’t even present inventory. I didn’t even know what that was until I was a Director for almost a year. I didn’t even know what the Miracle Set did for almost a year. I was a ‘do it fast’ example. I did it so fast, that I didn’t know ANYTHING!! I was running a unit and had no idea how to do a Skin Care Class and I was begging to learn.

I just want to share with you today that it’s not my fault and it’s not your fault either. It’s not even the fault of my up line because unfortunately they don’t know any better. They believe what they’ve been told with all of their hearts.

This business is based on building pyramids, a house of cards. And we know what happened to the three little pigs when the big bad wolf came. The weaker houses came tumbling down, whereas the house of bricks was safe. To me the house of bricks represents a steady job or a viable business. Something that generates income for our family.

Mary Kay is not a viable business. They teach us to build a house of cards, and when the wind blows, they come tumbling down. We have no foundation to our business. No skills, no real marketing plan other than recruit recruit recruit, and nothing of substance to sell. And for most of us, this business doesn’t generate any income for our families. As a matter of fact, it drains the family’s income.

So, each time you begin to think “it’s all my fault,” use some of the good things they taught you in Mary Kay and say “cancel, cancel” or “I do not receive that!”

You did everything right. It’s the Mary Kay business that has lost their way and gone wrong. Perhaps they were viable at one time, but MK is not viable today! If you’d like to keep your health, your family, your spiritual life, your money, your motto should be ‘Stay Away From Mary Kay.’