Written by Raisinberry

No one understands the pressure a Mary Kay Director-In-Qualification is under and how conflicted she is better than those of us here at Pink Truth. Right now, every time you get that spasm of fear in your gut, you can’t tell if it is anxiety or excitement. It is neither.

Right now, the push to make it to Sales Director will be bearing down. There is a little known “tactic” hidden, or at least not discussed overtly, that will be thrown in your face to keep you “finding a way or making a way”.

If you have been a Pink Truth reader for any length of time, you are aware that we expose manipulation and lies. This manipulation is built into the Mary Kay qualification period in order to place tremendous pressure on you to continue, even if it means making production with your own credit card. You’ll note production is the key…not a new recruit requirement per month benchmark. (Lightbulb go off?)

Your team members have added a team member of their own while you are in DIQ. While you are in DIQ, you get to keep her as part of your budding Unit. If you fall OUT of DIQ, you lose her. She remains in the parent Unit… and guess what… she doesn’t want to be in a Unit different than her recruiter. And your Director doesn’t care, frankly, because any Director with experience knows that most of the DIQ team will be gone in 6 months… hasn’t she told you that? (Sorry.)

This part of hamster wheel training (where you run and run and run and never get anywhere) is difficult. If you knew you were training for the wheel, you would stop now. But what will happen instead is, you will be encouraged to make up the production shortfall in order to keep those recruits signed by your team members and continue on. After all you are only 13 away, and if you start over you LOSE 2 unit members!! And all that production! You are so close! And Seminar is almost here! You can use your Director’s check to pay down the card…you will be so happy you kept going!

Fear and loss. These are the trump cards of the “system” of deception that Mary Kay employs. Ethics would demand that if you are 2nd or 3rd month DIQ, and your team hasn’t produced what you need, and your own restocking order has been placed, then you did your best and you start over. Only in Mary Kay will you be “advised” to put the rest in yourself.

This is stage one of the hamster training that will follow you your entire career. Short of any goal? Do it yourself. Miss production? You have “Space”. The description of what you are doing will be changed to the word, “stretch” in order to make it not sound so ugly and unethical. Get ready to always hear the words, “You’ll sell it” after you have “stretched”.

But here you are. So close to reaching your goal, applauded and recognized at events as DIQ, everyone asking you how many you need… your eyes glazing over at the pressure, the growing debt and depending on where you are towards the 30, the humiliating begging you are doing to have someone listen. And the trump card. You don’t want to lose those recruits! All this pressure over something or someone who won’t even be on the radar screen 3 to 6 months from now.

You will earn a Stage walk at seminar! You will get the ring for you and your Director. You will finally have your Unit and You will have that fat paycheck to pay back the charge card!

Well, see, here is where it gets a bit thorny. Your last month of DIQ…well, you remember that all that production commission goes to your Director, right? Not you. YOU get Director commission on your 1st month standing on your own.

Depending on if your team is working/ordering… your check will come from that. Typically that new Unit will have a $4,300-4,800 month. And you hopefully realize you just got on the wheel because you need to get to 50 before they all start dropping like flies. Your commission on $4,300 production AS A DIRECTOR, will be 13%… and probably another 13% cause they’re mostly yours. You yourself put in at least another $600. You will have a check of about $1,000… and another box of inventory on the way. You see the problem. Add to that, your fantastic Seminar Debut meant you went to Seminar! That’s another $1,000. There will be Director training coming up too, where you will be required to go to Dallas for a couple of days and depending where you are, factor airfare and hotel and food.

You are probably saying to yourself, none of this was really brought to my attention. Well no…it wasn’t. It would be seen as “negative”. You’ll adapt to it once you get into the position. It is common practice in Mary Kay to avoid full disclosure since it is so damaging to goal setting.

What you are signing on to, that also wasn’t disclosed, is the regular turnover of your paycheck back into orders to stay afloat with the occasional higher commission amounts that you can actually spend on something. Like a rolling sea, some months you’ll have extra and some months you’ll put it in. Event costs are known to go on another card that has space and slowly the debt grows and grows and grows. In 6 months, most of your DIQ team drops off, so be ready for that too. If you think you feel pressure now…just wait. But, by then you will have perfected the “smile and nod”.

Oh…that “feeling” you have right now that you can’t tell if it’s anxiety or excitement?

It’s conscience.