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Luke 6:38 - give, and it shall be given unto you... AGAPE.com
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The Mary Kay Ash Story... If someone were to ask me to pick one word to best describe any success I've had in my life... I wouldn't hesitate; the word would be PERSEVERE. There have been a lot of potholes, detours and
roadblocks along the way. I can only wish that I had BJ Gallagher's book to
provide inspiration as I fought through my times of adversity.
Persist no matter what. Today, I'd like to share a chapter in The Best Way Out
is Always Through. Enjoy! But life wasn't rosy at the top. Even though Mary Kay had the title and the track record, she was not taken seriously by her male peers. In board meetings, her opinions and suggestions were ignored, dismissed, or even ridiculed. Male board members minced no words in their judgment - pronouncing her guilty of "thinking like a woman." Since the sales force was almost entirely female, Mary Kay thought that thinking like a woman was an asset. But her fellow board members disagreed. Finally, in frustration, she retired in 1963, intending to write a book to assist women in the male-dominated business. Sitting at her kitchen table, she made two lists: one
list was all the good things she had seen in the companies where she'd worked,
and the other list was all the things she thought could be improved. As she
re-read her lists, she realized that what she had in front of her was a
marketing plan for her ideal company. In just four weeks, her "book" had become
a business plan, and her retirement was over. Her husband, unlike her accountant and attorney, was very supportive. With his help, Mary Kay developed the cosmetic products, designed packaging, wrote promotional materials and recruited and trained her female sales force. Then the unthinkable happened; her husband of twenty-one years died of a heart attack. Another woman might have dropped her plans, or at least delayed them, but Mary Kay was a strong Texas woman. She stayed on track with the help of her twenty-year-old son, Richard Rogers and rolled out her new business in September of 1963. Beginning with a storefront in Dallas and an investment of $5,000, Mary Kay Cosmetics earned close to $200,000 in its first year - quadrupling that amount in its second year. When Mary Kay took her company public in 1968, sales had climbed to more than $10 million. Mary Kay's unusual corporate motto, "God first,
family second, career third," was unconventional, to say the least. But she
understood the need for women to have balance in their lives, and she was
committed to providing unlimited opportunity for women's financial AND personal
success. At the time of her death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics had 800,000 independent beauty consultants in 37 countries, with total annual sales of over two billion dollars. Never underestimate the power of a woman with a mission!
And Grandma's too... While we honor all our mothers with words of love and praise. While we tell about their goodness and their kind and loving ways. We should also think of Grandma, she's a mother too, you see.... For she mothered my dear mother as my mother mothers me. Author Unknown |
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