MIRACLES HAPPEN: THE LIFE AND TIMELESS PRINCIPLES OF THE FOUNDER OF MARY KAY INC.
WHAT SURPRISED ME THE MOST
- Mary Kay's business opportunity was not her own original idea.
- Mary Kay had enough time in a day to do several parties and take care of/be present for her children.
- Mary Kay's penchant for femininity and embracing your womanhood influenced me to do the same.
MOST ADMIRE: In order to be more organized with keeping track of what I admired about Mary Kay, I used pink sticky notes to piece away any excerpts I found admirable. In total, I separated 25 aspects of Mary Kay's character.
- Mary Kay's desire to be someone who could make things happen.
- Mary Kay's version of competition meant to always try to one-up yourself.
- Mary Kay went forward with opening her business amidst the death of her husband.
- Mary Kay Consultants could become Mary Kay Millionaires, some even multimillionaires.
- Mary Kay's enthusiasm for selling gave her the ability to sell just about anything, such as a Child Psychology book series.
- Mary Kay learned to drive so she could sell $25,000 worth of books.
- Mary Kay believed that in order for an entire group to have the same level of enthusiasm about a project, the leader must also have enthusiasm.
- Mary Kay strongly believed in the power of having enthusiasm, to the point where she would "generate" enthusiasm if she was feeling particularly down, as to her this was "a wonderful way to keep from wasting precious time."
- Mary Kay was a college dropout.
- Mary Kay liked challenges because of their intellectual and emotional nature. They allowed her to reflect on her current skills as an individual.
- Mary Kay's concept of respect was to first respect yourself, then everyone else will follow suit.
- Mary Kay believed that in order to find success, you must first be willing to fail.
- Mary Kay cared about her time was spent, and made sure to always make the most out of her own.
- Mary Kay was very adamant on having a housekeeper, even before she had the means to; her view was that it was a waste of time to spend time cleaning her house and doing chores. Rather, she would much rather pay someone to do that for her, as she advised a close friend of her to "stop spending dollar time on penny jobs."
- Mary Kay believed in the power of planning your life out and deciding what you want out of life.
- Mary Kay believed that in order to get over your fears, you must do what it is you're afraid of as a way of learning from these mistakes and growing as an individual.
- Mary Kay recognized the importance in increasing one's human capital, as to her it was obvious that one needs more than just money to succeed.
- Mary Kay had an incredible entrepreneurial spirit that allowed her to see natural talents as career opportunities.
- Mary Kay encouraged men to wear makeup and was not a fan of toxic masculinity.
- Mary Kay believed in treating people fairly, as she would not want to treat someone in a way she would not like to be treated.
- Mary Kay would send out personalized Christmas, birthday, and anniversary cards to her employees. She would design the cards herself and include a handwritten message.
- Mary Kay would personally call her consultants if someone in their family passed away.
- There once existed a waiting list for people who wanted to work for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
- One of Mary Kay's National Sales Directors made more than the President of the United States.
- Mary Kay embraced change.
LEAST ADMIRE: In order to be more organized with keeping track of what I least admired about Mary Kay, I used yellow sticky notes to piece away any excerpts I found admirable. In total, I separated 5 aspects of Mary Kay's character.
- Mary Kay got the concept behind her entire enterprise from someone else. The original products sold weren't made from her own original formula; she bought them from a random family. I don't even think she even credited them ever or shared her earnings.
- Although it is her brand, Mary Kay's superficial beauty views did not sit well with me. She claims that women ages 14 to 40 need good looks, which is not entirely true and is outdated.
- Mary Kay once did not hire someone because of their appearance. While it is important to not show up to a job interview looking like a slob, and I guess there is more pressure in this department when interviewing at a company like Mary Kay Cosmetics, the skill set this potential employee could bring possibly outweighs their outward appearance and thus should at least be given a chance.
- Mary Kay, again, was very judgmental about people's appearance. She always had something to criticize and almost always carried out her comments in a very patronizing nature. Also, she once accepted a woman's diamond ring as payment for a wig. It was the woman's wedding ring.
- That same woman was so happy with the makeover Mary Kay gave her that she claimed it was the first time she's ever felt pretty. For Mary Kay to include this in her autobiography as a trophy of sorts is beyond pretentious of her; beauty has millions of different definitions, but it's very clear that Mary Kay only saw one kind of beauty.
ADVERSITY AND FAILURE: In order to be more organized with keeping track of what adversity and failures plagued Mary Kay, I used orange sticky notes to piece away any excerpts. In total, I separated 3 aspects of Mary Kay's character.
- Mary Kay experienced hunger during the Depression.
- Mary Kay was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
- Mary Kay's husband died of a stroke.
COMPETENCIES
- Mary Kay was very ambitious and driven.
- Mary Kay was not a quitter.
- Mary Kay was very creative and knew her way around business.
- She was extremely intelligent with her business venture ideas.
CONFUSING: In order to be more organized with keeping track of what confused me about Mary Kay, I used blue sticky notes to piece away any excerpts I found confusing. In total, I separated 10 aspects of Mary Kay's character.
- Mary Kay's first husband had a fatal heart attack when he was reading the final percentage figures for the company.
- Mary Kay's first Basic Skin Care Set was usually used by multiple people in a typical skincare class, completely ignoring the health implications that that has.
- Mary Kay was very happy that her products were indirectly benefitting her client's husbands, too. She even shared a story where one particular husband thanked her for allowing him to fall in love with his wife again.
- Mary Kay refers to her first marriage as a "divorce". He died?
- The placement of some of her personal stories was a bit confusing.
- Mary Kay would "struggle to make ends meet", yet be able to hire a housekeeper.
- She went to college while also hosting Stanley parties, and taking care of her children.
- She accepted a woman's wedding ring as a form of payment for a wig.
- Mary Kay went through financial struggles and claimed to be the sole provider for her children, yet her children were of age when she opened her business.
- Mary Kay would actually call back regular individuals whenever they called her directly at her office.
- Are you happy with who is in charge of your company now?
- What would you do differently with your business plan if you knew that it would become obsolete in the future?
- When she first began her business, Mary Kay and her family would work 16 to 18 hour workdays.
- Mary Kay's philosophy was to have God first, family second, and career third.
- To Mary Kay, things don't just happen. You must make it happen.
- Mary Kay claims that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is their levels of determination.
- There are three components to having a successful career: have the desire to succeed, have the knowledge to succeed, and have the ability to apply yourself.
- To become an entrepreneur, you must be willing to work harder than you would work in a regular job.
- If you work hard enough, you will be successful personally and professionally.
- For Mary Kay, having all her years of experience, trial and error, hard work, and disappointment were necessary to have as guidance in starting her company.
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