Seeing Pink? Mary Kay Rep Sez “Run Like a Track Star”
July 10, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
(FranchisePick.Com) Is Mary Kay Cosmetics a liberating and empowering business opportunity or a cult of greed that has unleashed a dreaded army of MLM KAYBOT zombies on America?
FranchisePick.Com readers continue to share their opinions and experiences. Here are some excerpts from recent comments:
“RONDA” on Mary Kay Cosmetics
I WISH THAT I WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS BEFORE I TOOK OUT A 5000 DOLLAR LOAN AND GAVE IT ALL TO MY DIRECTOR, BECAUSE I WAS LEAD TO BELIEVE I NEEDED INVENTORY ON MY SHELF TO MAKE A PROFIT. WELL GUESS WHAT, I STILL HAVE THAT INVENTORY SITTING ON MY SHELF FOR MY PERSONAL USE, BECAUSE I NEVER GAINED A CUSTOMER BASE TO SELL IT. I QUICKLY LEARNED THAT I WAS SPENDING MORE THAN I WAS BRING IN, I CONSTANTLY WAS PERSUADED TO GET TO “NEW” PRODUCTS IN WHICH THEY CHANGED EVERY OTHER MONTH TO STAY IN YOUR POCKET. IF YOU SEE SOMEONE IN PINK TAKE OFF LIKE A TRACK STAR IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.
“Raisin” on Mary Kay Cosmetics:
After being very high up in Mary Kay, and seing how manipulated the women are, and how we were taught to motivate them, and how little sales results they have, I think it is undeniable that Mary Kay is a financial cult that preys on the insecurities and weaknesses in women. They capitalize on the need women have to be appreciated…. It is by far the most twisted business environment I have every been a part of..and I was considered very “successful” having won 6 cars in 8 years.
“gothckhiq” on Mary Kay Cosmetics:
Mary Kay is indeed a thinly veiled pyramid scheme. The only ones buying the cosmetics are the consultants themselves. There are many scripts and lies used to brainwash these women into going deep into debt purchasing this overpriced junk that they can never sell. I got sucked in about ten years ago. After a year, I was fed up. I had wasted my time and money and energy and had nothing to show for it but money down the drain. MK people like to say that if you don’t make money in MK it means you are lazy. This is not true. I never worked so hard at a regular job as I did trying to book classes and sell this junk. The bottom line is, I don’t work for free, much less do I pay to work. So I sent back my crap and quit and experienced a great feeling of freedom. Now, if anyone mentions MK to me I will turn on my heel and leave instantly.
“embum99″ on Mary Kay Cosmetics:
…I actually sell to real live people that are not me. I am sure that the statements made are accurate in some cases. I have met a lot of people that buy for themselves and thats it (which makes no sense to me) and there are A LOT of unbelievably stupid women who sell MK. However, I do not encourage my recruits to buy a lot of inventory, I tell them to get the bare minimum order of $200 and see where that gets them. I tell them to stay away from buying colour products and anything limited edition. I teach them that 60% of the money from a class goes to their business expenses and 40% goes into a savings account. If they can not afford to go to a conference or something MK related, then I ask them how much is in their savings account and if that will cover it, if not, then they either need to find a way to raise more cash or choose not to attend the function. I even show them how to get their starter kit for free. I will hold the class and all the sales from that class will go to their starter kit. I 100% discourage using your own money to start this business unless they want to. I teach good business money management from the start and not later. I am soon discovering that I am definetly one of the few people that do this. I learned from my mistakes and I do not want others to make the same ones. Can we just get rid of the stupid MK consultants, I think that would be better! Trust me, they drive me crazy to. After all last time I checked, we were all adults (18 and over).
“Tracy” on Mary Kay Cosmetics:
I am not a consultant but I Love the MK products. I am not stupid. I am an adult and I love their makeup. Keep your stupid remarks to yourself!! if you dont like it, then dont buy it!!
“Bea” on Mary Kay Cosmetics:
If you compare the signs of “cult” to the MK business opportunity you’ll see a frightening resemblence… I’ve been there. I know. There is a great deal of emotional blackmail with MK. www.pinktruth.com is right “on target” with the articles posted there.
”former kaybot” on Mary Kay Cosmetics:
please visit www.pinktruth.com for the real story of mk cosmetics.
Is Mary Kay Cosmetics a liberating and empowering business opportunity? Is it a cult of greed that preys on some women’s need for affirmation? Or none of the above? Share your opinion. Leave a comment.
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The biggest problem with Mary Kay is they want you to turn all of your customers into consultants. Because my director was wanting to become an NSD, right from my debut she was focused on getting new consultants. So I didn’t sell very much at my debut because she got quite a few to become consultants, and convinced me that that was the best thing that could happen. I moved pretty quickly into directorship, and my husband was very concerned all along the way–”How are you going to make any money if all of your customesr become consultants?” I pooh-poohed him because my SSD was adamant that I’d make much more money this way. Well, turns out my husband was right. I worked so hard after that to try to get any classes or new customers. And the expenses of directorship were unreal, in comparison to my commissions, especially since I’d recruited most of my customers.