Mary Kay Ash

FAMOUS WOMEN AND BEAUTY

FEATURING: Mary Kay Ash Biography

(May 12, 1918 – November 22, 2001)

Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay

Some people seem to know their mission in life very early, while the others work hard, switch careers, go through many disappointments before they come to some realization point, when they know what their passion in life is. At this point they feel that they have nothing to loose to pursue their dream.

If you are over forty and feel that this is the time to move on to the career of your dreams, you are certainly not alone. A recent survey by Standard Life found that 50 has become an average age when people said they found fulfillment through their work.

Mary Kay Ash, the star of the world’s cosmetic industry, is another example of a famous woman entrepreneur who started her own business when she was in her forties. Here is her story.

Mary Kay Ash – Childhood and youth

As a child, Mary Kay Ash lived in Houston. Her mother, Lila Wagner, worked fourteen hours a day in the restaurant she owned in order to support her family: her four children and an invalid husband. At the age of seven, Mary Kay was already responsible of taking care of her father, while her mother worked in a restaurant. Her contact with mother was mostly by phone.

“She always told me in great detail how to do things I needed to do and would end every conversation with the words ‘You can do it, honey.’ That has become the guiding theme of my life,” Mary Kay recalled.

As a teenager, Mary Kay was a real achiever.

“I was a member of the debating team and drill team. I sold tickets for all the athletic games and I always sold the most. I had to have straight A’s in my grades and would often stay up until 3:00 a.m. to make sure my papers were perfect.” (Mary Kay Ash)

After finishing high school, Mary Kay had a lot of dreams, but no means to make them come true. She wanted to be a doctor, but her family could not afford to send her to college.

Mary Kay Ash – Family and Career

At the age of eighteen, she married a local radio star – Ben Rogers. Her marriage lasted through eleven years and three children. When Ben returned from military service in World War II, he wanted a divorce.

By then, Mary Kay had given up her dream about career in medicine. “I couldn’t stand cutting up those frogs, ” she said after she had taken premed course at the University of Houston. Trying to find the right job was the next step.

Her friend told her about Stanley Home Products, which involved sales and conducting demonstrations in people’s homes. In this job she made up her mind to achieve the annual award of Queen of Sales, and she achieved this goal.

After several years with Stanley Home Products, she started to work for World Gifts, a direct Sales company headquartered in Houston. She succeeded in making $1,000 a month in her first year. Mary Kay had a gift for selling, and she was soon promoted to area manager, then national training director. Later she wrote the following about this period of her life:

“At World Gifts, I found myself teaching men how to do what I did and then they put a man above me to tell me what to do, and paid me one-half as much as the male sales managers.”

Mary Kay resigned with a lot of bitterness in her heart. To re-gain her inner balance, she started writing. She started it with an idea to look at things positively – and she ended up making a list of problems confronting women in business.

Mary Kay Ash – a life change

The more Mary Kay thought about it, the more she believed that her mission was to start a different business based on different principles. In 1963, she bought the skin cream formula she had been using for 10 years for herself. With a capital of $5,000, she started her “Beauty by Mary Kay” in Dallas. Her first staff was her second husband (who died of heart attack when this business was starting up), and nine beauty consultants, most of whom stayed with the company for long years.

Mary Kay also brought her son, Richard Rogers, into her business. The success of the company was tremendous. The successful first years gave Mary Kay the chance to invest more in researching the latest developments in skincare industry and implementing them in her business.

Two years after the sudden death of her second husband, Mary Kay married Mel Ash. This relationship lasted for fifteen happy years until Mel’s death from cancer.

Mary Kay Ash – principles of success

Mary Kay thought that the key to her success was understanding of people as the important asset of her company. Her talent was in recruiting people who recruited others. The recruiting bonus introduced by Mary Kay created the incentive of bringing in other beauty consultants. After six months of work, a new consultant could qualify for directorship and the famous pink Cadillac.

“God first, family second, job third.” This was the wisdom Mary Kay had learned from her own life experience. Mary Kay was convinced that her company provided the great advantage of being Mary Kay consultant, because this work was compatible with motherhood.

“You can make $ 30,000 a year and still be home when the kids get off the school bus!” said Mary Kay.

In 1968, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. became a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. After the stock sunk from $22 to $9 per share in 1984, Mary Kay decided to make the company private by offering the shareholders the price higher than the market price of the stock.

Mary Kay remained active in the company until suffering a stroke in 1996. Her son Richard Rogers was named the CEO of Mary Kay in 2001. At the time of Ash’s death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics was represented in 37 countries, with the annual sales of over $2 billion.

Mary Kay Ash – the best recommended books

Mary Kay Ash authored three books, all of which became the best-sellers. Click on the image/link to order.