Mary Kay Ash was born on May 12, 1918-22, in Hot Wells, Texas. Her birth year remains uncertain: “Texas has no record of Mary Kathlyn Wagner’s birth for 1918–the year she usually claimed–nor for 1916, the date cited second most often; she may have been born as early as 1915” (Gavenas, 2008, para. 1). Her parents, Edward Alexander Wagner, and Lula Vember Hastings, were not wealthy. Her mother was the one who supported the family, because her father was disabled due to tuberculosis. When Mary Kay was seven, she was responsible for maintaining the house and her bedridden father. Her mother worked from 5 am to 9 pm. She would encourage Mary Kay that she could “do it all”. Perhaps this early experience contributed to Mary Kay’s industriousness: “As a divorced mother of three, she had built a career in the direct-sales industry, but she’d watched promotions go to male colleagues while she was told to “stop thinking like a woman” (Sole-Smith, 2016, para. 3).
Mary Kay is known for starting a women’s cosmetic line that is based on the business model of at-home sales. Some people believe that her sales force works as a pyramid scheme, because experienced consultants mentor new consultants and receive a 10% bonus of the new consultant’s sales: “…this percentage is paid by the parent company and does not come out of the new employee’s profits, this practice does not make Mary Kay an illegal pyramid organization” (Glass, 2016, para. 3). The method of the business model is that the newcomers are mentored by the more experienced sales consultants, and everyone benefits. Mary Kay’s business model encourages a community between the sales consultants.
Mary Kay started the Mary Kay cosmetic company in 1963: “Mary Kay Ash left the traditional workplace after watching yet another man whom she had trained get promoted over her” (Biography.com, 2014, para. 2). The socio-economic status of women in the workforce was tenuous at the time, and Mary Kay was a promoter of women in her company; she referred to her sales consultants as her daughters. These women were able to work around their own schedules, and create a time to make money that was convenient for busy mothers. The way that women make money is buying Mary Kay product at wholesale and then reselling them at retail price at during at-home parties.
Her business model had many sayings that helped her workforce deal with the trials of being a woman in a male dominated business environment, such as: “‘When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!’; or ‘Fail forward to success’” (Gavenas, 2008, para. 13). She ended up with awards that range from being one of “America’s 25 Most Influential Women,” The World Almanac and Book of Facts (1985), to being awarded the Horatio Alger Distinguished American Citizen Award in 1978 (Mary Kay Website, 2016, para 7). These awards are indicative of the way that Mary Kay influenced the industry. Certainly, Mary Kay created a niche for women; her business allowed women to think like women and be successful.
Mary Kay was a devout Christian: “She also steadfastly believed that life’s priorities should be kept in their proper order, which to her meant putting faith first, family second and career third” (Mary Kay Website, 2016, para. 4). Mary Kay was effervescent and over the top when it came to her mannerisms. She was known to be visible and active in her organization, which differed from other organizations, such as Avon, who had inconspicuous CEO’s (Gavenas, 2008, para. 10). She was known for her love of the color pink. She lived her life in a giant pink 19,000 square-foot mansion. She died in Dallas, on November 22, 2001. Her estate was worth about $98 million, most of it in Mary Kay stocks.
- Biography.com Editors. (2014). Mary Kay Ash biography. Biography.com. Retrieved from: http://www.biography.com/people/mary-kay-ash-197044#related-video-gallery
- Gavenas, M. (2008). Ash, Mary Kay. American National Biography Online. Retrieved from: http://www.anb.org/articles/10/10-02284.html
- Glass, M. (2016). Mary Kay organizational structure. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from: smallbusiness.chron.com/mary-kay-organizational-structure-15525.html
- Mary Kay Website. (2016). About Mary Kay Ash: Charming, spirited, a one-of-a-kind success story. Marykay.com. Retrieved from: www.marykay.com/en-us/about-mary-kay/company-and-founder/about-mary-kay-ash
- Sole-Smith, V. (2016). How Mary Kay cosmetics sells women on ‘having it all’. Harpers Magazine. Retrieved from: harpers.org/blog/2012/07/how-mary-kay-sells-women-on-having-it-all/
