Anna
Name: Anna
Date Joined MK: October 2006
Highest Level Achieved: N/A
When Left MK or Are You Still Active: Never went “active” – yay!
Initial Inventory Purchased: None!!
How were you recruited?
I met a MK lady after signing up for a “drawing” at a local gym. She called, said I’d won a body wash and offered a free “facial.” Well, I knew what it was all about basically but took her up on it because I’d just had a baby, had just moved to a new place and was feeling frumpy and down and thought it might perk up my spirits to use some new makeup. She then started recruiting me and I decided to sign on as a personal use consultant with the possibility of maybe doing some sales (2-5 hours per week) to make extra cash. She kept trying to convince me selling MK was so great I should do it part time but I could never warm stalk people, plus I quickly realized she only wanted me to be in this to buy inventory to help her maintain her director status. Plus, she didn’t let me know I’d have to buy $200 all at once to get the discount – I can’t buy that much in cosmetics all at once! I thought I could get a lipstick or something here and there as I needed it for 50% off. I feel lied to and frankly wonder how anyone is taken in by MK as the lie is so transparent.
What about Mary Kay appealed to you most?
The 50% off discount for personal use consultants and possibility of making a little extra money – but the recruiter failed to tell me you’d have to buy $200 worth at once to even get it. Also, I sort of wanted something to boost my confidence so I thought it might be fun to go to some meetings and meet new people.
Tell us about one of your most memorable or embarassing situations while in Mary Kay None, really. I did attend one meeting and found it pretty embarrassing that they played disco music and expected us to dance and act silly. We are grown-ups here!
What did you learn from your Mary Kay experience?
That MLM is a big lie and very sleazy. That you cannot work part-time and make full-time money. That MLM people will lie to you indiscriminately if it helps their bottom line. That MK is not the Christian company it claims to be or else it wouldn’t condone lying to recruit!
What are you doing now? Working full or part time? Working from home? etc. I am an unemployed graduate of law school & just took the bar exam. I am also an MBA student and a stay at home mother of 2 girls. I am a very depressed person without a lot of self-confidence – maybe that is why MK appealed to me at all.
Additional Comments
The MK ladies I met tried so hard to convince me selling MK is the key to big bucks. However, they wore the same ragged dresses and shoes every time I saw them and had trouble affording clothes for their kids. I am not being snobbish – hey, I wear ragged clothes to but not to business meetings with people I am attempting to impress. My kids wear hand me downs but I admit we don’t have a lot of money and would never try and make someone think I’m successful! One of the women had 5 kids and the family had only 1 car! Well, if you are so successful in MK why do you have this problem? Also, all the potential recruits at the one meeting I went to were very young, economically disadvantaged girls with little education. It seems like they prey on folks who don’t have a lot of hope. They should really be ashamed!
Lipstick on 
Ann on 
Brooke on 
Tam on 
I’ve used Mary Kay for several years now. I only buy the skin care and some lipsticks. The makeup isn’t that great. I have very oily skin (I’m 40 and still have breakouts and shine), and the consultant can’t seem to get it through her head that the mattifier and other stuff just don’t work. I have to use Clearasil. I also like Avon colors, because they’re prettier than Mary Kay’s colors. One consultant told me using different products was like waging “chemical warfare” on my face.
My previous Mary Kay woman was rather low-key, but the newest one I have is so pushy. She will not leave me alone. I worked with her at the school where I taught. She was the only person who kept in touch with me when I went to another school. She also asks about my family members and what’s going on in schools these days (she’s retired). I had thought maybe she had started to care about me as a friend, until I read about the “warm chatter.” She also mentions meetings every time I see her (about once a month). She calls around payday every month, too. Of course, in the past, I have had to pass on purchases because all of my paycheck had already been spent or invested. She’s just trying to get my money first, I guess.
Anywho, I am greatly surprised about these websites with negative things to say about Mary Kay, even suggesting it might be a scam. I have two questions: 1) Is all the scamming and pushiness something recently introduced? My previous Mary Kay lady from about 10 years ago was never pushy; and 2) If the directors are not making any money, why on earth would they try to recruit others? I wouldn’t recruit anyone into a business that failed. This doesn’t make any sense. Can people really be that gullible that they think that eventually everything will turn out great?
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