Your Name: Jane
Date Joined MK : 2005
When Left MK or Still Active?: Still active and loving it!
Initial Inventory Purchased: None
How were you recruited?:
As a personal use consultant, I later decided to work my business and it was one of the best decisions I ever made!
Memorable experience you had in MK:
There are so many… I guess I would say my 1st $400 class! Or getting my 1st team member!
What did you learn from MK?:
So many things… self-donfidence,[sic] courage, friendship, loyalty… there are so many wonderful things and I keep on learning!
What are you doing now? :
I work full time and work my Mary Kay business part time and it is fabulous!
Additional Comments:
I am sorry that many of you have had negative experiences, but just remember that most of your experiences were with misguided people, the values and success that this company fosters in its consultants is, unfortunately, not what you experienced.
Jane, I am so glad that you managed to find a unit and connect to all the “right” guided people in MK. As for me and the people I know, we unfortunately ended up with all the “misguided” people. Please come inside the forum and meet the many people who had the misfortune to end up meeting the “misguided” people. I think you’ll find that you are in the minority! But we’ll still embrace you as a friend, as long as you don’t try to turn us back to MK or another MLM, because eventually your luck will run out and you’ll need us to help you pick up the pieces. Don’t take my comments as sour grapes…I AM happy for you, but I am also HAPPY for the rest of us who found our way out of the pink-fog, lies and deception that left most of us with a huge MK debt and lots of self-doubt! When you read our stories, ask yourself one question “Am I part of the group that is perpetuating the myth of making a 6 digit “executive income” and making money off those women who are being led deeper into debt?
Jane, I’d have to agree with Lipstick that I believe you are in the minority and that most, at least those of us here, have been directed by misguided people.
I too, am happy that you are happy with Mary Kay. Please remember to work toward YOUR goals and sell, not just buy the product!
Hope you will join us in the forum! You can discuss MK but there are so many more topics we discuss! Best wishes!
To put it in a nutshell, Jane, you sound misguided.
I’m sorry that you don’t realize how naive you sound, but just remember that you are a sheep being led to slaughter by your *fabulous* employer Mary Kay, Inc! Buh Bye!!!
I think she is doing great and is and happy with her Mary Kay business, you on the other hand sound like a very negative person, Jane also doesn’t work for Mary Kay, she has her on business, she makes her own hours and she is her own boss and more importantly she is a happy person.
Lipstick and Tam, thank you for your RESPECT and well wishes! For the rest of you, I am sorry.
Good Job Jane…. Keep up the good work with Mary
Kay and don’t listen to these negative people that only wished they were in a good situation.
Chynna
“For the rest of you, I am sorry.”
I’m sorry too. How can you possibly know anything about “the rest”of us?
We’ll be here for you when you realize that all of MK is misguided.
We’re all just so sorry, lol.
Jane,
I would invite you into our forum to get to know all of us and hear our stories. We would also like to hear more of yours!
We are all women with reasons for getting involved in MK and many of us had bad experiences.
We worked our business and tried hard to make it work, but most of us ended up with more debt and we certainly didn’t see what we were promised by our recruiters.
It is really hard to make a profit just “selling” MK and when you begin recruiting you soon find out that it is hard to keep your team going and eventually you see that by recruiting others you are leading them down the path of debt and self doubt, so you can possibly make a profit.
When I realized this and it took me a long time, I returned my product and vowed to help all of my recruits who wanted to get out do the same.
I just couldn’t in all good conscience lead another woman into debt with high hopes of changing her life!
Why do you think Mary Kay is “misguided?” I have to be honest, I wish i didn’t buy this inventory i did. My husband and I have anew baby who was very ill when he was born and so consequently we have TONS of medical bills. now instead of using my business so i may stay at home with my SON, now i have to work to pay off my inventory…i want to send it back, but my team leader is now in DIQ and she is a good friend of mine. She is a good Christian women and I know she will understand, but i know she needs to get 12 active team members! Oh boy, I feel guilty!! Any advice?
Lily, you have to do what you need to do for yourself. DON’T feel guilty. Your director didn’t feel guilty when she convinced you to buy all that inventory for the good of your business, when actually it was so she could meet DIQ requirements.
Send it back, recoup most of your expenses and take care of your medical bills. To do otherwise would be foolish.
Lily,
Don’t feel guilty about getting out! If you don’t want to send your inventory back, here’s a plan that I’m doing. I look at it this way, if I send it back, I’m only getting 90% of what I paid plus all of the shipping. I have told my friends and some of the ones that purchased from me that I’m going out of business and everything is half price. That way, you’re getting your money back. You don’t have to go do all of those parties, either. So send out a post card to your customers and friends and let them know that they will pay half price on anything you have. I’m having people that I had not idea even knew that I am a consultant calling to come buy product. I’m putting it all back into my savings account. And bye the way…I now wear BareMinerals. It’s far superior to Mary Kay and there’s no talc. I developed an allergy to the talc in the MK eye make up, too. I love BareMinerals. Take care and don’t be afraid to do what you need to do. Also, don’t, don’t, don’t call your director prior to sending it back if you decide to do that. She’ll do what she can to talk you out of it! God Bless.
Jane,
I pray that you will see the “light” as I have. You will, sooner or later. Oh, I earned the 45th anniversary ring…talk about cheap! The beautiful pink stone is loose, it’s already turning green…that’s what I earned for working my butt off in MK! The so called “prizes” that you earn are very cheap and gaudy. Trust me, it’s not worth the work that goes into it…time away at night from your family, trying to buy, buy, buy to make your director happy…yep…you’re a little misguided, but then again, so was I. You’ll get over it!
Good advice id girl.
I’d like to see your ring 😉
i’d like to see the 45th anniversary ring, also. i don’t remember there being a ring offered – just a pin. would your ring have been offered as an “anniversary prize” within your own unit? lily, please be encouraged to not send your product back. your diq friend submitted a card of intent to the company with 8 active recruits (or more) and needs to build that to 30 (herself included) in 3-4 months. you would be better off taking bitter id girl’s advice and selling your inventory for 1/2 price of retail to recoup your money. i’ve been selling mary kay for 28 years and making money – why else would i continue if i wasn’t? i truly am sorry about all the women who have had bad experiences – it’s sad, though, that these women lump all of mary kay and anyone associated with it (consultants/directors and probably ladies that use the products) into a negative pile. please post and let me know how you’re doing depleting your inventory.
Lisa, I can’t believe you would encourage someone NOT to send her product back! That is her choice, not your’s, not her director’s. She obviously needs to recoup as much of her cost as possible, with all the medical bills. If this director is only ONE person away from making it, she will never make it in the long run. Send your stuff back. Family before career, especially YOUR family before SOMEONE ELSE’S career.
arabella – if you read lily’s last statement, she clearly asks, “any advice?” and that’s what i gave.
“you would be better off taking bitter id girl’s advice and selling your inventory for 1/2 price of retail to recoup your money.”
No she wouldn’t Lisa, unless she is beyond the time frame for qualifying for the 90% buy back program.
Consultants are always encouraged by their directors or recruiters to have 50% off sales to get rid of inventory, rather than send it back. Why? Because that director or recruiter knows that if the consultant sends back the inventory, the commission that the director/recruiter earned on that consultant’s order will be charged back.
Most customers don’t really respond to a 50% off sale anyway. They know how much consultants pay for their inventory — they know the markup. Besides, they only need just so much MK, even at the 50% discount. I’ve watched consultant after consultant waste weeks trying to sell stuff at 50% and in the end they would have been better off just sending the whole bunch back.
“i’ve been selling mary kay for 28 years and making money – why else would i continue if i wasn’t? ”
I can think of oodles of reasons. You’re having fun. You can’t get away from the rah-rah of Mary Kay.
Or you THINK you’re making money. Just because you’re selling doesn’t mean you’re making money. You need to consider lots of factors to see whether you are actually making anything.
My advice was only a suggestion. I am planning on sending my inventory back. However, why not sell as much as I can at cost, then that’s that much less shipping I’ll have to pay when I do send it back? You do need to consider your time frame with your decision. But, I have had people who found out that I am no longer going to be a consultant and that I’m selling what I have at half price and they’re calling me! I’m not beyond my time to send it back to the company. I have until March, 2009. Why not sell it to them at half price? It’s better than getting the 90% and also have to pay alot for shipping. Naturally, if anyone needs the money quickly, they’d need to send it back to Mary Kay. I’ve actually sold about $400 at half price and that’s only been in about a month’s time. I’m not even working to do that…only telling friends that I bump into that I’m getting out and everything in my inventory is half price. I guess it depends on your location and other factors. Good luck with it all.
The ring was just tacky. It was a “prize” that I had gotten an announcement that I had won on the MK in touch site. It was one of those that require so many “points” to get certain things. I selected it out of the other choices within my “points” range. It was a company thing…not from my director. Now, to my director’s credit, she got me a really pretty and not gawdy tennis bracelet once as a prize for doing well. But the gifts from the company…not worth 2 cents! If you look in some of your Applause books, it’s in there. I’ll try to find a pic of one and post it here…not sure how to do that.
id girl,
Send the pic of the ring to me at
lauraj@pinklighthouse.com
I’ll post it for everyone to see 🙂
Good points, Tam!
I would like to see anyone’s calculations on product sold, costs for section 2, MK events, PCP, hostess gifts, discounts subtracted from the “profit” and then divide all the hours spent on the phone, preparing/packing for a class, setting up and cleaning up after the class, filling and delivering orders, attending meetings, etc and divide that into what is left!
I would think it would be hard to show that anyone makes more than minimum wage at best! And you can hardly count those commissions util you have had them for a year, because if your recruit returns product, the benevolent MKC will ask you to “pay those coimmissions back to them”.
i guess there’s no way anyone can be in mary kay and be happy and be making money, right? i have figured my time and section 2 costs and i don’t do pcp or hostess gifts. i average a new profit of $250 to $400 per month, and i’m happy with that. that’s why i started selling in the first place, extra income. if i break my time up into hours spent vs. net money, it’s about $10 to $12 per hour, for me. i usually only have about $600 inventory at any given time, and i didn’t order that all at once; i add items that i know i’ll be selling in the next 3 months.
meant to say “average a net profit of”
Lisa, I applaud your success in MK. I am positively happy for you!
Obviously you have avoided all the pitfalls of debt, excess inventory, and have been blessed with classes that take no time and customers that call you and don’t expect any freebies with purchase.
You and your business have truly been blessed. Please share your strategy, business management skills and your success tips with everyone.
Lisa – Congrats on doing your business in what would be considered non-traditional form by my unit. We were told to be sure to do PCP, mailings, show the hostess gift, give door prizes, give gift certificates for referrals for facials, etc., all of which COST the IBC $ – and don’t even get me started on the “carry a full store” inventory spill!
Lisa, I urge you to follow Lipstick’s advice and share your tips with everyone you know in MK. Doing exactly the opposite of what you described (spending tons of $ on full-size demos, PCP, hostess gifts, GWP, website, carrying a full store, etc.) were not only encouraged by my NSD & SD, but by the “training” and advice provided at MK InTouch and in Applause magazine! Wow, talk about being a maverick in the MK world Lisa, you’re really going against the tide!
“i guess there’s no way anyone can be in mary kay and be happy and be making money, right? ”
Sure, if you live in denial and lower your standards.
“i average a new profit of $250 to $400 per month, and i’m happy with that.”
See what I mean?
Btw, I also got the 45th Anniversary ring and it’s absolute crap. Lisa, it seems everytime your little fingers get to typing, you either say something inaccurate, hard to believe or just plain stupid. Can’t you see that? We can…
Hey, Kelly…Nice to meet someone else who got that crappy ring! I should have gotten the poncho maybe! LOL! I got the dream catcher and photo of Mary Kay herself with our Nat’l Dir with some old man dressed in Spanish attire…made sometime in the 80’s…Just what a woman wants who has spent her vacation money on inventory and time away from her family doing those boring parties! I’ll bet the dream catcher cost all of $2, tops. My former director was kind enough to send that to me upon her return from Seminar. I’m soooooooo glad that I got out and didn’t let her talk me into Seminar just so that I could spend another pile of money and to face the humiliation of receiving that hideous dream catcher and photo! UGH!!!!!
You know what girls? I have more anger about MK than I thought! LOL! I’m really not usually this nasty! I guess MK does that to people…only after they’ve seen the light and see how foolish they’ve been!
i absolutely would love to share how i’ve done this business for 28 years. and i don’t do things the way that some of you were taught or exposed to. i do a 70/30 split – keeping 70% of the sales and only ordering with 30%. i order only every three months and that doesn’t have anything to do with keeping active as that doesn’t matter to me. i have to order to refill product sold. my $250 to $400 isn’t a lowered expectation – that’s what i wanted. there have been higher, much higher months, but that is not the norm. nov. and dec. are usually about $1000 months and one april, right before i left for africa on a missions trip, i sold $1800 for net profit of $1260. kelly, i think also that some of your comments are inaccurate, hard to believe and stupid, but i bet someone will tell me again how un-go-give that is. go-give has nothing to do with making a comment that someone else disagrees with.
if you would allow me to add – i don’t do classes, i only do facials and doubles. i don’t give a company gwp for $40, but i do give something nice. i frequent kirkland’s for sales or the candle places, etc. i have given very nice gifts that only cost me $2-5, because i got great bargains. i do have at least 15 customers that have told me they will call when they need something and they do. one customer of 4 years has me leave her product by the bench at the front door.
Lisa,
I’m finding more and more people, myself included, that have reactions to Mary Kay. I’m allergic to the talc in the products, which is not healthy at all for you. It’s like asbestos when you inhale it and can cause cancer. The mineral powder foundation, the pressed powders, blush, and eye colors all have talc as their main ingredient. Even the liquid foundations have talc, which is not a problem as it is not dry in that form and can’t be inhaled. Mary Kay compares its mineral powder foundation to Bare Minerals, which is a lie because Bare Minerals has no talc. Bare Minerals is much better than Mary Kay…I’ve tried both. By far, Bare Minerals is much better and holds up longer. I’m no longer breaking out and my eyes no longer itch and feel like there is grit in them. And as a consultant, if I’m not satisfied and the product does not work for me, I’m stuck. I didn’t have problems right away with it, otherwise, I would never have gotten into Mary Kay at all. I think that’s one of the main things that really made me angry. Consultants are the primary customers of Mary Kay, yet, we have to send our product back via the product replacement and use someone else’s name to do it. How is that putting God first? That’s lying. Have I done that in order to replace something? I’m sorry to say that I did. I did it out of anger that I was not able to honestly send my product back for a refund. I can’t use my new eye shadows because after a couple of weeks, they caused a reaction that I had not had before, but have not even messed with trying to do a product replacement. What would be the point? I don’t want to have to sell it or send it back. I’d say that MK sets a double standard with the way they treat their number one customers…the consultants. I’m very disappointed with the company that states they want to follow the golden rule, yet treat their consultants badly by not allowing us to return products for a refund when the product no longer works. Anyway, it’s great that you are doing well. It appears that you’ve been doing this for so long that you have it together and have learned the in’s and out’s. I wish you continued success.
Lisa, I read your post about doing a 70/30 split. Don’t you realize that you paid 50% of the 100% you got back for your product in the first place?
When you replace your product you are still having to pay the same 50% of retail to buy more. Could you please explain that in more detail? If you aren’t paying 50% of retail for your product, please enlighten the rest of us as to how you are getting it so cheap?
Don’t you use bags or give out samples? What about the product you are using in your facial or doubles?
I’m just trying to understand your math, because your total sales isn’t your income until you deduct the cost of product, gwp, samples, bags, books, demo product.
the 70/30 split is in my favor. if i have a facial that’s $75, my cost* would be $37.50 and of that 37.50, i keep an additional 20% for me (so now i have my $37.50 profit and $15 for a total of $52.50. i save the 30% leftover ($22.50) until i need to order again, being careful not to order anything extra i know i won’t sell before ordering again, like day/night solution. i only have 2 customers on that – neither orders a “set” at a time, so i don’t keep a set of that on the shelf. i take the $52.50 from that one facial and either buy groceries, or pay on a bill, or save for rent, or buy kids’ clothes, or whatever. i’m only trying to show how i do it and make money. plus, i have utilized the pink sale for extremely lower wholesale prices (which my director did not tell me about) on discontinued product and have made more money that way. for example (and i don’t mean/hope to bore you), christmas of ’06, the spa set of lotion and scrub were only $7.50, our cost! i bought 10 for $75 and then sold them for $20 (they retailed for $28) at my christmas open house and made $120.50. i had gals asking if i could get more, but by the time i went to re-order, they were already gone. i also don’t spend much effort at all in the glamour area. i buy the look cards on the pink sale and pass them out at the facials, but generally don’t do them at that time. i buy the 30 cello bags for $1 at the dollar tree to put product in instead of whatever it is the company offers (maybe 50 for $3.50?). i buy 2 look books from a consultant and put them in page protectors and that’s what the ladies look at when they come to my home. no one takes a book home, nor do i give them out. i was in the grocery store the other day, had on a mary kay t-shirt that i had just put on without thinking and someone stopped me at the deli counter and said “oh, do you sell mary kay?” i asked her how she knew – was i wearing a perfume she recognized? she said, “no, your shirt!” she was looking for a consultant and she took my name and number (i did not have anything with me at all) and called and it turned out to be a $56 order and she wants more things. when she called, i asked her if she’d like to come to my house for a facial and receive a $10 gift and she said yes and could she bring her daughter. the $10 gift is their choice – i have a table that has pink sale items and items that are non-mk that i’ve gotten dirt cheap. i sincerely wish for all the ladies who got burned that they could recoup their money, if nothing else, the way i do it (or if someone has something better – then that). i wish i could talk with some of you personally (if you wanted) and try and help, in any way. it was a shock to come here and see these postings – i was looking for a mary kay article on google and saw something, something, pinklighthouse and came here. thanks again for allowing me to post.
Lisa – I am happy that you can have people come to your home which allows you to keep your costs down. My SD keeps saying “host stuff in your home” – even thou she knows that is not an option for me.
Kudos to you for finding a non-typical MK way to make it work. With your ordering, are you still considered active? Do you attend meetings?
i’m active all year, although that is not a goal – i need the product. i attend 2 meetings a month; sometimes 2 in a row or every other, but my 4 children that are home (my oldest is in college) keep me busy with all their activities and friends.
Lisa, I still disagree with the fundamental tactics used by MLM’s, but DANG, if you had been my director and taught me to do it like that (rather than pushing to win contests, “preparing” for higher sales with higher orders, etc.) maybe it wouldn’t have been such a miserable and hard fall. I do have to say though, MK doesn’t teach it your way b/c it wouldn’t be profitable enough for them. They want women to have things other than their actual business (and it’s not really their own business… but I’ll leave that for another time) on their minds when ordering… things like winning a prize/contest, getting a little bit of free product when they order $X more, winning court of ordering oops I mean sales and walking the stage, ordering more to help the team reach a goal (i.e. help the director get or keep her status/car/paycheck)…
Please please do take the time to dig thoroughly through our experiences we’ve posted on the discussion board. They will shock you if you’ve never seen or heard of the dark side of pink. You should know about it because IT IS THE NORM, it is what’s happening to most consultants, esp. more recent ones. Greed has taken over. If you’re going to be in it, you should do so w/ your eyes wide open.
Wow, what a day! Hubby has had the kids and I’ve been on this site for hours. I just have to say that I’m LOVING Lisa right now. Sooo coool!
I def love Lisa’s comments. I have myself bought dollar store clearance candles as give aways. Also for free small bags I get these pink cell phone recycle bags that work great. You just call an 800 number say your address and how many bags you want and they show up on your door. I will post the phone number tomorrow. Or you can send me a personal message if I forget.
Dang it! I just bought bags on my last order! I got caught up in the oh it will look so nice in an MK bag. I had been buying $1 bags from Walmart-they’re pink so they are cute. About 20 in a pack. I like the idea of the disposable washcloths, has anyone come up with a cheaper alternative than the company ones?
You can use any papertowl really or cut them in half.
To get free small bags call *deleted by admin*
They work perfectly!