Brenna Will Be Tearing Up That $100 Check She Wrote Yesterday

Your Name: Brenna

Date Joined MK : August 7, 2008

When Left MK or Still Active?: August 8, 2008

Initial Inventory Purchased: None

How were you recruited?:
I recently moved to a new area and a lady randomly called me and said she wanted to welcome me to the neighborhood by giving me a bunch of free MK products and a free facial. (The “free products” were actually just a bag of those stupid paper samples tied with a ribbon–Thanks for adding to my recycling bin lady) That facial took 3 hours. My husband was pretty annoyed since it was his day off.

Memorable experience you had in MK:
The hilarious “scripts.”

For an answering machine: “Hi Sue. This is Mary. You ARE coming to my Mary Kay Debut, AREN’T you? I REALLY need your support. You CAN come, CAN’T you? I KNOW you’ll be there. I’ll count on you as coming unless you call me. Can’t wait to see you!!!!!”

Can we say “shoot me now to redirect my agonizing pain?”

What did you learn from MK?:
That all of life revolves around winning a free watch.

What are you doing now? :
Full time parent, part time art instructor.

Additional Comments:
I was actually really excited about the idea at first. I am an artistic stay-at-home-mom, and the thought of doing makeovers for a living was attractive. So, I sent in my hundred dollar check with the lady who came by today. Not until after I signed everything, did she tell me that the minimum starting inventory was $600! Luckily, I had known someone who just ordered as they got orders, so I knew that it couldn’t be the “real” minimum. She finally admitted as much when I pressed her.

Now that I have been researching and thinking about it tonight, I came to realize that when it comes down to it, MK parties are just plain cheesy, as is all the literature that I’ve been given so far. I don’t want to be some kind of pink robot.

As far as “reinventing the wheel goes,” I’m a creative person, and if I were to do it, I would want to do it my own way. No pressuring, just girls having fun gettin pretty!

The recruiter wanted me to make a list of 50 friends/relatives for my debut party, and the script she gave was soooo whiny and pathetic. “I’m counting on you” blah blah. AND she was going to be the one giving facials at the party–some strange old lady no one knows? I was thinking of telling her no way on that humiliating party, but then I started having visions of going door to door in my neighborhood handing out flyers, inviting other full time moms to a block party to meet the neighbors. The tag line would be something like: “How excited would your husband be if you actually had makeup on when he came home from work Friday night?” (Since most moms of toddlers can look pretty haggard at the end of the day)

I did the math though, and I would need thousands of customers to make a living at all. So the question remained, even if that worked, where would the other thousand customers come from?

I already got suckered once with Cutco (selling knives-$215 starter pack-got my money back on that one too). The whole reason I was interested was to try to contribute financially to our family as a SAHM. But it definitely sounds like I would have to sacrifice a lot of family time to be successful at this.

And now, hearing that the product is not all it appears to me, especially that the mineral line could even be harmful… I called the MK lady and told her to hold the $100 check until I can “get more info” from her. She agreed, so I will go by tomorrow and tear it up. Also, I am going to exchange the Mineral foundation powder I bought for the Medium cover foundation. I prefer tumorless lungs, actually.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who was so helpful in sharing their opinions. You saved me lots of time and money!

Popularity: 4%

Blessed Says You’re Just Mad Because You Couldn’t Make It Work

Your Name: Blessed!

Date Joined MK : 11/07

When Left MK or Still Active?: Active

Initial Inventory Purchased: $3500

How were you recruited?: By a friend.

Memorable experience you had in MK:
The wonderful people I meet.

What did you learn from MK?:
Still learning.

What are you doing now? :
Working the business full circle.

Additional Comments:
I can’t believe all the negativeness at this site! That might be one of the reasons your business was not successful. Who wants to be around a bunch of negative people.

MK does not twist your arm to participate in any of the training, Seminars, events, etc. It is all optional.

Sounds like you’re just mad at everyone else because you couldn’t make it work. Just continue to work for someone else for the rest of your life!

Popularity: 5%

Jane Says “…most of your experiences were with misguided people”

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.

Popularity: 2%

Latest Poll Results: Initial Inventory Purchased

Here are the results of our last poll regarding initial inventory.

Poll Question: How Much Initial Inventory Did You Purchase?

Answers: (from all votes received)

None: 13%

$200 required to be active: 17%

$600 – $1,200: 24%

$1,800 – $2,400: 31%

$3,600 or more: 15%

Thank you to all who participated. Make sure to cast your vote in our new poll.

Popularity: 1%

Why Do You Need to Have Inventory?

MK Ash was fond of saying that you “can’t sell from an empty wagon” in business, meaning you have to have inventory in your store to sell. That makes perfect sense.

But I don’t think it adequately explains why MK Consultants have to plunk down hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to purchase “initial inventory.”

There are many home party companies and most of them do not require their representatives to stock inventory.

AVON, one of Mary Kay’s competitors, allows their reps to take product orders from customers and then place the order for product with the company. The customer receives their order about two weeks later. Many other companies, like Tupperware and PartyLite, work the same way.

Working this way just seems smart. For one thing, the consultant doesn’t have a huge up-front cost just to get started. For another, she never has to try to juggle her inventory to keep certain things in stock or try to get rid of lots of limited-edition or discontinued product that didn’t sell.

Mary Kay Consultants are told that having inventory on your shelf is motivating. It motivates you to sell because you want to get it off your shelf and convert it to cash. But many women find it to be paralyzing instead.

Consultants are also told that if they have inventory, customers will buy more and make more impulse purchases because they know you have it and they can get their hands on it now. While that may be true for some people, other women are perfectly content to wait for their products.

For Mary Kay Consultants, why can’t their catalog be their well-stocked wagon, as it is for many of the other direct sales companies?

Popularity: 2%

A New and Happy Mary Kay Consultant

Name: Cathleen

Date Joined MK: June 2007

Highest Level Achieved: Consultant

When Left MK Or Are You Still Active: still active

Initial Inventory Purchased: $1,000.00

How were you recruited?
A friend invited me for a makeover and it was a glamour makeover class for mary kay

What about Mary Kay appealed to you most?
I love that fact that i can work around my family and i can woek when i want. also the fact that i meet new people and make friends because before i did this i didnt have any and its a good way to build your cofidence and well for me get a life out of the house.

Tell us about one of your most memorable or embarassing situations while in Mary Kay
My first party that my friend hosted for a skincare class. half the people turned up an hour late when i was finishing and an older lady said that her face was burning after putting the moisturizer on which I know now to be a lie.

What did you learn from your Mary Kay experience?
I learned that its your own business and to suceed you have to be dedicated and put in the hours to get out what you want like any business.

What are you doing now? Working full or part time? Working from home? etc.
I’m still with mary kay and trying to build up to director but in a small town where they dont have that kind of money to buy the products so im finding it hard.

Additional Comments
I’m trying to become a director so I can show my family that I may have had a rocky start in life and slacked in a lot of things but that I am more than capable of ecoming a someone and not a noone.

Popularity: 2%

Mary Kay Consultant Started With Pearl Order

Name: Kim

Date Joined MK: July 2007

Highest Level Achieved:

When Left MK Or Are You Still Active: September 2007

Initial Inventory Purchased: $5,000.00

How were you recruited?
Newport Beach Mary Kay meeting. My 17 year old daughter wanted to sell Mary Kay, but couldn’t. The director explained that I should join then my daughter could take over the business when she turned 18. So, without talking to my husband and not praying about it, I foolishly joined Mary Kay again.

What about Mary Kay appealed to you most?
I was a consultant in 1987, and had to quit because of a move. I still used the product because I LOVE IT. I just hate selling anything, but thought it would be a step for my daughter.

Tell us about one of your most memorable or embarassing situations while in Mary
Kay
I really have none that is either embarassing or memorable. I have had nothing but grief.

What did you learn from your Mary Kay experience?
I learned the new products are wonderful, and I will still use Mary Kay products. However, I learned that I am not a “sales person”. I don’t like script-read presentations done to me and therefore following the Mary Kay Golden Rule I will not do that to others. Also Too much HYPE at the meetings.

What are you doing now? Working full or part time? Working from home? etc.
I am a stay at home mom. I will be going back to doing the things I love to do such as my writing, sewing, and volunteering.

Additional Comments
I would like to caution on the “Risk-Free” opportunity. I am finding out that there is a risk to everything. I failed to do the most important step and that was to PRAY. When I told my director that I didn’t take time to pray about signing up, she informed me that Mary Kay is a Christian based company. Hmm, again, just because a company makes such a claim, things aren’t always the way it appears.

Popularity: 1%

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