Saturday, December 31, 2011

Pink Truth: Dear People Who Hate Pink Truth and All of the Lazy Losers Who Write the Posts or Comment on Them

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Dear People Who Hate Pink Truth and All of the Lazy Losers Who Write the Posts or Comment on Them
Dec 30th 2011, 12:00
Written by SuzyQ

First of all, Happy Holidays, and a sincere wish for your happiest new year, ever!

Many years ago, I was advised to send the third letter. Not the first or second one I wrote, but the third one I wrote, I could send.  I have expanded that wisdom to include the third [...]
Dear SuzyQ,

Happy Holidays to you as well.

Congratulations on writing an entire post with what appears (to me) to have no errors of spelling.  I know this is a repost, so I didn't even take the time to read the whole thing - sorry if that makes me a lazy loser, or perhaps a hypocrite as I blame you and your ilk for seeing what you want to see and smearing the names of people you don't even know without giving them a chance.

I will say this though, when you were reading, re-reading, and re-reading this post, did it occur to you how ridiculous it is for YOU to point out the things you are pointing out?  Have you read the comments on Pink Truth?  Have you looked at the comments (without bias) that are Pro Pink Truth as well as the ones that are dissenting (and I suppose I mean the ones that don't get deleted before you get a chance to read them) and see who is more guilty of the things you are ranting about?

It just seems kind of silly is all.

Pink Truth: 10 Big-Girl Panty Issues: A Prospect’s Perspective on Mary Kay

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
10 Big-Girl Panty Issues: A Prospect's Perspective on Mary Kay
Dec 29th 2011, 12:00
Written by The Scribbler

I've never been in Mary Kay Cosmetics. I've sat through recruiting attempts and attended a unit meeting once, but never signed the dotted line. I can thank my most recent recruiting attempt for helping me stumble onto Pink Truth, but I didn't stop there.

Over time I hit as many director [...]
I think I will forward this to Balanced Mary Kay as this article has some points on it that should be featured over there.

I will say that for someone who claims to love writing because it allows her to disconnect from work and be present with family or neighbors (see the end of the article) I find the obsessive behavior at the beginning interesting.

For someone that (admirably) admits to having never been involved in Mary Kay --- keep in mind this is grounds for excommunication according to Pink Truth's website --  she seems to spend a lot of time 'researching' Mary Kay.

Look at Balanced later to hopefully see a more detailed digesting of these accusations.  I will link to the post here if and when it gets posted. 

Pink Truth: Restoring What the Pink Locusts Have Eaten

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Restoring What the Pink Locusts Have Eaten
Dec 30th 2011, 12:00
Written by The Scribbler

Locusts are relentless creatures – they eat and eat and never seem to be satisfied. I mean, I thought I could put a good hurting on bacon and all things coconut, but these little guys put me to shame.

According to Charles R. Bomar, in his article, "The Rocky Mountain Locust: [...]
This is a very well written piece.  However, I have these two things against it, saith I:

It feels very much like a sermon.  So much so, in fact, that a few times while reading it, I wondered to myself if the Scribbler (or someone near her) is a preacher.  This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but when one considers the amount of time that Pink Truth spends condemning the way that Mary Kay "abuses" religion, spirituality, and the Bible, this becomes a whole new level of hypocritical.  "Let me preach at you about what I feel about Mary Kay using chapter and verse, but don't you dare do it to me"

It assumes that involvement in Mary Kay means destruction (or 'eating) of ones life.  If you are going to equate anything (plagues, natural disasters, locusts) of Biblical proportions to a person, business venture or experience you have had and imply that anyone involved in that will experience the same thing, you ought to at least disclaim that you recognize that not everyone will have the same experience -- further (and probably more importantly) if you are going to imply that people inviting others to join Mary Kay are locusts (or inviting locusts into someones life)... and by extension essentially call them evil, you really ought to check your own Biblical doctrine.  Especially if you are a sight that regularly complains about being called lazy losers.

I do have this one positive bit to take away and pass on:

At the very end she says -  Today, I encourage you to take back the peace you once had by leaning on the One who has the power to bring it.

This is good advice for anyone in any situation.  And because it is not difficult to recognize that some have lost their peace due to Mary Kay (or, perhaps, other life situations), it is fitting to remind anyone reading that turning to God is always the best option.  Agree or disagree on that, I felt the need to share and be in agreement about it.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Pink Truth: An NSD’s “Guest Night” Script

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
An NSD's "Guest Night" Script
Dec 28th 2011, 12:00
Written by The Scribbler

Ever been invited to a consultant’s “Success Meeting,” “Guest Event,” or “Success Celebration?”  If you have, it means Mary Kay has got her eye on you, sister, and if you’re not careful, you’ll be so much raw meat for the lionesses to devour.  This interesting list of guidelines tells consultants how [...]
This "post" is, once again, just a Mary Kay document that Pink Truth stole and reposted.  "The Scribbler" is, I suppose, living up to her name by barely scribbling something at the top... dripping with sarcasm... also as usual.

The document itself is full of advice about how to conduct oneself when bringing a guest to a guest event.  Some of these suggestions are great - "talk about her, not you or Mary Kay on the way to the event" and "be excited at the event".

Some are questionable and probably will depend a lot on you and your friends.  "Give your Director or DIQ your 'hottest names and numbers" - I would probably never do that.  I don't appreciate getting a call out of the blue from someone that I have never met.  I would be even more upset if I found out my friend gave me their number.  I expect most of my friends feel the same way.

Most of the advice here though pertains to salesmanship and presenting the opportunity in an attractive way.  If you are going to recruit people, you are going to need to overcome objections.  If she already wanted to be a Mary Kay Consultant, she would have already signed up.  You are going to need to get her from unsure or even completely unaware to confident, if you want her to be on your team.  If you have ever changed someones mind before, you know that this takes a lot of work and persistence.

Also, on a personal note, if you intend to convince someone to do something, you have to be comfortable with that being on your conscience.  Think, "If she DOES do this, will I be proud to say later that it was my fault... or ashamed?"  If you can't be proud of the fact that you brought people over to your side of thinking, you shouldn't be trying.  This goes for anything in life, but especially for something that is going to cost them money and time. 

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Pink Truth: Laying Your Cards on the Table

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Laying Your Cards on the Table
Dec 27th 2011, 12:00
Written by The Scribbler

Mary Kay nsd Linda Toupin instructs you on how to use your own goals to coerce a woman into signing up for Mary Kay now.

"PLAYING YOUR CARDS OUT ON THE TABLE", by NSD Linda Toupin

Scrib’s note:  One of the dirtiest I’ve seen.  Suppose a woman says, “Sure, I’ll sign [...]
I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this.  Personally, I don't think that this would be an effective method to getting someone to change their mind from starting in August to starting in June.  I also think that even if it did "work", it would leave both individuals feeling 'icky'.

I don't think "dirtiiest" is a fair description though.  If you can't be honest with new recruits about why you want them to sign up now, wouldn't you be being deceptive... which is one of Pink Truth's biggest complaints...

Friday, December 23, 2011

Pink Truth: Mary Kay’s Motto is “God First”

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Mary Kay's Motto is "God First"
Dec 23rd 2011, 12:00
Written by The Scribbler

It’s a line that’s quick to be fired off at church, particularly post-service when recruiters are scrambling to grab sharp women and cart them off to the Golden Corral for their unit’s weekly “Onion Rings and Opportunities” event. “Mary Kay puts God first,” you may have heard them gush. “How many [...]
It's ironic, I think, that The Scribbler (and Pink Truth) like to crucify the 'deceiver' in their writing.  They picture Mary Kay (the company) and all associated with Mary Kay as fitting this description.

But who is more guilty of deception?  Look no further than this article.

The Scribbler leads off with this line

Check out these quotes and hang onto your chairs, cowgirls; there’s a new Messiah in town.

Clearly the Scribbler intends to show us that Mary Kay Ash is viewed as a substitute for the Messiah among the ranks of Mary Kay.

She presents 5 quotes.  The one that comes closest to backing up her assertion -   that was the night Mary Kay truly came into my heart.  - falls flat.  True, this terminology is very closely associated with the act of inviting Christ into your life and definitely feels inappropriate to me, but this does NOT demonstrate that even the person saying it believes that Mary Kay 'coming into her heart' brought about her salvation.  It certainly does not prove the larger accusation that Scribbler and Pink Truth like to proclaim - that the Mary Kay culture views Mary Kay Ash as some sort of Savior.

Looking for someone dressed in Pink, deceiving the masses?  Look no further than Pink Truth.  They will say anything to accomplish their mission of destroying Mary Kay.  Disgusting and disappointing from people claiming what they claim.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Pink Truth: The Power of Negative Motivation

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
The Power of Negative Motivation
Dec 22nd 2011, 12:00
Written by Raisinberry

Dream Big! Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars! Show up to Go Up! Believe and You will achieve! Act enthusiastic and you will become enthusiastic! Whatever you say you will do, do it if you have to move heaven and earth!

Our Mary Kay [...]
I would love to hear some thoughts on this one...  Boiled down, Raisinberry is accusing her entire national area of using negative motivation to produce results.  And by 'negative motivation', she means sending out names of people that are not doing certain things, which she sees as a shaming exercise.  However, even in her own post, there seem to be some contradictions.

Namely, she starts by looking at a public list of who is attending seminar as a means to,  publicly embarrass Sales Directors for deciding not to participate .  But if you can't publicly announce something exciting like the people that will be going on a trip together without being accused of manipulating people, I'm not really sure if you can do anything right... at least as far as these people are concerned.

One of my frustrations with Raisinberry's style of writing is that it is not always clear what she is saying.  I am not sure if she is saying that people who were missing an event were 'committed to their business' or if the ones attending the event were.  In one scenario, it is a positive way for the director to excuse those not attending and keep team unity, in the other, it could definitely be seen as a manipulation that divides.

Is "these people are the ones I haven't heard from" a manipulation?

And again, is celebrating successes really a 'powerful guilt producer', or is Raisinberry (and most of Pink Truth) just being paranoid? 

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Pink Truth: The Mary Kay Fade to Black

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
The Mary Kay Fade to Black
Dec 21st 2011, 12:00
Written by SuzyQ

You didn’t think it would ever happen, but as soon as you left Mary Kay, you were shunned… ignored… negative… didn’t work your business… didn’t do it the Mary Kay way….

shun (shÅ­n)
shunned, shun•ning, shuns
To avoid deliberately; keep away from.

I know there have been questions about the cars… "What [...]
This post is not quite as ridiculous as I expected it to be from the intro.  SuzyQ presents her personal experience with leaving and doesn't seem to embellish too much (or possible at all) on the story.  I can actually picture this happening and she seems to have come to grips (more or less) with the fact that this is just the way that things are.

How she still is able to draw the conclusion that this is the mastermind work of an evil (pink) empire is a little baffling, and why the very necessary 'positive' mentality is seen as so negative is still confusing.

A quick word about that.  If you are in a sales game, you are going to find yourself frustrated.  You are going to feel like you are never going to make it or that you are horrible and should just quit.  If you dwell on that too long, you are going to make it come true.  No one wants to buy anything from someone who is depressed about what they are doing.  So, the need to stay positive SHOULD be very obvious.

However, the balance of that (something that the women in the story didn't seem to understand) is that you also need to have time(s) where you can realistically look at your progress and decide whether to continue or back out.  It sounds like for many of the ladies on Pink Truth, these moments should have occurred much sooner and more often than they did.

Who should you talk to when you want to have these realistic moments?  Not the person that profits or loses money from your decision.  Not someone that you think has worse judgment than you in that situation.  But also not someone that has been against you doing it since you were thinking about doing it.  You need someone that can really offer neutral questions, ideas and advice.  Someone that is in a similar situation (working their own business, etc.) but somewhat detached from you.  If their advice to you feels very one sided - "You definitely should..." or "You definitely should not..." you are probably talking to the wrong person.  They should be leaving the decision up to you and only offering what they would do and questions they recommend you ask yourself.

This is YOUR life.  Don't let Mary Kay tell you what to do.  Don't let Pink Truth tell you what to do.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Pink Truth: When a Woman Joins a Group Just to Sell Mary Kay

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
When a Woman Joins a Group Just to Sell Mary Kay
Dec 20th 2011, 12:00
Written by MommyMindi

At a loss for what to tell the woman who joined your Mom’s group, church, or organization just to sell Mary Kay?

Dear New Independent Beauty Consultant:

Thank you for your interest in joining our club…. but we don't want you here.

I know that you are excited about your new business. [...]
This is a great article to analyze, and I wish I had more time to do so.

On one hand, there is the dilemma that comes from the fact that Mary Kay's marketing strategy involves peer to peer selling. This affords them the opportunity to get into circles that they never would have otherwise and is therefore brilliant.  However, it only takes one misrepresentation of their brand to leave a bad taste in people's mouth.

While this fictitious scenario that MommyMindi drew up is unlikely to ever happen, it is certainly the fear of any consultant.

Some of the "dont's" that MM lists are pretty unfair.  If you are passionate enough about a product to make the decision to sell it, you should not be ashamed to carry a small booklet that shows the product in case you want to show it to someone.

If you wave it around at every chance you get, you WILL risk alienating yourself.  

Being obnoxious or appropriate is a fine line.  One that most of us started to learn about in middle school.  We all know someone that inserts a mention of their kids ability to (fill in the blank) at EVERY opportunity, and those that are so paranoid of oversharing that they never say anything about their kids.

The same is true of Mary Kay.  You CAN join groups and find people in those groups that will be great clients.  However, you can also fall into the two extremes of being obnoxious or going unnoticed.  Don't let Pink Truth or your own personal fears of receiving a rejection letter like this keep you from going with your instinct.

You might find yourself helping someone that has had dry skin their whole life, Mary Kay works wonderfully, and she proclaims your sainthood one day and then the next try to strike up a conversation with a former Mary Kay consultant that had a bad experience and feel like you barely escaped with your life.  Obviously neither of these extremes are likely to actually happen, so just put it out there, you'll be fine.

I am pretty sure that Pink Truth is only 5 or 6 ladies anyway... in fact, it might only be Tracy over there...

Happy Tuesday y'all 

Monday, December 19, 2011

Pink Truth: What Are Women Looking For?

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
What Are Women Looking For?
Dec 19th 2011, 12:00
Written by The Scribbler

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule, and Happy Holidays!  Here’s a script designed to play upon the tender sentiments of the season!  While the snow’s falling outdoors, if you’re meeting with a recruiter over coffee, best put on your fuzziest hat and coziest scarf, as the snowing will be taking place [...]
There isn't a whole lot here from the Scribbler, which is disappointing because I typically like how she puts together her thoughts.  Agree or disagree, she at least is able to communicate her point in a way that makes sense.

Unfortunately, she apparently is too busy to do much more than what Tracy is now regularly doing, which is posting someone else's material without any work on her part.

As to the material that Pink Truth is ripping off here, it seems like a 50/50.  Some of it certainly could be miss interpreted, some of it is clearly setting the expectations too high, and some of it is just straightforward tips and ideas.

Nothing diabolical though...

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Pink Truth: Mary Kay Free Training

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Mary Kay Free Training
Dec 17th 2011, 17:25
We’ve often heard Mary Kay sales directors refer to the free training as something akin to an MBA. This is a taste of what the training is like. This video is described as: This is for “Talent Night” at Fall Advance Mary Kay Retreat, Pasco, Washington, Oct. 2nd, 2009. Is this what you had in [...]
Well this is pretty typical of Pink Truth.  Find some way to criticize Mary Kay and pretend that Pink Truth's Truth is simply true.

In this post, Pink Truth posts a video of a Mary Kay event.  Pink Truth pretends that this is as good as Mary Kay training gets and that Mary Kay claims their training is the same as an MBA.  As usual, neither of these assumptions are true, thus making me wonder, why the word "truth" is even in their name.

What part(s) of Pink Truth are "truth"?  And should you really have to search for it on a site professing to present it?

Friday, December 16, 2011

Pink Truth: Pop! Goes the Mary Kay Pink Bubble

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Pop! Goes the Mary Kay Pink Bubble
Dec 16th 2011, 12:00
Written by Raisinberry

For the longest time I anguished over how I ever got in this Mary Kay mess.  I finally got crystal clear clarity concerning one of the most evil and deceptive “attractions” that Mary Kay Cosmetics uses to draw unsuspecting prey into the web. It has been said that an obvious lie isn’t [...]
This is the kind of post that makes me grind my teeth reading it.  Pink Truth, THIS is why so many consultants and directors BEG to differ with your lies.

This post is an insidious and outrageous accusation against ALL Mary Kay.  This post ASSUMES that the queen is in debt up to her eyeballs because the writer was.  It assumes that everyone is being manipulated and manipulating because she did.

Disgusting.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Pink Truth: How to “Go National”

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
How to "Go National"
Dec 15th 2011, 12:00
From Mary Kay national sales director Anita Garrett-Roe: How to get to national sales director status. Anita says getting to national status involves making women feel "special". (Let's be honest though, if you contribute to the numbers for nsd status, they don't care WHO you are!) So tell them you've selected them and they can [...]
On the general point that I think Pink Truth is trying to make here I kind of agree.  Talking to new recruits about being on your management team with comments like "the 'selling track' isn't your thing, is it?"

If you are not good at sales, you have no business leading an army of saleswomen.  Many people (I think) believe that they would do better at telling people how to sell than actually selling.  So this would certainly appeal to many.... particularly those that are not doing well at selling.

But it is this mentality of 'selling track' vs. 'leadership track' that gets the so-called leadership track in trouble.  You can't sell a tube of lipstick to save your life, but you have to meet a certain level of production each month.  You have a 'leadership' team that don't even know anything about the product because you never sold them on the product.

I am not saying that Anita has this "don't sell, just recruit" mentality at heart, but it certainly sounds like it.

Tracy's comment at the end really makes me wonder...

Don’t you love it? If you ask enough people… Well no kidding, Anita! If I ask a million people, I might get 30 to be in my unit.

If there is one piece of this article (that Tracy stole, I'm sure) that is solid advice, it is this  - "If you ask enough people..."  If you ask enough people to try Mary Kay on their face, you will get people that say yes.  If get enough people to try it, you will get enough to buy and if you get enough people buying from you, you will get enough people to join your team.  You just have to realize that it will take time and hearing a lot of "no".  But there is nothing wrong with this.  It is just the way of sales.

Just once, I would love for Tracy (or anyone on Pink Truth) to explain what is so diabolical about this.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

A little snippet of comments from Pink Truth


Wow, I own my own bizz that does exceptionally well. Not to toot my own horn. I invested in myself because that’s what I chose to do. In Mary Kay its a choice u make sorry u went into debt, maybe it wasn’t for you. My knowledge however is that it takes money to make money in any situation. I dont take what your saying lightly in do respect your opinion.
I’m just wondering if u were successful at it would u be complaining. Just a question. I considered at one point investing money into mk so the p.o.v. are helpful. But don’t ridicule me because I’m hypothetically speaking
POSTED BY TANISHA W | DECEMBER 14, 2011, 12:12 AM
  • You are a liar. You do not respect the opinions of our members. I’m not sure why you’re here, because it sounds like you were never in Mary Kay and you have no understanding about how MK works. Take your insults elsewhere.
    POSTED BY TRACY | DECEMBER 14, 2011, 12:27 AM
  • If you have never been in MK, then you don’t know from where you speak. While I will agree with you that it takes money to make money, I’m sure you will agree that encouraging a ridiculously large amount of inventory (and by this I mean an amount that would actually sell in a reasonable amount of time) to a new consultant is not a wise business decision. I’m sure you will also agree that turning your client into your competition is not a wise move.
    That aside, if you’ll take time to actually read here, instead of insulting us, you’ll learn of other business practices that are absolutely absurd.
    By the way, many of the women who are here are successful business owners, myself included. I know beyond any doubt that if I treated our clients as MK’ers are frequently encouraged to treat theirs, I would start losing clients more quickly than I could find new ones.
    You mention you are a business owner. I am going to assume that this is not a an MLM “business”. Would you consider starting a business with no knowledge of your competition as a wise business decision? For the record, when I started, no one bothered to tell me there were 3 other units in my town of 65,000. That’s not including Avon.
    Would you consider doing attempting to tell someone what colors look right on them or what skin care is right for their skin when you haven’t been trained in how skin tones affect makeup appearance or what factors influence skin type as being “professional”?
    Is lying to your future employees regarding benefits an accepted business practice I am not aware of? That car that the recruiter mentioned……..she didn’t tell you that it was possible to lose it or that you may have to make copays. The diamonds…….she didn’t tell you that the gold was worth more than those diamond chips ever will be.
    Your recruiter won’t tell you that you can’t advertise YOUR business in your own ways. Restrictions? You better believe they are there. The average IBC can’t advertise in the yellow pages. That’s only the tip of the iceberg. You’ll be expected to wear a skirt and closed toe shoes. You can’t use the MK logo as you please, which is understandable, but you can’t choose your own either.
    The contract may be black and white, but the scripts spouted by the recruiters are full of lies and half truths.
    To address the rest of your comment: Would I complain if I had succeeded? Absolutely. But I didn’t exactly fail or succeed. I got smart and quit. I tried to be an ethical consultant, and found out very quickly that telling the truth makes potential recruits run like hell. Don’t assume we all went into debt. I didn’t because I used my debit card for everything and didn’t take out any loans (though I was encouraged to buy inventory). MK does more than financial harm though. It damages relationships with friends and family,moral integrity, self esteem – the list continues. Pink Truth provides a very valuable place for the women who have been burned by this MLM (and that is exactly what it is) to come to and begin the healing process. Don’t insult what you don’t understand.
    POSTED BY EXKAYBOT | DECEMBER 14, 2011, 12:32 PM
    • The average IBC can’t advertise in the yellow pages – ugh…….sorry…did some cleanup and lost a sentence. I intended to mention that at a certain level in the hierarchy, you can put an ad in the yellow pages, but even that has to be done in an approved format.
      POSTED BY EXKAYBOT | DECEMBER 14, 2011, 12:36 PM
Anyone else amazed by Tracy's boldness in saying this person is a liar?

Pink Truth: The Moral Compass of a Mary Kay Sales Director

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
The Moral Compass of a Mary Kay Sales Director
Dec 14th 2011, 12:00
Written by SuzyQ

I want to talk to you about being a Mary Kay sales director. We are not all monsters. There are some who are monsters… and those women should not be allowed to work with people anywhere. But for the most part, something happens to a normally decent, smart and loving human being [...]
Profound.  Suzy Q. sums up the problem that I have with Pink Truth in one small sentence.

To look deeply within causes too much pain.

This post and many like it on Pink Truth work so hard at casting the blame on anything other than self.  There are small lines here and there, taking responsibility for actions and behaviors, but always followed by a BUT...  and always it is blaming the intangible "pink bubble".

Look, I have a great deal of sympathy for anyone that gets caught in any sort of downward spiral.  You see it all the time from kids that get caught in a lie and lie to cover it up and get deeper and deeper (these usually last less time because they have not developed their adult lying capabilities yet...) to much bigger issues where one poor decision after another leads folks down very dark roads.

Abuse and addiction on one extreme and the famous "rut" of waking up one day to realize you are 50 and haven't accomplished any of your dreams because you let yourself go through the motions of a job every day with weekends and vacations the only thing to look forward to on the other.

But that's just the thing.  Anyone on Pink Truth listening, if you don't hear anything else, hear this - In order for you to truly move on, you need to step up to the plate (or mic or comment box) and declare, "I messed up.  I made a mistake.  It was not anyone's fault but mine.  It was not my husband's fault, my director's fault, or the Pink (Fog/Bubble/Mist/whatever)'s fault.  I made bad decisions that I regret.  The only way for me to truly 'get clear of this' is to walk away from Mary Kay.  I will not speak for or to anyone currently or previously in Mary Kay. I am moving on and starting over." (Or at least something to that effect.)

Then leave it alone.  No need to bring down the company, no need to convince the world that Mary Kay is evil.  No need to convince people that are succeeding in Mary Kay that they are frauds.  Just walk away.

I understand the desire to expose the whole "I was blameless and right and "they" (whoever 'they' happens to be) really screwed up", but it really doesn't help in your recovery.

Until then, I am convinced that your so called moral compass is still not pointing due north.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Pink Truth: Tips for New and Growing Directors

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Tips for New and Growing Directors
Dec 13th 2011, 12:00
A misguided attempt to teach new directors how to really work Mary Kay. She is realistic about how few will order and work, so directors desperately need new unit members with large inventory orders. Former directors, please give us your thoughts on these pointers. Tips for New or Growing Directors Unit Size Matters! One Third [...]
This article seems pretty straightforward.  A few points that I think at the very least come across wrong.

First of all, keep in mind that Pink Truth simply posted a document they found.  They did not ask permission (I can almost guarantee) and Tracy didn't even bother adding any comments to it.  So really, this might as well be a Mary Kay training document.

That in mind, here are some things that I think are great and Pink Truth must be pretending they don't see in order to criticize this document:

1.  How to increase the average?  Teach them to sell.
2.  Love them but don’t devote your time to them.   Is Pink Truth not capable of understanding this concept? 
3. My recommendation is to put your Directors Check directly into your family account and all your sales into your MK account.  Pay for all your MK from your MK account so that the profit on your sales pays for your expenses…trips and everything. If your MK account is low, then sell more.   I love this!  This helps you make sure that you are not "buying" recognition with your personal money.  Either you have the money in your account or you don't.  Also, it helps you actually enjoy your Director commission money.

Of concern for me is the references to recruiting and emphasis on having a big unit.  Don't get me wrong, these things are important and need to be emphasized to directors.  The concern that I have is when it is only briefly mentioned, it is easy to be used as rationale to use inappropriate means to recruit.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Pink Truth: A Mary Kay Fairy Tale

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
A Mary Kay Fairy Tale
Dec 12th 2011, 12:00
Written by ??? Once upon time there was beautiful, smart, loving woman.  She had a wonderful husband and a young family.  All she wanted was to be a good wife and mom.  Being a young mom was hard, and it was often a thankless job.  She felt isolated from other woman, especially from women who [...]
I see what this writer was trying to accomplish here, but this is just absurd.

1. Assuming that "buying" your PHD from this odd college/university (both terms were used) is analogous to "buying" NSD, that is beyond "stretching" the truth, as I am sure no one (not even the REALLY crazy ones) suggests that someone buy enough wholesale product to become NSD.
2. I was very distracted by the lack of the use of the plural word (women) for woman.
3. One of the biggest things I don't understand about people in Mary Kay or on Pink Truth is this concept of buying more inventory to make up for a lack of sold inventory.

Now as far as initial inventory goes, but as much as you are comfortable throwing away.  You may or may not like Mary Kay as a business opportunity and the amount of work that is going to be involved returning your product will likely be daunting, so assume that you are going to just throw it all away if this "doesn't work out" and place your order accordingly.

After that initial purchase though, you should only ever spend money that you are making from sales.  I have seen this pointed out all over the place and have yet to hear a good explanation of why people act otherwise.

Director calls you -
SD: I need you to place an order for...
YOU: I don't need any product right now
SD: But you could get...
YOU: I don't need any product right now, thanks though.
SD: But our unit needs you to help...
YOU: I don't need any product right now, sorry
SD: please..... :(
YOU: Now your begging... I have to go make some sales calls so that I can move some product and actually be ready to place an order that I need.

I don't understand what is so hard about that.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Pink Truth: Tripling Your Income With Mary Kay (Yeah, Right)

Pink Truth
Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Tripling Your Income With Mary Kay (Yeah, Right)
Dec 9th 2011, 12:00
Written by PinkPeace

If you had been lucky enough to be in my Mary Kay unit, at some point you would have sat down with me one-on-one to go over the following document. I liked to do it during new consultant orientation, while you still had stars in your eyes about Mary Kay and thought [...]
This article is great!  It helps me understand where at least some of the Pink Truth women went wrong.  Not that this wasn't already clear, but this article painted it really well for me.

Basically the problem is assuming that you are going to achieve goals immediately and without effort.  The point of the worksheet that PinkPeace posts here, from what I can see, is to show how great it can be as a director.  In this 'apples to apples' comparison, you make more money on the same 5 recruits if you are a director than if you are a team leader.

1. Trying to make this happen in the next few months (or even in a year) is obviously going to bring stress and probably an unstable unit with some of the results that PinkPeace describes.  Making it sound like this is achievable in a few short months is deceptive and deplorable.  However, the document itself does not say this.  So, if PinkPeace was implying or directly saying things that led recruits to believe that you just click your heels and say "I wish I wish I was a director" and it happens, than she is right to be 'coming clean'.

And I don't blame her as I am sure this was the style of the people that brought her in.  I also don't doubt that this kind of 'training' is an infectious blight in many areas.

Mary Kay is interesting in this regard.  It is a great business model that benefits a lot of different kinds of people, but it also lends itself to manipulative behavior such as this being passed down the ranks.

2. Because of #1 above, always apply the rule, "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is".  If you want to make a fortune in Mary Kay, you are going to have to invest a lot of time, energy and sweat into it.  It won't happen overnight and you will probably have plenty of setbacks along your journey.

As mentioned in plenty of posts (already) on this site, do your own homework.  Make sure YOU know what you are talking about before you start talking.  If you are a 'team leader' and recruiting people, you probably shouldn't talk about how easy it is to be director because you don't know how easy it is because you haven't done it.  If you are a director and just barely making it each month, maybe you aren't ready yet.

One of the things I hear consistently is that Mary Kay says "anyone can sell Mary Kay" and Pink Truth says that very few (if any) have any business trying to make Mary Kay work.  Personally, I think that anyone CAN sell Mary Kay.  "Selling" Mary Kay and becoming a director however, are two different things entirely.  If you love the product and tell your friends about it, you probably have already sold it.  Now, whether that means you want to sign up to be a consultant or not is a different equation altogether.