Years of life of Mary Kay Ash. Biography of Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay, left this world on November 22, 2001, leaving us with a unique legacy: her Dream Company dedicated to improving the lives of women. The success story of Mary Kay Ash is proof that faith, courage, perseverance and determination can work real miracles.

"You can do it, honey!"
(Excerpts from The Autobiography of Mary Kay Ash)

There are four types of people in the world: those who change the world; those who observe the changes taking place; those who are surprised to learn about the changes and those who know nothing about these changes.

When I was very young, I realized that I wanted to belong to the first category. Even then, I realized that success can be achieved thanks to your talents and aspirations. This means that success requires: enthusiasm for achieving goals, discipline, willingness to work and learn, determination and love for people. Speaking about this, I do not want to say that this knowledge came to me by itself.

...When I was 7 years old, my father returned from the sanatorium. He suffered from tuberculosis, and although three years of treatment somewhat alleviated his suffering, he still remained disabled.

My mom had to take care of our entire family, and I had to take care of my dad. So I said goodbye to the carelessness inherent in small children.

Mom started working as a manager of a restaurant in Houston. Her salary was small even for those times. Back then, in the same position, a woman was paid a lower salary than a man simply because she was a woman. Mom worked 14 hours a day, getting up at 4 am when I was still sleeping and returning home at 9 pm when I was already asleep. My older brother and sister were already adults and did not live with us, so all the household chores fell on my shoulders.

I never even thought that it could be different. That you can come from school to a clean house and do only school lessons and games. I accepted everything as it was, and even enjoyed it. Even though some of my household chores were too difficult for a girl my age, no one ever told me about it. As a result, I just did whatever needed to be done.

Although my mother was an excellent cook, ever since she started working hard, preparing dinner became my responsibility. At the age of 7, it was not easy for me to be a cook, because at that time there were no frozen semi-finished products on sale. If, for example, dad asked me to cook chicken for dinner, and I didn’t know how to do it, I called my mom at work and asked her... So, over the phone, I learned to lead household. And always, whenever I called, my mother took a minute to answer all my questions in detail: “Mom, hi. Dad asked me to make potato soup this evening.” " Potato soup? Okay, honey. First, take a large saucepan - the same as yesterday. Then take two potatoes...” Mom’s voice seemed cheerful and carefree. But I’m sure she knew how heavy my burden was sometimes. And she always told me: “I know, dear, you can do it!”

Later, as an adult, I realized that my mother was very worried about the enormous difficulties that her little daughter faced. And then, in childhood and adolescence, I drew hope and strength from her words: “You can do this!” I must have heard her say these words a thousand times, she always said them with enthusiasm and confidence. And these words are the most vivid memory of my childhood. They stayed with me for the rest of my life: “You can do it, darling!”

Success is overcoming. If you and I were to compare our knees, I am sure that mine would be the most bleeding, because I have fallen countless times, and always got up again.

By the time I finished high school, I was 17 years old, and the spirit of competition and the desire to be first strengthened in me. And at the same time I was greatly disappointed. I found out that my best friend from school, Dorothy, was leaving to study at one of the most prestigious institutes. My family couldn’t even send me to college... And I so wanted to be the first! What could I do that was so unusual that would set me apart from my friends who, unlike me, continued their studies? I understood that this must be something dizzying! And what seems dizzying to a 17-year-old girl? You are right: I got married. My husband was the lead singer in a country band called Hawaiian Streams. He seemed like the “Houston” Elvis Presley to me... Some time passed, because of my husband’s work we moved to Dallas, and then the Second World War began World War and my husband went to the front. I became the only support and support for our three children. And when the war ended, and all the troubles seemed to be left behind, my husband returned to... inform me of his desire to divorce me. Never - neither before nor after - have I experienced such a strong blow.

However, I did not have time to give in to despair. I had three children, and from now on I became their only breadwinner. I needed a well-paying job with flexible hours so I could look after my children.

One day a woman called me at home and offered to buy a set of children's books from her. I really liked the books, but at that time they were an unaffordable luxury for me. The woman, Ida Blake, promised that she would give me one set if I could find buyers for ten additional sets. I didn’t know how difficult this task was (the most successful employees of the company were proud that they managed to sell 10 sets in 3 months - editor’s note) - and in a day and a half I sold all 10 sets. Ida Blake offered me a job and became my first business mentor. So I started working for a national direct sales company, Stanley Home Product.

However, despite Mary Kay's successes, she still earned less than her male colleagues, and often less fortunate ones. Just because she was a woman...

Mary Kay left Stanley Home Products and went to work for the Dallas-based World Gift Company. In 10 years, she managed to create a successful retail chain in 43 states. Once again, Mary Kay Ash received all kinds of awards and recognition. Only the coveted position of commercial director remained unconquered. Mary Kay never received it. The owner of the World Gift Company believed that only a man could be a commercial director...

For some time, Mary Kay Ash tried to defend her rights, but in August 1963 she left the company. Left without work, this unusually active woman sat at home and began to write a book - a book that would help women survive in this world dominated by men...

Dream Company

"For 25 years before starting my own Company, I worked and built a career in a business dominated by men. Finally, in August 1963, I became unemployed. I decided to write a book that would help women "survive" in world of men's business. While planning the book, I wrote two lists. One list contained all my negative work experiences. In the other, I included all the good things that I noticed while working in various companies and that, in my opinion, should definitely be in an ideal company. I came to the conclusion that if a manager treated his employees the way he wanted to be treated, his business would prosper. Looking through my notes, I discovered that I had written a plan for the ideal company for women - a company built on the principle of Selflessness, in which you could determine your own level of income and have unlimited career opportunities. I myself would happily work in such a company! “How great it would be if one day someone organized such a company!” - I thought. And suddenly I realized: “Stop dreaming! This person should be you, Mary Kay!”

All I needed now was a product that I could offer to women. After some time, it dawned on me: the skin care products that I myself had been using for many years would be a great product for my Dream Company!

I started using these products back in the early 50's when I worked at Stanley Home Products. At one of these parties, about 20 women of all ages gathered: from 19 to 70 years old. I was surprised to note that every single one of them had an impeccable complexion. At the end of the party, we went to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee, and then the hostess of the house offered all the guests some small white jars with labels signed in pencil. At the same time, she gave her guests instructions like: “First, use jar number three for two weeks, then I will then use jar number four for another seven days.” I asked what it was. It turned out that this was the same magic cream that made the skin of these women so flawless. That evening, the lady of the house gave me a box filled with jars of cream that became the forerunners of the Mary Kay Foundation Skin Care System. A few days after I started using the creams, my ten-year-old son Richard, coming home from school and kissing me on the cheek, exclaimed: “Mommy, how smooth your skin is!” And it was true!

Soon I became an ardent supporter of these miraculous creams! From the woman who sold them to me, I learned that she inherited the recipe for the creams from her father, a leather tanner. To soften the skin, he used a special composition and one day noticed that his hands looked much younger than his face... He began experimenting with this substance, and soon his daughter began to enjoy using the new cream.

Over time, I purchased these products for my mother. She liked them so much that she began to use them every day and when she died at the age of 87, no one could believe her age; the nurses gave her no more than sixty.

In 1963, I bought the miracle cream formulas and the right to produce it. So, I had an idea, a product and an indomitable desire to succeed. I was sure that if I packaged these creams in beautiful packaging, developed the right marketing concept and worked hard and hard, my company would certainly take off and be successful. I tried to think through all the details. For example, I chose soft pink for the color of the jars and tubes, because this color perfectly harmonized with the traditionally white tiles of the bathrooms. While developing the marketing concept, I decided that my Company would work using the direct sales method. We will be selling our cosmetics in small beauty classes of no more than 5-6 people, so that the Beauty Consultant can give individual attention to each of them. Then I thought that the Adoption Program would be one of the main principles of work in our Company. In one of my previous jobs in direct sales, I was able to build a strong, cohesive team, train them in all the ins and outs of the job, and I received about a thousand dollars a month in commissions from the sales of my team members. But it so happened that I had to move to another city and, thus, my entire team moved to another person and he received commissions from the sales of people whom he did not bring and train! It seemed unfair to me, and I decided that everything would be different at Mary Kay. Business at Mary Kay has no boundaries: a consultant can recruit by coming to another city. And, according to the Adoption Program, her Newcomers will be taken under the care of the Leader living in this city. At the same time, the Adopting Leader does not receive a commission for the Newcomer with whom she works, trains and supports. When the Company was just starting out, I heard many times: “What are you doing, Mary Kay?! This will never work, you’re living in dreams!” Yes, I dreamed. My Company started with a dream. And, contrary to all business laws, it works! I decided that my company would not operate according to the rigid rules of traditional business, but according to the Golden Rule: “Treat others the same way you would like to be treated.” I wanted, first of all, to give women endless opportunities, strengthen their self-confidence and show them what they deserve.

This Company is not for profit and loss, but for people and love!

I invested all my savings in the amount of 5 thousand dollars, there was only a month left before the opening of the Dream Company, and everything was going quite well. And suddenly... my second husband, who was my main adviser and administrator-manager, died... In those days, my accountant and lawyer unanimously told me: “Mary Kay, you have no chance of success. We must urgently close the case and try to return "Everything you can. Otherwise you will fail completely." After the funeral, we gathered for a family council, at which it was decided to open the Company, no matter what. We decided that instead of my husband, my twenty-year-old son Richard would head the Company.

So, on September 13, 1963, Mary Kay Cosmetics opened its doors... I remember that at first Richard and I worked 17-18 hours a day to get everything done... I am very grateful to those people, without whose support Mary Kay could not would have taken place. My friends became the first Beauty Consultants: they followed me because they believed in the success of the enterprise that I headed. One of them is Daylin White, who before Mary Kay worked with my husband’s company and was my close friend. When Daylin became a National Director, her earnings exceeded all her wildest expectations: she became one of the first millionaires at Mary Kay. When the Company was only two months old, my daughter Marilyn also became a Beauty Consultant. Since she had been using these creams with me for many years, there was no need for me to convince her of how effective they were. Marilyn became one of our first Directors. She was so successful that I think if not for health problems, which 4 years later forced Marilyn to leave her job at the Company, she would have become one of the first National Directors of Mary Kay.

As our business grew, so did the number of responsibilities we had to cope with. Fortunately, Ben, my eldest son, soon joined us. At first, I taught skin care classes myself: I really enjoyed this class. However, I soon realized that I could no longer work as a Beauty Consultant: I had a lot of new responsibilities. I turned my attention to strategic plans Companies. At first, our product range consisted of the Osnova System, Lipstick, Mascara and Eyebrow Pencil. Today I smile with a smile that any Consultant probably has several times more product items in his mini-warehouse than the Company had in the first months of its existence...

In the first year of operation our wholesale amounted to 198 thousand dollars. We celebrated the first birthday of our Company with the first Seminar, which took place on September 13, 1964. It was very modest compared to today's Seminars, but I will forever remember the boundless feeling of happiness that overwhelmed us in those minutes! I keep in front of me a piece of paper with my speech at one of the first Seminars. It contains the following lines: “Next year we expect that the number of beauty consultants will increase to 3 thousand people!” I leaf through the folder further and see: at one of the subsequent Seminars, I proudly said that there are already 40 thousand of us! Today, hundreds of thousands of Beauty Consultants work throughout the world, on five continents, and our Company continues to grow at a tremendous pace, bringing to life our Mission: “Improving the lives of women!”

Some sources give a different date of birth, for example, due to the erroneous identification of Mary Kay Ash with Mary Kay Letourneau, the daughter of a candidate for American presidents from the American Independent Party, John G. Schmitz.

In her autobiography, Mary Kay writes that as a child she had to do a lot of housework because her father was ill and her mother worked fourteen hours a day to support the family. In addition, she had strong spirit competitions and constantly strived to become better than herself and her more financially secure friends: she studied with straight A's, became the best typist in the class, and in the ninth grade she took second place in the competition among state schools in impromptu public speaking performances, later winning several more awards with her team in a public debate. She finished school a year early.

However, after this she became acquainted with the feeling of envy when her friends began to study at institutions for which her family did not have the money. To continue her competition with her friends, she decided to do something extraordinary. At the age of 17, Mary Kay married Ben Rogers, a Houston radio star. “For the first time, my competitive spirit created a serious problem because it made me do things that I would later regret. ... By the time my husband’s job brought us to Dallas, our young family was already very unhappy.” They had three children. During World War II, her husband went to fight at the front, and she sold books on psychology from hand to hand. Returning from the war in 1945, her husband demanded a divorce.

“I have never fallen so low. ...Nothing has ever hit me so hard. But I didn’t have time to sit and feel sorry for myself - I had three children.” To raise them, it was necessary to find a well-paid job with a flexible schedule. Direct selling became a natural solution.

Mary Kay got a job at Stanley Home Products.

As she writes in her autobiography, for a year after the divorce she felt that she had failed as a woman, as a wife and as a person. This emotional state led to physical symptoms that doctors diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis and informed her that her condition was deteriorating so quickly that within a few months she would be completely paralyzed. She couldn't bear the thought of returning to her parents' home and having her mother support her and her three children. And she realized: in order to become successful, personal problems need to be left at home, so she decided - “no matter how I feel, I will smile.” Her career progressed and her health improved until finally all the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis disappeared. Doctors insisted that it was in remission and that the arthritis would return one day, but these predictions did not come true. The disease subsided when she began to control her attitude towards life. “You see, when you put on a smile again and again, it soon stays with you forever. It becomes an integral part of you." She was helped to generate enthusiasm by reading good motivational books, as well as listening to motivational tapes on the way to the office and back home, which allowed her not to waste precious time.

The most grueling time in her life was when she was raising three children, working as a sales agent for Stanley's, and attending college because she always dreamed of becoming a doctor. This happened at a time when college for a married woman was considered a waste of time. Professors could say right to your face that “you are taking the place of some young man.” Therefore, in college, she tried to hide the fact of her marriage and motherhood by dressing like a student and wearing a wedding ring on a chain. To keep up with everything, she had to get up at three in the morning. It's strange how everything always works out for the best. One day they were given a three-day aptitude test, after which the dean called her in and said that although she scored well, it turned out that she had much more ability to be a sales agent or purchasing specialist. She recommended that she change her major to marketing, since this would allow her to complete her training in four years (the dean did not know that Mary Kay Ash was already working in this specialty), while training to become a doctor could take a total of ten more years. After thinking about this, Mary Kay dropped out of college.

In 1963, she quit her job at Stanley because she was upset that the man she was training had been promoted over her, becoming her boss and earning twice her salary. She was angry when she was told that men earn more because they need to support their families - despite the fact that she supported three children alone. She was insulted by the frequent disrespect for the ideas that women proposed: “Mary Kay, you think like a woman.” Despite her successful 25 years of work experience, she was denied opportunities for further promotion in the companies of that time. She planned to write a book to help women in business. In the process of writing, the book turned into a business plan for her ideal company, in which women would have equal rights and opportunities for realization as men.

The products chosen were skin care products that she was introduced to in the early 1950s at a Stanley Home Products party. This evening was attended by about twenty women ranging in age from nineteen to seventy. Mary Kay was amazed that each of them had the perfect complexion. After the presentation, the hostess handed them jars of homemade cream, calling them her guinea pigs. As it turned out, she received the formulas for the composition from her father, a leather tanner. He discovered that the skin of his hands looked much younger than the skin on his face, and found the only explanation for this: his hands were constantly immersed in the solutions with which he worked. He decided that if these tanning solutions could soften tough leathers, then they probably had the same effect on his skin. He began experimenting by applying modified tanning solutions to his facial skin. This kept his skin looking younger than his age until his death at the age of 73. But the solutions were not suitable for use by women, as they smelled bad. His daughter moved to Dallas to study cosmetology and over time modified her father's formulas into creams and lotions gentle enough for women's skin. They became the predecessors of the Osnova system from Mary Kay.

In the early years, the company also sold wigs, which were fashionable at that time, but then abandoned this due to the very high cost of effort and time. Also, at first, Mary Kay Ash conducted consultations herself, but clients did not like it: they believed that if the owner of the company conducts master classes herself, then this is a small company, and, therefore, her products are not up to par. Therefore, Mary Kay Ash had to stop conducting master classes herself. In addition, at first, consultants sold funds separately, which sometimes led to a lack of effect from them. As a result, Mary Kay decided that the system should only be used as a whole and that the anger of a client who wanted to buy only part of the system was better than the lack of effectiveness.

In the summer of 1963, Mary Kay Ash founded Mary Kay Cosmetics with her new husband, George Arthur Hallenbeck, with a starting capital of $5,000. But before the company even began operations, her second husband died, and her son Richard Rogers took his place. The store opened on Friday, September 13th and grew quickly. Mary Kay did not want to attract people from other companies, so her first consultants were her relatives and friends, some of whom had to work 14-18 hours a day. In the first three and a half months, the business will take a small profit on total sales of $34,000. The first year ended with sales of $198,000 at wholesale prices. On September 13, 1964, the first company meeting and annual awards evening - "Seminar" - were held - such events still remain the most important for the company. By the end of the second year, the company had achieved sales of $800,000. Within a year, she needed new office space. The company received a new powerful impetus for growth after an interview that Mary Kay gave for the program 60 Minutes on CBS in 1979.

Mary Kay has received widespread recognition. She considered the golden rule of morality to be the founding principle of Mary Kay Cosmetics. The company's marketing plan was designed to empower women to advance their careers by helping other people succeed. She argued that people should be praised for their successes. Her motto, “God First, Family Second, Career Second,” reflected her belief that women working for her company should be able to maintain balance in their lives.

She has been a longtime charity fundraiser and founded the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation to fund the fight against domestic violence and cancer that affects women.

Mary Kay remained chairman of the board of Mary Kay Cosmetics until 1987, when she received the status of chairman emeritus. As of 1994, she had 16 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. Mary Kay continued to take an active part in the company's affairs until 1996, when she suffered a stroke. In 2001, Richard Rogers became CEO of Mary Kay Inc. At the time of Mary Kay's death in 2001, the company employed more than 800,000 sales associates in 37 countries and generated retail sales of more than $2 billion. In 2008, the company already employed 1.7 million consultants, and revenue exceeded $2.2 billion.

Fortune magazine included Mary Kay Inc. one of America's 100 Best Workplaces. The company was also named one of the top 10 best employers for women.

Awards

Both during her life and posthumously, Mary Kay Ash received numerous awards from the business community, including the Horatio Alger Award. Outstanding American Citizen"in 1978. In 1985 she became one of the America's 25 Most Influential Women. The Direct Selling Educational Foundation awarded her the title of " Living legend"in 1992. The National Association of Women Business Owners awarded her the title " Pioneer"in 1995. Mary Kay took honorary place in the first American hall of fame in the field of entrepreneurship. The Women's Chamber of Commerce of Texas, selecting the 100 most influential women in the state in the 20th century, awarded her the title " Woman of the century" in 1999. Also among Mary Kay Ash's awards is “ Equal Justice" from North Texas Lawyers in 2001. Mary Kay Ash was recognized by the Wharton School of Business in 2004 as one of the The 25 Most Influential Business Personalities in History. The story of Mary Kay Ash was included in the top twenty, published in the book “ The most famous stories business world» Forbes magazine. One of the largest US television channels filmed film dedicated to Mary Kay Ash.

Lifetime Television awarded her the title " The most influential businesswoman of the 20th century».

Mary Kay Inc.

The company's headquarters are located in northern Dallas in a 13-story building occupying an area of 54,000 square meters. m, where more than 1,200 employees work. The company's product range includes more than 200 items in the categories: facial skin care, body care, decorative cosmetics, perfumes. At the end of 2006, the company took first place in sales in the United States in the category combining skin care and decorative cosmetics. In 2010, Mary Kay's worldwide sales amounted to more than $2.5 billion in retail prices. The company's products are represented in 35 countries, including the UK, Germany, China, Russia, India, etc. The Mary Kay brand enjoys great trust among consumers: at the end of 2011, the company was recognized as the absolute leader in loyalty in the United States in the category " Cosmetics and facial skin care."

Books

Mary Kay Ash has written three books; they all became bestsellers. Her autobiography Mary Kay(Mary Kay) has sold a million copies worldwide and has been translated into several languages. Third book You can achieve it all(You Can Have It All) was released in August 1995 and received bestseller status within the first few days of sales.

Quotes

Quotes from the autobiographical book “Dreams Come True.”

Expect great things to happen and they will happen.
Dedicated to thousands of women who DARE to leave the “zone of comfort and habitual habitat” and TAKE USE of the talents and abilities given to them by the Lord, realizing that the Lord does not have time to create nonentities - he creates ONLY PERSONS.
Less than a week into my retirement life, I already understood why so many obituaries include the phrase, “He retired last year.” ... Building a career and taking care of my family meant everything to me. I never liked what other people did when they were on vacation. For example, I never had time to learn how to play sport games like tennis, and I hated buffets and cocktail parties. ... I realized that without work I see no point in getting out of bed every morning.
As the founder of a company... I do a lot of public speaking. ... It’s not that I started talking about anything else - I’ve been talking about it all my life. However, when a person achieves success, what he says becomes “important.”
Grandma Moses began painting at the age of seventy-eight. When asked why, she replied that she had simply never tried it. Just four years later, her works were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I can't help but think about how many more of her wonderful works the world would have seen if she had started painting earlier!
Richard and I had high hopes for the office location... Our office was in a shopping center that served the five thousand women who worked in the building. We were sure: this market would inevitably bring us income, because women would pass us every morning on their way to work, and then every evening they would walk past us again. And for a long time after our discovery, we were absolutely right in our assumptions - they passed by! In the morning they hurried so as not to be late for work, and in the evening - so as to get home quickly. Our only advantage was the breaks in the working day - there were two of them. We soon learned to offer the fastest facial skin care you've ever seen.
For some reason, singing has a way of bringing people together. ... Therefore, having created Mary Kay Cosmetics, I decided that it was necessary to hold a competition for the best Mary Kay song. ... The secret of a good song is simple: you need to write own words to a popular tune. Our group's favorite song was born when someone wrote "I'm full of that Mary Kay enthusiasm" to the tune of everyone's favorite anthem [referring to the national anthem of her native United States].
If you put faith first, your family second, and career third, everything will work out. If these priorities are violated, nothing works. At the very end of life, it doesn't matter how much money you made, how big your house is, or how many cars you have. ... Each of us will come to this day - and we must ask ourselves whether there was meaning in the life we lived.
We got married on Thursday... Every Thursday for all fourteen years of our marriage, Mel gave me gifts. ... Every morning he told me that I was beautiful - and you know that this is not true. Like many women, I often went to bed looking like Elizabeth Taylor and woke up looking like Charles de Gaulle! Of course, I wanted to live up to his compliments, so every morning I got up earlier than Mel to become a beauty for him. ... He liked to call himself "Chairman of the Board of Directors."

In culture

Death

She died on November 22, 2001 and is buried at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Notes

Further reading (in English)

Stefoff, Rebecca (1992) Mary Kay Ash: Mary Kay, a Beautiful Business Garrett Educational Corp., Ada, Okla., ISBN 1-56074-012-4, for young adult audience
Rozakis, Laurie (1993) Mary Kay: Cosmetics Queen Rourke Enterprises, Vero Beach, Fla., ISBN 0-86592-040-0, for young adult audiences
Ash, Mary Kay (1994) Mary Kay Harper Collins Publishers, New York, ISBN 0-06-092601-5; autobiography
Ash, Mary Kay (2003) Miracles happen: the life and timeless principles of the founder of Mary Kay, Inc. Quill, New York, ISBN

Mary Kay was of little interest to generally accepted rules. She founded Mary Kay Cosmetics at age 45, when most of her peers were sitting in armchairs knitting, looking after their grandchildren and not thinking about conquering the world. And she chose a bumblebee as the symbol of her business: “From the point of view of the laws of aerodynamics, a bumblebee cannot fly. But no one told him about this, so he flies.”

One of the most successful businesswomen of the 20th century wore pink until she was very old, overused makeup, and in her communication alternated quotes from the Bible with incorrect statements, for which in our tolerant times she would have been eaten alive.

Little mistress of a big house

Mary Kathleen Wagner was extremely efficient. She learned how to run a house even before she went to school. The girl’s parents owned a small hotel 25 km north of Houston, but two years after her birth, her father fell ill with tuberculosis, ended up in a quarantine sanatorium for a long time, and the family business withered away. A mother with four children moved to the city and got a job as a cook in a restaurant. Mary Kay looked after her father, who was sent home to die. She cleaned and cooked, standing at the too-high stove on an orange crate. “Mom gave instructions over the phone,” Mary Kay recalled. - She said: “Honey, take the large pan in which we cook the soup. Put two potatoes and one onion there...”. I thought all girls did this."

She graduated from high school with honors. I dreamed of entering Medical College, but give the luxury to children higher education was beyond the means of the Wagners. It is unlikely that Mary Kay was very upset at that moment, because for most 17-year-old girls in the world there is nothing more important than their first “adult” love.

Ben Rogers played in the Hawaiian Strummers, was considered the neighborhood Elvis Presley, and worked at a gas station waiting for worldwide fame to find him there. Marriage to young Mary Kay changed little in his perception of the world. Ben continued to sing songs, willingly accepting attentions from admirers of his talent, while his wife gave birth to two children in a row and thought a lot about the fact that she was unlikely to be able to feed them breast milk until adulthood. Someone in the family had to take care of their daily bread.

Mary Kay began taking goods for sale in a bookstore. As soon as I had free time, I went around houses and offered educational books for their children to the same young parents. It turned out that she had an exceptional talent for direct sales. Mary Kay inspired trust, knew how to listen, always smiled and looked happy, despite her worries about her children, her anger at her husband, and her fatigue. The worse she felt, the wider her smile became. Until the end of her days, Mary Kay was guided by the saying “Fake it until you make it” - pretend until you really feel it.

In 1938, 20-year-old Mary Kay became an employee of Stanley Home Products. Household goods took the place of books in heavy bags, and simple house-to-house visits were replaced by presentations and parties for bored housewives from all over the area.

Five years later, she gave birth to her third child and saw her husband off to World War II. Ben's return home in 1945 was anything but festive. “I was in the hospital,” recalls Mary Kay, who paid for years of heavy lifting with arthritis and varicose veins. “He entered the room and immediately said that he wanted a divorce. His new lover was eight months pregnant. No one would call our marriage successful, but this day was one of the hardest in my life.”

Winning formula

The single mother of three children could not afford to give up work. Mary Kay became convinced of this when she raised enough money to study to become a doctor. A year later, she was faced with a choice: quit university or sell her house. Having said goodbye to the thought of a medical career, Mary Kay decided to realize her ambitions in business, but in 13 years at Stanley she only rose to the rank of department head. World Gift Company lured her away with the promise that she would eventually sit on the board of directors. It took Mary Kay about nine years to do this, but soon the male part of the council came to the conclusion that there was no need for a woman to have so much power. She was demoted, and the guy she trained was put in the vacant position. Offended, Mary Kay decided that it was time for her to take a well-deserved rest.

The newly minted pensioner decided to write a book about her experience in direct sales. Having sketched out theses about what was being done wrong and how to fix it, Mary Kay saw that instead of a book, it turned out to be a business plan for the creation and development of a new company. It didn't matter about the product.

During her years working for Stanley, she met the daughter of J. W. Heath, a tanner from Arkansas who was interested in making cosmetic creams. The daughter continued her father’s experiments: she distributed homemade creams in jars signed by hand to friends, collected reviews, and tried to improve the composition. Mary Kay, who had been using this product for more than ten years, bought the rights to the formula for $500. She herself could not make any improvements, but her fiancé George Hallenbeck, by a happy coincidence, was a chemist. He willingly undertook to perfect the creams in the laboratory, set up production and provide start-up capital.

A month before the opening of Beauty by Mary Kay, George suffered a cardiac arrest. He remained Mary Kay's husband for so short a time that he did not have time to rewrite his will. All accounts were instantly reset to zero. Acquaintances convinced the widow to abandon the project, because with George’s death she had lost not only money, but also a respectable man who gave the business credibility in the eyes of potential partners. "And what? - Mary Kay retorted. “Mom always told me: “You can achieve anything if you want it badly enough and are willing to pay the price that fate demands.” If you can do something, you will do it. If you give up in advance, convincing yourself that you can’t do it, then you’re right.”

Son Ben, who drove freight trains for an oil company in Houston, came to the rescue. He gave his mother all his savings and urgently sold off his small assets, collecting $5,000. And then he moved from his old place to her company for a salary three times less. Except for Ben strong half Humanity was represented in leadership by his 20-year-old brother Richard, who had previously planned to make a career in an insurance company. The rest of the Beauty by Mary Kay staff consisted of nine friends of the founder - the first recruiters of the future multimillion-dollar army of “beauty consultants.” Headquarters in Dallas opened in September 1963. The entire range of products occupied one shelf: the day before, Mary Kay manually poured creams into jars in her bathroom.

Mary Kay Ash and Mary Crowley at the Horatio Alger Awards, 1978

She built her enterprise on direct sales. As the product range expanded, she opened not stores, but offices across America, where women were taught the basics of cosmetology and the art of making presentations. After that, beauty consultants worked independently, bought goods from the factory wholesale at half price, sold them retail in their cities, adhering to a schedule convenient for them. “In 1963, fighters for gender equality were not held in high esteem,” said Mary Kay. “And yet I managed to give women opportunities that I didn’t have.” I will never believe that at the moment of creation the Lord had in mind a world where a woman must necessarily work 14 hours a day to support her family.”

Gingerbread philosophy

In business and in life, Mary Kay strictly adhered to three basic principles. The first is from the Bible: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” According to friends, Mary Kay listened to any person, as if for her at that moment nothing in the world was more important than his words. “No matter who came into her office, she never spoke across the table,” recalls one of the first employees. “I always sat next to her on the sofa.” Consultants were allowed to gather no more than six clients for a presentation in order to have enough time to give each one personal attention. “Imagine that all people had a sign hanging on their chest: “Make me feel important,” Mary Kay taught. “Then you can find a common language with anyone.”

Her second commandment ordered to put faith in first place, family in second, work in third. Mary Kay was very religious from her youth, financed the construction of churches, but flatly refused to agree with the thesis that the cosmetics she sold plunged women into the mortal sin of vanity. “Do you think God has something against beauty and the joy it brings?” - Mary Kay was interested. - Yes, makeup and clothes do not make a woman, but they raise her self-esteem and give her self-confidence. And this is what makes a woman.”

Mary Kay found family happiness in 1966 with an old acquaintance from the World Gift Company, Melville Ash, whose last name she bore until the end of her life. She named the engagement ring he gave her as one of her most valuable possessions. The other two were a company and a house - not a 30-room pink mansion for $5 million, but the first modest house that she bought with her own money and returned to last years life.