Mary Kay was a gifted speaker. In a convention hall, she could charm an audience of thousands. One on one, she conveyed enthusiasm and genuine warmth. To know her was to love her. To this day she is strongly identified with the company that bears her name. It appears on everything from product packaging to the signage on the company’s regal high-rise building. Her values, principles, and beliefs are also deeply ingrained in the company’s culture. She was and is the heart and soul of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Most often a company so strongly identified with a single individual finds its future in jeopardy with the passing of its founder. Remarkably, this was not the case at Mary Kay, Inc. A seamless succession was effected by a management team that clearly understood her wishes and was determined to preserve what its founder stood for; as a consequence, the spirit of this extraordinary woman lives on today. Understanding how this transition happened requires knowing about Mary Kay, the woman. This is her story and that of the company she built.

As a child, Mary Kay watched her father, Edward Wagner, come home from a tuberculosis sanatorium with his disease arrested but not cured. His wife, Lula, became the family’s sole supporter. She managed a restaurant in Houston, working daily from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. Mary Kay spent much of her childhood taking care of her invalid father.

“Mother was never home,” Mary Kay told me years ago. “In the morning I went to school, and when I got home, I fixed the meals and cleaned the house. At age seven, I was already taking the street-car into downtown Houston to buy my own clothes. I really had a hard time convincing the sales clerks to sell me anything. Whenever I needed my mother, I could phone her and she would say to me, ‘Honey, you can do it.’ She gave me a priceless gift. She would always tell me, ‘Honey, you can do anything you want if you want it badly enough and are willing to pay the price.’” ¹

In her autobiography, Mary Kay (Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1981), she wrote:

Mary Kay learned valuable lessons on responsibility and discipline at an early age.

At age seventeen, Mary Kay did what most young girls did in those days—she got married right out of high school. Her husband, J. Ben Rogers, was a member of a local musical group called the Hawaiian Strummers. To teenagers in Houston, he was a well-known radio star. The young couple had three children. During World War II, Ben Rogers was drafted. Upon returning from the service, he announced that he wanted a divorce.

Mary Kay recalled:

Stanley Home Products dealers were originally door-to-door salespeople who sold high-quality household cleaners, brushes, and mops. The company was founded in 1931, and by the late 1930s, one of the company’s dealers began giving product demonstrations to clubs and organizations to generate large orders. Other Stanley dealers also began conducting group presentations, and eventually, homemakers were encouraged to invite a few friends and neighbors to demonstrations in their homes. The “party plan” was born. At a party, a salesperson (nearly all were women) demonstrated how to use Stanley products. The hostess served light refreshments to her guests and for her participation received a gift from the company’s product line—perhaps a broom or a mop.

Determined and self-disciplined, Mary Kay worked her career around her young family. Being a full-time mother and salesperson required long, tedious hours. There was little time in her day for other activities. Yet, after excelling in sales, she was soon recruiting and training other salespeople. When asked how she found time to do so much, Mary Kay liked to say, “If you want something done, give it to a busy woman.” Although her performance was exceptional, she resented how the company took advantage of her because she was a woman. She was bright and innovative, yet rarely were her ideas taken seriously by management.

In 1952, Mary Kay left Stanley Home Products to work for World Gift Company, which also sold through the party plan. Once again, she moved up the ranks in sales management, but there, too, she was discouraged by being held back because she was a woman. And, typical of the times, she received far less pay than a man in the same position.

In 1963, at age forty-five and after a twenty-five-year career in direct sales, Mary Kay felt burnt out and decided to retire.

Mary Kay thought about all the injustices she had encountered, and not just she. It was how all women were treated in the workforce. Yes, it was discrimination, and there are laws against it today. But in those days, it was reality.

For example, Mary Kay remembered when she was a top salesperson and had been promoted to a position as the company’s national training director, making a salary of $25,000 a year. She explained:

Mary Kay also disliked the way a lot of bosses treated subordinates. She recalled that she had once taken a ten-day round trip by bus from Dallas to the Stanley home office in Westfield, Massachusetts, a reward she shared with fifty-seven other top salespeople. The group endured several bus breakdowns but happily put up with the misery to have the honor of a personal meeting with the company president. As the highlight of the trip, on the last night before heading back to Texas, they were to be guests in his home. Mary Kay could hardly wait.

Instead of socializing with other senior managers at the president’s house, however, the salespeople were taken on a tour of the plant. While Mary Kay enjoyed seeing the manufacturing facility, she recalled her main purpose:

There were other unpleasant memories. For instance, she thought about the home office people who begrudged commissioned salespeople their high earnings. She couldn’t understand why they would resent the success of salespeople, because, after all, the company depended on them. Nor could she fathom why some company employees had no interest in taking care of customers, or gave the impression that it wasn’t their job to serve customers. Mary Kay believed that serving customers was everyone’s job. In her mind, without customers, a company would not be in business. And satisfied customers meant repeat orders. Unhappy customers went away and told their friends about their dissatisfaction.

Mary Kay also disapproved of managers who never made the effort to learn their subordinates’ names, or showed no interest in their personal lives. She didn’t like executives who felt superior to subordinates and showed it in their manner.

She wrote in her management book, The Mary Kay Way, which was republished seven years after her death:

Mary Kay began to organize her thoughts. She describes it:

For days, Mary Kay studied her lists, and the more she read, the more she was convinced she was on to something. She explained:

What started as a book became the beginning of Mary Kay’s dream company.

The first products were put in a basic skin-care kit and were called Cleansing Cream, Magic Masque, Skin Freshener, Night Cream, and Day Radiance. They were packaged in small jars and bottles. On opening day, the first inventory also included rouge, lip and eye palettes, mascara, and an eyebrow pencil. The company’s entire initial inventory was stored on a $9.95 steel shelving unit from Sears.

Mary Kay realized that the best way for women to get the most benefit from these products was to be taught how to apply them properly. Simply buying them over the counter and reading the instructions on the labels would result in only limited knowledge of how they worked. And a retail clerk would also know little about how to use the products. The customer would have to take the items home and figure out how to use them. And if she had any questions, there wouldn’t be anyone to ask. Then there was door-to-door selling. There were many companies with armies of salespeople ringing doorbells and selling cosmetics. Here, too, customers were never taught how to use their products.

Mary Kay’s intuition, based on her personal experience in buying cosmetics, told her that women were uncomfortable trying on makeup in a store. Moreover, she knew that although a cosmetics specialist could make someone look like a million dollars, most women were totally clueless about how to repeat the process.

With Mary Kay’s background in direct selling, she surmised that a party-plan organization would be the best way to sell skin-care products. A salesperson would present the products to a small group of women and demonstrate how to apply them. Women could also try the lotions and creams for themselves. If anyone had questions, the informed salesperson could provide answers. Mary Kay decided to call her knowledgeable sales representatives beauty consultants, because unlike door-to-door salespeople and store clerks, they would be demonstrating skin-care and makeup techniques. This skin-care class would provide important personalized guidance.

The beauty consultants would be independent representatives, as Mary Kay had been throughout her sales career. In keeping with their function of personal consultation, however, they would be taught never to use high-pressure selling techniques. She knew instinctively that women felt more comfortable in a relaxed atmosphere with a group of friends.

As Mary Kay explained,

Another added value would be that a beauty consultant would be able to educate each woman on which lotions and creams were best suited for her. This would be part of the service, because no two women are alike, and their needs vary depending on variables from their skin type to their daily habits. For instance, some women are in the sun a lot. Some have a more active lifestyle. Each Mary Kay product or regimen could be tailored to an individual customer’s needs. This would be much different from picking something up at the counter and buying a one-size-fits-all product. Mary Kay thought that this personal service would maximize the value to the customer.

Direct sales companies are no different from any business—to succeed, they must build a base of loyal customers who keep coming back. As Mary Kay, Inc.’s chief marketing officer, Rhonda Shasteen, explains, “This business depends on more than a one-time sale. Beauty consultants want their customers to come back time and time again over the years, because that’s what makes it a successful business opportunity for them.”¹⁰ Mary Kay wisely chose a product that satisfied customers would reorder when their supply ran out. She determined that once a woman got in the habit of taking good care of her skin, it would be a daily ritual that could continue for a lifetime. By having many loyal customers, a beauty consultant could develop a business that gave her a steady stream of revenue—one that would continually grow as her customer base expanded.

Equally important to Mary Kay’s plan was that her consultants could get as much out of the business as they were willing to put into it. Those who worked harder and smarter could earn higher incomes than those who chose to work less. Each would set her own hours and work at her own pace. It was a very democratic system. Everyone would begin the same and have an equal opportunity to succeed.

“I saw the world collapsing around me after my husband died,” she said. “But when God closes a door, He always opens a window.”¹² And through the window came her twenty-year-old son, Richard, who decided that he could run the financial and administrative end of the fledgling company. At the time, he was an agent for Prudential Life Insurance Company, and his salary was $480 a month. He agreed to start at Mary Kay’s company with a $250 monthly salary.

Her twenty-seven-year-old son, Ben, who was married and had two children, told her, “One day I’d like to join you and Richard.” Then, calmly and deliberately, he reached into his breast pocket and offered Mary Kay his savings passbook. “Mother, I think you can do anything in this world you want to,” he said as he handed the passbook to her. “If it will help you in any way, I want you to have it.”¹³

In her autobiography, Mary Kay wrote about the unqualified support her sons gave her on that day.

Her sons’ belief in her was the vote of confidence that Mary Kay needed. Growing up on the sidelines, observing their mother as their sole supporter when they were children, they believed she could do just about anything. They watched her succeed in her sales career before going on her own. Richard explains:

“My mother sold Stanley Home Products, and our garage was converted into a small warehouse of Stanley products. Every Saturday my older brother and sister and I packed and delivered the orders Mother had sold that week. Then we would sit around the kitchen table and count the money. If we sold more products than the week before, we would go to the movies or do something special—we were a family business.”¹⁴

Richard also knew that when his mother was determined to do something, she became totally focused on doing it.

“When her accountants and bankers tried to persuade her to fold up and cut her losses, I can remember to this day the look in her piercing blue eyes. She had a steely resolve that blocked out their negative feedback. My mother had no fear of failure. She had a dream of creating a company that would help women and she was set on making it happen.”¹⁵

It was important to Mary Kay that her first beauty show start off with a bang. A strong first presentation, she believed, would excite her nine saleswomen and convince them that her business plan would work. It was a dismal failure. She explained:

Mary Kay learned from her failure, and so did many others who heard her tell about it.

Mary Kay had no previous experience in the cosmetics industry. Her forte was in sales, recruiting, and training. Once she had acquired the skin-care products formulas, she immediately met with cosmetics companies about manufacturing her merchandise. As she tells it,

After meeting with several cosmetics companies, Mary Kay chose a Dallas manufacturer who had an excellent reputation for being ethical and reliable. “I took the formulations to the president of that company,” she said, “and he calmly turned the whole thing over to his son. After our tiny order, I’m sure he thought he’d never see us again. But we did come back with a second order, and a third, and so on, and so on.”¹⁹ (A few years later, Mary Kay Cosmetics invited that company president’s son to join it and head its own manufacturing division.)

Mary Kay conducted skin-care parties, trained other women, conducted sales meetings, and did everything from recruiting salespeople to emptying wastebaskets. Richard ran the business end of the company. A few months after the fledging company got under way, Ben quit his $750-a-month job in Houston and moved to Dallas with his family to join his mother’s venture. He took a substantial pay cut. His new salary would be the same as Richard’s—$250 a month. Ben was put in charge of running the warehouse. In the early days, Mary Kay’s daughter, Marylyn, was a beauty consultant in Houston. It was a real family affair.

Mary Kay, Richard, and Ben worked sixteen- to eighteen-hour days. They filled orders; they packed orders. They wrote and mimeographed newsletters. Their hard work paid off. At the end of 1963, three-and-a-half months after the company first started, their wholesale sales totaled $34,000, and they rang up a small profit. A year later, the company’s wholesale revenues were $198,000. During this same year, the company moved into another building that had private offices for Mary Kay and her two sons, plus a training room and a 5,000-square-foot warehouse. By the end of the second full fiscal year, wholesale revenues totaled $800,000.

Mary Kay had the opposite reaction. What she didn’t approve of as a subordinate she vowed not to do to people who reported to her. She didn’t have to read a book on leadership or take a management course to learn how to treat people. She knew it from Matthew 7:12: “We should do unto others as we would have others do unto us.” She knew that some people considered it naïve for a start-up company to focus on the Golden Rule, but she believed in it. Others suggested that her philosophy was too gentle, or feminine, and that to succeed, one must be strong—that if Mary Kay didn’t “toughen up,” she wasn’t going to make it on her own. Until somebody came up with a better way to treat people, however, she was going to stick with the Golden Rule. She firmly believed that people should practice every day of the week what they learned in church on Sunday. Acts of kindness and respect for others are as appropriate in the workplace as in the home. It was a time when business schools and management conferences never mentioned the word “love.” They viewed it as a four-letter word in business circles. But to Mary Kay, love was appropriate in the workplace. She respected her employees and listened to their suggestions, because what they had to say was informative and insightful. Her love was also expressed by the opportunities she provided to them to succeed.

Based on her experiences as a single working mother with three children, her priorities were always God first, family second, and career third. She said:

When Mary Kay started her sales career with Stanley Home Products, she only had time for three things: God, family, and career. There was no room for a social life. Her life revolved around her three children, work, and church. Her day started at 5:00 each morning so she could do her housework, plan her day, and give her children a good breakfast before sending them off to school. Then she conducted a party in the morning and another in the early afternoon, and made sure she was home when her children returned from school. Later, she gave them dinner, got them ready for bed, and headed out to do another party. Her babysitter put the kids to sleep before she returned. Obviously, she had a high energy level. When she could afford it, she hired a housekeeper, but she never got out of the habit of starting her day at 5:00 A.M.

Mary Kay never kept her priorities a secret. Once in business, she never deviated from telling her people that God and family should come before career. Though other managers and business owners might instruct employees to put their jobs first, she always insisted on the opposite. She would tell everyone how she managed her own career around her family. “We should never get so involved in our work,” she advised, “that we lose what we cherish most: spending time with our husbands and watching our children grow up. Their early years are so important, and nobody can make the difference in their lives that you can.”²¹ Typically, other sales managers pushed their people for longer hours, which they figured would produce higher sales revenues. Mary Kay would tell women who neglected their families for their work that although she understood they were doing it for their families, it was self-defeating. “Perhaps spending less time on your career and more time with your dear ones will mean less financial success but more happiness overall,” she’d say. Her advice came from the heart. Mary Kay wanted what was best for her sales force and employees, not her bottom line.

The fact that she was focused on the best interests of her people made Mary Kay a role model for others to emulate. Her better-to-give-than-to-receive philosophy permeated through the organization and carried over to customers as well. At the beginning of her training, a Mary Kay beauty consultant was told, “Your job is not to sell cosmetics. Your job is to go to a beauty show asking yourself, ‘What can I do to send these women home feeling more beautiful on the outside, knowing full well they’ll become more beautiful on the inside as a result.’”²² The same thinking applied to each sales director. Leading by example, she focused on how to help her sales team be successful. Mary Kay understood well that if large numbers of her people were successful, her company would be successful. It was a give-and-you-will-receive philosophy. Help others to succeed, and you will succeed.

Mary Kay often told a story about how over an eight-year period, while working for a direct sales company, she had built a sales unit in Houston that generated $1,000 a month in overrides. Then her husband was transferred to St. Louis. Although she had worked hard recruiting and training her sales force, when she moved, the company stopped paying her on their future sales production. She felt this was unfair and vowed that it would never happen at Mary Kay Cosmetics. Her company wouldn’t have sales territories. Every beauty consultant could sell the products anywhere, which meant that wherever she was, she could recruit others to sell for her unit. She could live in Chicago and, while visiting a relative in Los Angeles, recruit someone there to be part of her sales unit. Or a sales director could recruit while traveling on vacation. As long as she and the recruit were both active in the company, she would be entitled to receive commissions on her recruit’s sales. Today, sales directors can have many beauty consultants who live outside the directors’ home cities.

But what if the new consultant still required sales training? To solve this problem, Mary Kay inaugurated an adoptee program. An adoptee is a sales consultant who either was recruited by a sales director from another city or has moved to another area. Under this system, the adoptee is encouraged to attend sales meetings conducted by a sales director in her hometown. Hence, she is adopted into another sales unit, and if additional guidance or coaching is necessary, the sales director willingly provides it. Outsiders question why a Mary Kay sales director will do this without being compensated for it. They do it because it’s good for the adoptee and it’s good for the company. They also know that it’s a two-way street. The thinking is: “Yes, I’m helping her, but somebody else is helping my recruits somewhere else.”

Mary Kay people call the adoptee system the “go-give” principle. This is a philosophy based on giving, and it is applicable in every aspect of the company. Just as Mary Kay herself never had dollar signs in her eyes when she built her company, a giving and sharing attitude has been instilled throughout the organization. Of course, not everyone buys in to this philosophy. Some people are interested only in looking out for number one. Such individuals typically don’t last long on the sales force or at Mary Kay’s corporate office.

Mary Kay understood that people generally do what you expect them to do. When you anticipate that they will perform well, they do, and conversely, when you don’t expect much of them, they do poorly. She wrote: “I believe that average employees who try their hardest to live up to your high expectations of them will do better than above-average people with low self-esteem. Motivate your people to draw on that untapped 90 percent of their ability, and their level of performance will soar.”²⁴

One way that she made people feel important was by allowing them to voice their views and listening carefully to what they said. She invited people to become involved in a new project by allowing them to participate during its initial stages. “People will support that which they help to create,” she advocated.²⁵

Knowing that people resist change, she sought her employees’ opinions on new products and marketing innovations, which not only spawned valuable suggestions but also gave them ownership. This way, they bought in to the change, because they were a part of the process. It made them feel important, because it demonstrated that their opinions were valued. Conversely, people resist managers who announce change: “We are making these changes, and from now on, this is how it will be.”

Good managers not only make their subordinates feel important by getting their support for new ideas, they seek the advice of their superiors as well. Mary Kay believed:

Don’t think it isn’t necessary to make the people above you feel important. As important as they may be, they, too, need constant reinforcement. Remember that they also have an invisible make-me-feel-important sign around their neck.

Known for her knack for making people feel important, Mary Kay showed no discrimination. She greeted everyone with a warm hello. On the company elevators and in the hallways, her friendliness to employees and visitors was legendary. “How are you today?” she’d say, and if someone replied, “I’m okay,” she’d say, “You’re not okay; you’re great.” If an employee called her, “Mrs. Ash,” she would reply, “If you call me Mrs. Ash, I’ll think you’re either angry with me or don’t know who I am. So please, call me Mary Kay.” She’d tell them, “I don’t want you to think of me as the chairman of the board. Think of me as your friend.” She spoke with such sincerity that they knew she meant it. “If you ever need to talk to me,” she’d say, “I want you to know that my door is always open.” Everyone addressed her as Mary Kay, and when her son Richard became chairman of the board, employees also called him by his first name. This permeated throughout the company; everyone was on a first-name basis. It may sound like a small thing, but it made people feel important. It also made them feel good about working for a family business.

When a beauty consultant becomes an independent sales director, she is invited to the home office in Dallas to attend New Sales Director Education Week. For years, it was a tradition for Mary Kay to invite the new class of sales directors to her house. There she would chat with them individually, even when the numbers exceeded one hundred guests. Being at her home was a nice personal touch. But Mary Kay went one step further. She personally baked cookies for them. It made them feel like they were part of her family—and that’s the way she felt about them. As a sales director once said, “When was the last time the CEO of your company made cookies for you?”

Having spent many years in the sales field, Mary Kay knew that the most valuable asset of the company was its sales force. She understood well that “nothing happens until somebody sells something.” She continually reminded employees that if the independent sales force members were not out there selling Mary Kay products, the company would cease to exist. Consequently, nobody was more important than the women in the field. All home office employees were instructed to treat every sales consultant and sales director as a queen. When members of the sales force visit the home office, the company rolls out the red carpet. Everyone treats them royally. Throughout her career, Mary Kay never forgot where she came from. Because she spent so many years selling, she could readily identify with the women in the field. She was one of them! Her appreciation for them permeated the company, and they were always made to feel special.

“I think all company employees need to know that their jobs depend upon the independent sales force,” she emphasized.

What had been most upsetting to her during her sales career was being told, “Mary Kay, you’re thinking like a woman.” She keenly observed through her years of experience that women will often work for recognition when they wouldn’t work for money.

By the same token, women customers respond well to encouragement. Every new Mary Kay beauty consultant is taught to praise her customers. They tell women in skin-care classes how wonderful they look with their makeup on. When a beauty consultant gives her first skin-care class, she may ask her sales director, “What did I do wrong?” The director is apt to reply, “Let me tell you what you did right.” Only after showering her with praise will she then say, “Now let me make some suggestions on how you might improve.”

Knowing how people react to recognition, Mary Kay began to reward her salespeople with gifts right from the start. When the company was in its infancy and on a tight budget, rewards were modest—colorful ribbons, pins, and costume jewelry. A gold-colored goblet was awarded to a beauty consultant with monthly wholesale sales production over $1,000, which back in the early sixties was considered a good month. When someone earned a set of twelve goblets, she received a matching tray. Mary Kay’s son Richard couldn’t believe it. “Do you think they’ll work that much harder—for that cup?” he questioned.

“We’ll make it a very exclusive club,” his mother said. “Only a selected few will ever get one, let alone an entire set. They’ll work hard to get it because they want the recognition that goes with it.”

“I think you’ve lost your mind,” he answered, “but if you think it will work, we’ll do it.”²⁸

Mary Kay herself was surprised when she saw how hard the women worked to surpass their own sales records to win those gold goblets. She attributed the contest’s success to people’s craving for recognition, not their desire to own the gold-colored goblets.

Over the years, the company became known for the lavish gifts it awarded its top producers—everything from complete office systems to diamond rings. Top sales directors and national sales directors qualify for luxury trips to London, Athens, and Bangkok, including first-class airfare, limousine services, and five-star hotels. Not only do these prizes provide a strong incentive to qualify, but the VIP treatment makes every recipient feel very special.

It is widely known that a top Mary Kay producer can earn a pink Cadillac. In fact, the car has become a famous symbol of personal success. Every time one goes by, it’s practically impossible not to think about the company. Mary Kay referred to the pink Cadillac as a trophy on wheels. Those who qualify for a pink Cadillac must meet certain sales production numbers in order to keep the car. Winners take great pride in having a pink Cadillac in the driveway, in the local shopping center parking lot, or in front of a customer’s home.

The ultimate prize for achievement within the sales organization is a magnificent diamond bumblebee pin, known as the “crown jewel” in inner-company circles. The story behind it gives special meaning to this award. Years ago, aerodynamics engineers studied the bumblebee and concluded that it simply could not fly. Its wings were too weak and its body too heavy. Of course, the bumblebee doesn’t know that it is impossible for it to be airborne, so it keeps right on flying. The symbol serves as a reminder to all Mary Kay people that they can achieve anything they believe they can achieve. It is also a badge of merit, and as Mary Kay often said, “Whenever you see anyone wearing one at a Mary Kay function, you know she’s a distinguished person in our sales organization.”²⁹

There is also lots of recognition and applause at the annual Mary Kay convention known as Seminar, which is held in the Dallas Convention Center. No other company convention can hold a candle to this event. It has been described as a combination of the Academy Awards, the Miss America Pageant, and a Broadway musical. In the midst of the entertainment, glitz, and glamour, hundreds of the sales force’s top performers are celebrated in the presence of their peers. Each Seminar has a theme such as “Shine On,” “Dreams Come True,” “The Power of Pink,” and “You Can Have It All!” The company spends millions of dollars each year on this extravaganza. Each attendee pays her own expenses; yet the event is so well attended that the company holds five back-to-back three-day Seminars, with a total attendance of as high as 50,000 beauty consultants, directors, and national sales directors.

Prior to her stroke, it was a company tradition for Mary Kay to make a grand entrance at the opening of each Seminar. But before her appearance, there was always a lot of clapping and singing. And what did they sing? Mary Kay songs, of course. Back in 1963, she had a contest that encouraged beauty consultants to create songs from a popular tune and change the lyrics. One woman wrote “I’ve Got That Mary Kay Enthusiasm” to the music of a much-loved hymn. The song and others like it caught on, and since then they’ve been sung at many Mary Kay gatherings ranging from Monday morning sales meetings to Seminar. Mary Kay thought singing was a good way to warm up a group of women. She believed that if it was good enough for schools to have a song and for congregants to sing them in churches and synagogues, singing would also have a positive effect on her sales force. She was right. And from the time the convention hall starts filling up at Seminar, there’s upbeat music, and everyone starts having a grand time. It not only unites audience members, it fires them up.

Every Mary Kay entrance was spectacular. Once, a pink Cadillac convertible rose in a cloud from center stage of the convention hall. When the fog cleared, the spotlights in the dark hall were on the car, and Mary Kay stood up from the driver’s seat and waved to the delighted audience. Her appearance always commanded standing ovations. At each Seminar, she crowned queens and personally congratulated and awarded all recipients for their achievements during the past year. She greeted new directors as they made their “debuts,” in the presence of their peers. Seminar audiences loved her warm-hearted speeches filled with her own brand of wit and wisdom.

Until her stroke, she was active at all Seminars, starting with the first, on September 13, 1964, in the company’s small warehouse decorated with crepe paper and balloons. For that one, Mary Kay herself boned chicken, cooked, and made a huge orange JELL-O salad that was served on paper plates. A director made a big cake decorated with the words “Happy First Anniversary.” For entertainment, Richard hired a three-piece band. It was quite modest in comparison to today’s multimillion-dollar extravaganzas.

An insightful woman, Mary Kay realized that a day would come when she was no longer active in the business. “Nobody lives forever,” she’d say matter-of-factly. Over time, it became a top priority for her to assure a seamless transition in the company. A modest woman at heart, she insisted that it had been many years since the company had depended on her. She took pride in the fact that Mary Kay, Inc., had in place a strong management team and a world-class sales force of independent professionals. She was confident that they were fully capable of building an even bigger and better company even after she could no longer work side by side with them.

This could only happen if the company continued to adhere to the values and principles that Mary Kay put into place during the early years of the company. American business leaders provided precedents she could follow. IBM’s dynamic founder, Thomas Watson, Sr., for example, had built one of the world’s greatest companies and successfully passed the reins to his son, Thomas Watson, Jr. Other professional managers had followed the younger Watson, and IBM’s principles and values had always remained intact. Likewise, Johnson & Johnson, founded in 1886 and later headed by one of the co-founder’s grandsons, Robert Wood Johnson, had a strong culture that played a prominent role in its success. The company’s principles and values are so deeply embedded in its daily affairs that they are spelled out in its credo today and engraved in a limestone wall at the main entrance of its world headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Johnson & Johnson’s credo has never been abandoned.

Mary Kay saw her company as following in the footsteps of IBM and Johnson & Johnson, two of the world’s most admired international companies, and providing opportunities to women around the globe. And always, above all else, the company would abide by the principles and values that she lived by. To assure that this would happen, Mary Kay wrote three books, including her autobiography, Mary Kay, whose title has been changed in the current edition to Miracles Happen. Each book describes what she stood for, and Miracles Happen is included in the starter kit that new consultants receive. “Mary Kay made a video in 1994,” says Darrell Overcash, Mary Kays, Inc.’s U.S. president, “in which she asserted that the company would fare well when she was no longer here. We’ve shown it often at new employee orientation meetings, and it has a significant impact on everyone.” Overcash pauses briefly and adds:

“When a company has a charismatic, visionary, enthusiastic founder, there is bound to be a period of adjustment when he or she is gone. We certainly had concern about how her death would affect our company. It is fortunate that she had the insight to address this issue while she was still active and vibrant. Mary Kay was known for having an effect on you, whether you spoke to her one-on-one, or you were in a crowd of 5,000 or 10,000 people. She had this ability to make you feel that she was speaking directly to you. When clips of her are shown at events, it is remarkable how viewers can feel her presence.”³⁰

As Rhonda Shasteen explains, “At Seminar, the most anticipated event of all was when Mary Kay made her first appearance. I don’t think there is anything we can do that would create that same sense of awe and passion. However, we do show several clips of her during Seminar, and every time there are huge rounds of applause and flash bulbs start going off as if she were there in person. To this day, the sales force can’t get enough of her.”³¹

David Holl, the company’s chief executive officer and president, explains further:

“There are so many things that Mary Kay did that were videoed and recorded as well as what she has written, and this gives us a vast selection from which to choose. So when we have a Seminar, a career conference, or a leadership conference, a message from Mary Kay is always part of the program. At Seminar, we might show a four-minute excerpt of one of her speeches. We will use it to emphasize a subject with a message that we feel it’s important to communicate. Over the course of an event, several different such videos might be shown.”³²

At the 2002 Seminar, the first after Mary Kay’s death, her son Richard had the audience applauding, even weeping, when he told them:

“Mother never thought about fame or wealth for herself but only about success for others. She always said, ‘All that you send into the lives of others comes back into your own.’ Isn’t it amazing that even as we’ve grown to a multibillion-dollar company with a million-woman sales force, we operate today much as we did when it was just my mother and a handful of consultants and sales directors? We were like an extended family then, and we still are. It is my belief that one of the greatest measures of our success is how well we succeed in keeping our relationship-based culture at the core of all that we do.”³³

Richard ended his speech by telling them, “You are Mary Kay’s greatest gift to the world, and Mary Kay’s greatest gift is all of you.”

With the company’s emphasis on family values, it is a big crowd pleaser at Seminar today when Mary Kay’s grandson Ryan Rogers takes center stage. Ryan, Richard’s son and the youngest of Mary Kay’s sixteen grandchildren, joined the company as a financial analyst in January 2000 after graduating summa cum laude from Southern Methodist University. Currently, he is the company vice president for strategic initiatives. An attractive young man, he is charming, like his grandmother and father, and a favorite speaker at company conferences and Seminars. Insiders say that Ryan is the heir apparent.

Ryan has spoken at Mary Kay Seminars all over the world, including in China, Ukraine, and Russia. He admires the sales forces in these countries. What particularly pleases him is how their successes with the company have changed their lives. Most impressive to him is how so many of these women, in places where entrepreneurial opportunities are rarely available, have taken advantage of a Mary Kay career. For example, he witnessed Russian women dedicated enough to travel ten hours by airplane or many days by train to attend a Seminar in Moscow. During the company’s first ten years in China, the government made attempts to ban direct selling. The sales force persevered and today has become the company’s largest market outside the United States.

To better understand the Mary Kay culture in other countries, in 2005 Ryan attended leadership conferences in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. When he spoke to them in Russian, he received a standing ovation. He then journeyed to Argentina in celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary representing Mary Kay. There, he spoke in Spanish. Later, Ryan visited China to attend a leadership conference and the opening of the company’s new manufacturing plant. On both occasions, he spoke in Mandarin Chinese. His father Richard, rightfully proud of his son, said, “They tell me the applause was so intense that it shook the rafters of the new China plant.”³⁴

Ryan studied all three languages, and though he doesn’t speak fluent Russian, Spanish, or Chinese, he spoke to the Mary Kay sales force in their language. So why and how was he able to give his speeches in these languages? He explains:

“Once when I went to Germany, I did just a few lines of my speech in German and the applause was immense. But when I went back to speaking English, the crowd was not nearly as responsive. Something definitely gets lost when you have to pause and wait for the translation. If I tell a joke, it’s not funny anymore. I was also losing a huge connection with the audience. I decided that I was never going to do that again, so now, whenever I speak in a foreign country, I do it in their language. Translators help me to make sure I have the correct pronunciation. It definitely takes a lot more time and effort, but I feel it’s worth it. I’d rather do a short speech in their language than a longer one in English using a translator.”

He grins and adds:

“I practice these speeches to make sure I have the right dialect, and sometimes the audience thinks I speak their language. For instance, when I spoke in Mandarin, some people later approached me and started conversations in their language. Thankfully, I had a translator who explained to them that I’m not fluent in Mandarin.”³⁵

Mary Kay would have been so proud of her grandson, especially when he spoke at Seminars in faraway places. Richard recalls:

“Back in the fall of 2001, just before her death, Mother and I spent many afternoons looking at videos of Seminars from all around the world—from China, Russia, Mexico, Germany, and more—and of course our five Seminars here in the U.S. Each time a video would arrive, I’d take it to Mother’s house, and we’d make an afternoon out of watching them together. I will never forget how her eyes intently followed the winners who crossed the stage to receive their awards. The women walked with grace and poise, and they were laughing, clapping, and hugging other winners. I looked into Mother’s blue eyes and she had the same look of confidence and determination as back in 1963 when she first started this company. These images meant so much to her. And while she was unable to speak, Mother would squeeze my hand tightly and that said it all. Seeing women from so many different countries fulfilling their dreams let her know how far her own dream had traveled.”³⁶

Employees still talk about the first time they met Mary Kay in a meeting or even a brief passing in the hallway or elevator. CEO David Holl, who joined the company in 1993, recalls how he was first introduced to the company’s founder:

“In 1996 I was chief financial officer, and I was walking down the hall with my boss. Mary Kay stopped to say hello and he said, ‘I want you to meet a new hire of ours from Citibank, David Holl.’

“‘What bank did you say that was?’ she asked.

“‘Citibank—out of New York City,’ I answered. She looked me squarely in the eye and replied, ‘I want you to know that you are going to learn a lot more at Mary Kay than you ever could at that New York bank.’”³⁷

Holl adds that Mary Kay was friendly and genuine—instantly you liked her.

‘About three months later, we were talking with a big bank regarding some refinancing. I called Mary Kay’s assistant and asked, ‘Do you think we could get her to talk to a group of bankers at a meeting down here? I think it would be helpful in our discussions.’

“Her assistant answered, ‘Mary Kay in front of a crowd? She would love to do it.’ Sure enough, Mary Kay came to the meeting, and without any preparation, she talked for twenty minutes. Everyone sat there and listened. She had them mesmerized. I don’t remember what she said, but it was much more effective than had I spouted off a bunch of facts and numbers. She was a superb communicator, and she had the quickest wit. I never saw anyone who could think so fast on their feet. She could handle anything that was thrown at her.”³⁸

During her college sophomore year in 1993, Laura Beitler worked as an intern in the company’s legal department. She only met Mary Kay once—they shared an elevator—and Beitler recalls how friendly she was.

“That summer I learned about the company’s values and witnessed how everyone truly cared about each other. I quickly realized what a unique and special company this was. Even though I was just an errand girl who would be working there for one short summer, the people I encountered at Mary Kay made me feel as though I was valued and appreciated. I completed my internship sincerely impressed by the incredible company Mary Kay had built.”³⁹

Beitler graduated college in 1995 and law school in 1998, and took a position that same year as a labor and employment staff attorney for another Dallas company. She explains:

“In retrospect, I learned so much from that summer internship about how to work with people. I suppose from that internship, I always had a passion for this company, so when I learned in 2000 there was an opening here for a labor and employment staff attorney, it turned out to be a perfect opportunity to return to Mary Kay.”⁴⁰

Once she was back at Mary Kay, Beitler was anxious to learn about the company’s founder. She proactively read Mary Kay’s books, listened to her speeches, and read transcripts from her speeches. Beitler says, “Listening to her words always amazes me, and I learn something new about her every day. Her views going back forty-five years are so far ahead of her time. It makes me very proud to be with this company. When I’m faced with making difficult decisions at work, I never miss an opportunity to ask people that knew her personally how Mary Kay would have handled similar situations in the past. While I know that nothing can compare with the experience of personally knowing Mary Kay, I certainly cherish hearing this information from those who knew her well. In order to be good stewards of her company, I think it’s up to each of us as employees to proactively and deliberately seek out opportunities to learn more about the philosophies and values on which Mary Kay built this company. It’s up to us to do our part to honor her legacy and keep this culture alive.”⁴¹

Throughout her life, Mary Kay believed in giving to those in need. Even during her most difficult financial times when she was a young, single working mother, she made generous contributions to her church, sometimes more than her tight budget allowed. Later, as a successful businesswoman, she regularly gave large sums of money to a variety of charities and community organizations. She believed in giving back. To her it was a responsibility.

A supporter of many causes, she championed entities and projects that bettered the lives of women and their families. Anne Crews is the company’s vice president of government relations and also serves as a board member of the Mary Kay Foundation. Crews explains, “It has always been her business and personal philosophy that you give back to the community that’s been good to you. Initially, she gave in the Dallas area, and later, as the company expanded, she felt a corporate responsibility to give throughout America and subsequently around the world. Since the company’s customer base is women, the foundation focuses on causes related to women, such as cancers affecting women and domestic violence against women and children. In addition to breast cancer, the foundation funds ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer prevention and research. For years, we’ve had a Mary Kay 5K, and we’ve worked with the Komen Foundation since it was founded here in Dallas in the 1980s. We’ve also joined forces with Komen to get laws passed on the state and national levels regarding breast cancer, such as insurance coverage for mammograms, quality assurance of mammography machines, and so on.”⁴²

Michael Lunceford, the company’s senior vice president of government relations, serves as president of the Mary Kay Foundation. As he tells it, “I think the foundation and the work it does is simply an extension of Mary Kay, who had a servant’s heart. She always wanted to reach out and help people—this was the reason she started the company. The heart of this company is sharing and caring. The company was a vehicle that enabled Mary Kay to give to other people. With this in mind, the foundation was a natural extension for Mary Kay to improve the lives of women outside the company.

“Her commitment to fighting domestic violence is a good example of how she wanted to serve women. The foundation has given large grants to domestic violence national networks, but we also have a real focus on the shelters themselves because Mary Kay wanted to directly touch thousands and thousands of women in need. For this reason, she made a commitment to provide grants that went straight to specific shelters. She did it this way knowing that certain shelters with very limited resources urgently needed financial support. For example, there was one in Kentucky that had a monthly garage sale to make ends meet; they raised perhaps a few hundred dollars from a sale. You can imagine what a cash grant could mean to this shelter. Unfortunately, there are still many shelters in desperate need of financial aid. Last year, for example, we had more than 800 requests for grants, and the foundation awarded $20,000 to each of 150 shelters. We know that this money goes a long way for these grant recipients. For the past several years, the foundation has granted $3 million to domestic violence shelters. Our goal is to give these grants to at least three entities in every state of the union so we can spread our money around where the Mary Kay sales force is. During these difficult financial times, we are especially pleased to give these grants where they are needed so badly.”⁴³

Crews points out that the foundation is a public foundation, and it accepts contributions from the public. A major source of its funding comes from the Mary Kay independent sales force. Throughout the year, they hold fund-raising events in the United States and Canada ranging from races to fashion shows. Company employees, vendors, and Mary Kay, Inc., are also strong supporters of the foundation.

In his position as Mary Kay, Inc.’s chief counsel for intellectual property, John Wiseman is an authority on the value of a company’s brand. Wiseman explains:

“Our company is in a unique position, because our brand is not a created name or coined term such as Apple or Microsoft. Our brand is also our founder. As a consequence, our brand goes beyond the expectations and other goodwill normally associated with a company’s products and how it conducts business. Ours is the legacy of Mary Kay Ash based on her life and the principles and values to which she adhered. She wasn’t just a talking head like many other CEOs. She connected with everyone by interacting with them here in the home office and in the field. She was constantly teaching us how to care for and respect people by her everyday behavior. Her life story is about how she overcame adversity as a young, single mother of three children and against all odds started this company with her modest life savings. Now, the company is a multibillion-dollar international corporation, and it has the same ideology that Mary Kay had when she first started it. After she passed away, Richard could have taken the company in a different direction, but he wisely realized the value of keeping the company culture.”⁴⁴

“Richard has always preferred to keep the spotlight on Mary Kay,” Yvonne Pendleton, former director of corporate heritage, points out. “He always says, ‘This is Mary Kay’s company. She’s the namesake, the star.’”⁴⁵ Not long ago, one of the networks wanted to interview him and he turned it down. Richard rarely grants media interviews.

“My father is a smart businessman,” Ryan Rogers says,“and when my grandmother passed away, he was well aware of how this was not only a personal loss but it also posed a potential business risk. She was such an iconic founder. She is our brand. Her name is our brand. It would have been a terrible decision to shift gears and no longer promote her image, beliefs, and values. Well, my father realized this, and if anything, the company increased its efforts to promote the culture that she instilled. We keep doing it, and it has stayed at the forefront of what we do. We even measure it through employee surveys, and if we ever see the needle move, we become more focused on it.”⁴⁶

Richard Rogers was there from the start when the company opened its doors on September 13, 1963. Together, he and his mother built what has become one of the largest direct selling companies in the world. They were undoubtedly the best mother-son team in the history of American business. “Mary Kay was the leading lady,” Richard would say, “and my job was to do everything else so she could shine in that role.”⁴⁷ Mary Kay always respected Richard’s judgment, even in the beginning when he was only twenty years old. She relied on him to make sure the company was managed as a business and to make sure she didn’t overspend on prizes (like pink Cadillacs and diamond necklaces and bracelets) and on producing Seminars. She always ran the numbers by Richard.

In the early 1990s, an agent representing Dolly Parton came to Dallas to talk about making a movie of Mary Kay’s life. Richard tells the story:

“My mother was a big fan of Dolly Parton, and she was excited about having her for the movie’s leading actress. In fact, just about everyone around here thought it would be good for the company. I was absolutely against it. ‘Mother, they will never give us the rights to edit the script,’ I said, ‘and without those rights, they’ll put in some sensationalism because they’ll want that sizzle to sell tickets.’ I attended several meetings with advocates of the movie. I told them, ‘Look, Mary Kay is bigger than life. Why do you want to expose her to anything that might hurt her image?’ They agreed, and the movie was never made. I know we made the right decision.”⁴⁸

Rhonda Shasteen says of the Mary Kay brand and image:

“Our company’s general counsel once asked me, ‘If I could sell you all of the physical assets of the company and you start your business tomorrow, or I could sell you only the Mary Kay name and nothing else, which would you choose?’

“I answered, ‘I’ll take the name in a heartbeat. I can replace the building, I can hire employees, but there will never be another brand like Mary Kay.’”⁴⁹

Hundreds of national sales directors got to know Mary Kay personally because she spent time with them at leadership meetings and conferences. Many of these women describe their relationship with Mary Kay as like that between a mother and daughter. She liked this. She often referred to them as her daughters. “She continually told them, ‘You are going to take care of things when I’m not here anymore, ’” Richard Rogers says, “and they are doing that.”⁵⁰

Elizabeth Fitzpatrick is the first daughter of a national sales director to become one. In 1994, she and her mother became the company’s first mother-daughter “nationals.” Tells Fitzpatrick, who now lives in Denver:

“The year before that, I was eighteen weeks pregnant and I had a kidney stone. Surgery wasn’t an option, so I was confined to bed rest. I was in pain and discomfort. I was miserable. One day I answered the phone weakly, and an unfamiliar voice said to me, ‘Hi, this is Mary Kay.’

“I was in a bad mood and snapped, ‘Mary Kay who?’

“‘This is Mary Kay Ash, sweetie.’

“I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t even imagine that she would call my house. ‘God’s delay is not God’s denial,’ she said to me. ‘You will be a national. Just get through this time, and you’ll be fine.’ Her words were such a comfort, and her call came exactly when I needed it. To be able to say that the founder of the company called me when I was on bed rest is a nugget I’ll keep forever. It makes me realize how important it is for us to reach out to people in need. I know the impact it had on me, so I’m going to pass it on.”⁵¹

Fitzpatrick started her Mary Kay business in 1985. For many years, her mother, Shirley Hutton in Minneapolis, was the company’s number-one national sales director and had become legendary throughout the world of Mary Kay. Hutton was a former television personality with the looks and personality of a movie star. Being her daughter had put considerable pressure on Fitzpatrick, because people expected the daughter of Shirley Hutton to also be a superstar. Fitzpatrick explains:

“I found I was always comparing myself to her, and I felt like everything I did was for my mother. She was such a leader in the sales organization that I never thought I could match up to her, so I considered quitting altogether. When I let my intentions be known, I heard from the people I had introduced to the Mary Kay opportunity. ‘You can’t leave,’ they said.

“‘I could,’ I told them.

“‘You’re not just going to ditch us, are you?’ This was a turning point for me. I realized that this is who I am, and this is my family. I don’t have to be my mom. I can just be me. What matters is that I earned this position and I had to continue to lead these women. I had a brand new baby, and I decided to do it my way.”⁵²

When Fitzpatrick debuted as a national sales director at the 1995 Seminar, she stood there proudly with her fifteen-month-old daughter, Konnar, in her arms. Two significant others were by her side, her mother and Mary Kay. “I was onstage with four generations. These were the three most important women in my life, and they were with me to celebrate my success,” says Fitzpatrick.⁵³ It was an emotional event, because later that year, Shirley Hutton retired.

Fitzpatrick adds that, like her mother, she had the opportunity to get to know Mary Kay.

“Every national who debuted at Seminar was individually invited to Mary Kay’s suite and spent an hour with her. Then she went over what she expected of us. Mary Kay explained her philosophies and the reasons behind them. We were told that when she was gone, this is what she wanted us to do. It was very personal, because these were intimate conversations. All of the nationals spent more time with her at conferences and on the luxury trips that we were invited to take all over the world. And when we traveled, it was always first class: the finest hotels, cruise liners, limousines—always the best. She loved us and wanted to pamper us. She made each and every one of us feel as if she were a queen. It was truly amazing; she didn’t sit in the background like a typical CEO. She wanted to be a part of us. Mary Kay had a vision, and she had a heart. As a woman, she could relate to our needs.”⁵⁴

Sherry Giancristoforo was a single mother and worked long hours as a nurse when she became a beauty consultant in 1976. A Minnesotan, she was recruited and taught by Shirley Hutton. Also a national sales director, Giancristoforo says, “Mary Kay always referred to the nationals as her ‘Mary Kay daughters.’ I liked that because after my mother, she was and is the number-one role model in my life. It is an honor and a privilege to carry on her legacy.”⁵⁵

It is said that great leaders lead by example, and innumerable stories illustrate how Mary Kay did this. Giancristoforo tells one of her favorites:

“In the winter of 1978, the company was just entering the Canadian market, and a big event was planned in Winnipeg, where Mary Kay would address an anticipated crowd of 200 to 300 women. Shirley Hutton and I drove together to Winnipeg, an eight-hour car ride from Minneapolis. When we got there, there was a terrible blizzard, and it was so bad that no one could get in or out of the hotel for two straight days. We were literally trapped in that hotel, and only fifteen people showed up for the event.

“It didn’t matter how small the crowd; Mary Kay talked about the product line and the career opportunity as if there were 2,000 in the room. She had the same enthusiasm, and rather than skipping anything, she gave her complete presentation—and then some. She emphasized the great opportunities that the company offered and how Canadian women, their families, and the entire nation would benefit from everything that would happen as a result of our presence in Canada. I was so impressed, because it didn’t matter to Mary Kay that the turnout was so disappointing. I remembered being told during my early training that I should never short-change a small turnout at a skin-care class: ‘Always give them your very best—even if only one person shows up.’ That’s what Mary Kay believed—everyone deserves your best performance, like an actress on a stage, no matter if it’s a full house or a sparse attendance. The show must go on. I witnessed firsthand that Mary Kay practiced what she preached. As I got to know her personally, I learned that she was always consistent. She never deviated from what she believed.”⁵⁶

Giancristoforo emphasizes that Mary Kay lived by her principles and beliefs, and today, she feels responsible to teach them to others. She says, “Once I got to know Mary Kay, I wanted to be with her and I wanted to be like her in every way. I felt she deserved to be followed. Since her passing, the company has always adhered to her personal philosophies, and in fact, management does everything possible to intertwine her beliefs, her values, and her heritage. Every company event includes video clips of Mary Kay. We feel her presence continually, and we talk about her as if she were alive. Of course, her legacy is very much alive.”

Giancristoforo contributes to keeping it alive by passing it on to the 5,000+ women in her sales organization, three of whom have become national sales directors and in turn are passing it on to others.

A favorite sales force tradition is the telling of an “I” story. This is a personal story that a woman will tell about herself with an inspiring message: “If I can do it, you can, too.” “I” stories are told at both small and large gatherings, including Seminars. A speaker, for example, might talk about how she was an extreme introvert before becoming a beauty consultant, “and look at me now. Here I am in front of 10,000 of you, speaking with complete self-confidence.” Another might talk about how her Mary Kay career allowed her husband to leave a job he despised. This tradition started with Mary Kay when she would tell her own stories about how she was able to work her career around her three children as a single mom, how and why she started the company, and so on. Not only do these stories motivate others, they portray the values and principles that Mary Kay herself had and how she applied them.

It is the “I” stories and the messages they give that have become an oral history of the company. Today, an estimated 50 percent of the nationals have never met Mary Kay, but through the stories told by those who did, her legacy lives on. In a speech at the 2003 Seminar, Richard spoke directly to the national sales directors in the audience when he said, “You have seen to it that women who never knew her will come to respect what the name Mary Kay stands for. You have honored Mary Kay, making sure the seeds she planted forty years ago would grow. By your leadership, each of you has made a place for even more women to achieve their dreams. Our dream grows on, thanks to you.”⁵⁷

Rhonda Shasteen, who joined the company in 1984, spent many of her twenty-six years in sales and marketing in the field working with the sales force. In one of these positions, she was the manager of the product training department and in this capacity conducted workshops instructing consultants on how to sell to customers. Later she moved into sales development and worked with sales directors and national sales directors in the north central region of the United States. She then headed the sales education department that was responsible for conducting classes at Seminars, leadership conferences, and new director education classes that were held monthly in Dallas. Shasteen explains:

“Those ten years of experience with our sales force prepared me for my marketing position that began in 1999. Learning what I did in the field has made me a big believer in how much marketing people need sales experience. During those years, I learned firsthand what it’s like to be in the field. I stayed in the homes of sales directors and nationals. I can’t tell you how many times I was in the passenger seat of a pink Cadillac going to pick up children from school. And there were innumerable times that I went to a unit meeting with a sales director and helped her set up her meeting. I even went with them to make product deliveries to a customer.

“When you do those things, a lot of bonding happens. There’s a lot of girlfriend talk, and you really get to know each other on a personal level. This is so important because this is a business built on relationships. It always has been and it always will be.”⁵⁸

As the company’s U.S. president, Darrell Overcash doesn’t have the background you’d expect to be responsible for a sales force of more than 600,000 women selling cosmetics. A 1983 West Point graduate, Overcash is a former helicopter pilot. A trim, 6’3” athletic man, he studied civil engineering at the U.S. Military Academy, and prior to joining Mary Kay, Inc., in 1996, he worked for seven years at Baxter Healthcare. “Most of my friends are either from the military or West Point,” he says. “One of the hardest phone calls I ever made was when I called these guys to tell them I was working at a cosmetics company. After we talked a while, I’d add, ‘Yeah, it’s the one with the pink Cadillacs.’ I took some ribbing for a while.”⁵⁹

His macho friends have since been convinced that he made the right move. “I’ve told them about the company’s culture, and they’re big Mary Kay fans now. Every single one of them,” he adds with a chuckle. He goes on:

“I came to Mary Kay six weeks before Mary Kay had her stroke, so I never had an opportunity to meet her. But I do know her through all the people I’ve met who were close to her. I feel as though I know her well because the company has maintained her principles and values and the way she did things. Sure, there have been changes around here, but those principles and values have never changed.”⁶⁰

Today, Overcash spends a good percentage of his time in the field with members of the sales force, especially the national sales directors. He explains:

“I talk to at least one if not several a day. I’ll pop in on their sales conferences, of course always invited. Every year I attend six to eight of their retreats, and pretty much anything a national asks me to do, I will try. I almost never say no. They know the sales world far better than I will ever know it. I understand the operations behind the scene. This is why I refer to our relationship with the sales organization as a partnership. We’ve got to stay in tune, and we’ve got to be doing things that support their efforts in the field. Concurrently, as the world changes, we’ve got to be willing to change and help them change as well.

“In the military, officers understand how you need to establish a level of morale based on trust. We must build a relationship with our unit, platoon, and company. It’s the same in business. Strong relationships are also built on trust.”⁶¹

There’s a story about Overcash that has spread throughout the sales force, and it’s one that would have made Mary Kay proud. After a regional conference in St. Louis, when it came time to head back home to Dallas, the weather had caused long flight delays. There were hundreds of Mary Kay salespeople who were also stranded at the airport. Overcash, who has accumulated hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer miles, could have spent the time comfortably in the club lounge. But he didn’t. Instead, he mingled with the sales force in the terminal. For two straight hours, they drilled him with questions and suggestions. He took notes. “How can we do it better?” he asked them. He later commented, “It was the best two-hour flight delay I ever had.” One sales director later said, “It reminded me of what Mary Kay would have done.”⁶²

Each April, an Inner Circle meeting is held in Dallas. The top nationals are invited. In 2009, to be included in this elite group, a national had to earn $325,000 during the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2008. At this meeting, these women meet with the top executives of the company. Prior to the meeting, the nationals are urged to submit any ideas and suggestions they want to discuss. They let management know what they are thinking, and it’s a two-way street. Management lets them know what it is thinking as well.

Sherry Giancristoforo explains:

“We have a national sales director feedback system that encourages us to email the company’s top executives anytime about anything. And they read every email we send in. In addition, any national can pick up the phone anytime, and chances are she’ll get through to any executive, or at the very least, her call will be returned. But the Inner Circle meeting is a particularly good place to discuss something new—a product, a program, a new idea. Management knows that it must get the support of the Inner Circle nationals so that in turn, we will take it to the field.”⁶³

Barbara Sunden, of Old Tappan, New Jersey, started her Mary Kay business in 1972. Today, she is the number-one national sales director and has been a member of Mary Kay’s exclusive Inner Circle a record twenty times and a top-ten national nationwide sixteen times. She has developed and promoted eight other national sales directors. Sunden estimates that she has more than 15,000 people selling Mary Kay products in seven countries (the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Brazil, and South Korea). She holds many sales records that include having commissions in excess of $140,000 in a single month and annual commissions in excess of $1,047,000. Her career commissions are in excess of $11 million.

Sunden explains:

“When I started my business, it was just for fun. I loved the product and enjoyed conducting skin-care classes, but I quit three months later when my son was born. At the time, I looked at it as a job selling skin-care products. I didn’t really know much about the company mission. My experience reminds me of a story about two railroad workers who were having lunch on a bench. The company president walked by and greeted one of the men, and after a brief chat, he left. Afterward, the other worker asked his friend, ‘How is it that you and the president are such good buddies?’

“The man answered, ‘We both came to work for the railroad at the same time and worked side by side doing manual labor.’

“‘But he’s the president and you’re still a laborer.’

“‘Yes, I know,’ the man answered. ‘You see, I came to work to earn $1.40 an hour, and he came to work to build a railroad.’

“I first came to Mary Kay to sell cosmetics, and only later did I learn about the opportunities that the company offered women. Then I learned about Mary Kay’s principles and values, and that’s when I realized what was available to me. Once I knew there was so much more to this business than conducting skin-care classes, I became focused on the big picture.”⁶⁴

Richard Rogers couldn’t agree more with Sunden. As he puts it, “When we first started this business, we didn’t have a mission statement. We had goals. But now our mission statement says that we provide opportunity for women around the world. Back then we said that Mary Kay’s mission was to enrich women’s lives, but as you can see, it’s the same thing. For years I’ve been saying that we happen to be in the cosmetics business. That’s the product. But that’s not the business we’re in. Our business is to provide opportunity to women throughout the world. I think everyone in this company knows this. It’s part of the culture.”⁶⁵

“By then, I knew the sales force well,” Holl explains.

“I had attended many career conferences and leadership conferences, had conversations with nearly all of the nationals, and worked with them at Seminar. Of course, at Seminar, all of the management team gets involved. No matter who you are, you’re in the backstage area helping out. When there is something going on, whoever is closest to it is the person who handles it. A perk is when one of our top sales force comes onstage and, as one of the men on the team, you get to escort her onto the stage and down the steps. It’s also another way of getting better acquainted with our top field people. And although I’m certainly not Mary Kay or Richard, I make a lot of speeches at Seminar and other conferences. After I was named CEO, Richard made certain to appear onstage with me, and sometimes Ryan was there, too, with me in the middle. This sent a message to the field: ‘Okay, this guy is the CEO, but we are still a family business. ’ Sandwiched between the two Rogerses, I wasn’t shy about telling the audience, ‘The company is going in this direction, and we’ll get there with Richard’s help.’ I’d sometimes add, ‘Someday it’s going to be Ryan up here, not necessarily me.’”⁶⁶

Holl often points out that because the company is family owned, its management thinks long term. He points out:

“We don’t have to meet quarterly forecasts to satisfy Wall Street. Instead of thinking just three months or a year out, we think of where we’d like to be five and ten years from now. I remember someone asking Richard after his mother passed away if he planned to sell the company. He said, ‘No, and it wouldn’t matter what anybody would offer me; the company is not for sale. This is a family company.’”⁶⁷

In his role as executive chairman, Richard doesn’t come to the office on a daily basis. He says, “I might not be there every day, but I never take my eye off the company. I read all the financial statements, including the monthly and quarterly reviews. I love reading the minutes of every quarterly review when management from across the world come in to make their reports. I enjoy hearing what they have to say. While I rarely attend Seminar, you will find me at annual budget meetings.”⁶⁸

The only family member active in the company today is Ryan, who has made a big hit with both corporate employees and the sales force. Ryan has fond memories of his grandmother, as the following story illustrates:

“When I was a small boy, every time I’d see my grandmother, she’d ask me, ‘How are you?’ and like all her grandchildren I was expected to respond, ‘Great!’ When all my cousins, my brother and sister, and I would visit her, before we could play, it was a ritual for us to stand in line and be greeted by Grandmother, one at a time. As the youngest, I was usually the last in line, and it seemed like forever before it was my turn. She’d ask each of us personal questions about school, soccer, whatever we were into. She knew what was going on in our lives, and she spent so much time being attentive to each and every one of us.

“Finally, when it was my turn, she’d start the conversation by asking, ‘How are you, Ryan?’ I’d answer, ‘Fine.’ And she would correct me by saying, ‘No you’re not. You are great. And don’t you forget it, Ryan.’ Having gone through this routine so many times, we all knew to say, ‘Great,’ but I didn’t like to play by the rules. When I was older, I wised up, and when she’d ask how I was, I’d say, ‘Oh, I am wonderful, thank you.’ Or, ‘I’m terrific,’ or ‘I’m doing splendid.’ But I wouldn’t say great. Grandmother would give me a look as if I had done something wrong, but she couldn’t help giving me a little smile and then a wink to let me know she was on to me It was kind of a game we played, and I could tell she enjoyed it.”⁶⁹

In 1984, when Ryan was seven years old, Mary Kay’s second book, Mary Kay on People Management, was published. Mary Kay gave him a copy with the inscription: “To Ryan: Learn all of this to use when you are President of Mary Kay Cosmetics!! Love, Grandmother.” Ryan says that the book is his prized possession and that he keeps it in a safe. For the 2008 rerelease of this book, now titled The Mary Kay Way, Ryan wrote the foreword, and he discusses how Mary Kay’s business philosophies continue to guide the company.

Barbara Sunden agrees that the company still operates on Mary Kay’s principles; in fact, she’s had firsthand experience with that for thirty-two years. She explains:

“Shortly after I became a national, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our doctors in New Jersey were not optimistic. When I told Mary Kay about my mother’s diagnosis, she insisted that I bring her to Dallas to be treated by her personal physician. My mother and I flew to Dallas, and after examining her, the doctor had her admitted to his cancer clinic. As a result of this treatment, I am convinced my mother lived an extra three years. I couldn’t get over how Mary Kay took such a personal interest in my mother. On several occasions she visited my mother, and I find this mind-boggling. It would have been one thing had I been the one in the hospital, but this was my mother, who was one person removed from Mary Kay. Now, have you ever heard of the CEO of a company going over to the hospital to check on someone’s mother? Later on, Mary Kay’s assistant picked my mother up in Mary Kay’s personal pink Cadillac and took her to the office building for a tour. Afterward my mother visited with Mary Kay in her office. I couldn’t believe how my mother’s spirits were lifted from all the VIP treatment. It was better than any medicine! When you talk about a family business, I think this epitomizes what Mary Kay created. Her actions went far beyond business. She instilled these values in all of the nationals, and today we treat our people the same way. We learned from her that everyone is important and deserving.”⁷⁰

Sunden explains that what Mary Kay taught the nationals is now being passed along to others.

“Mary Kay was so good about calling people on both happy and sad occasions, whether it was to express her condolences when a loved one passed away, to wish a speedy recovery to a sick person, or to congratulate someone for anything from a big anniversary to a wedding. We all got enough of those calls and knew how meaningful they were that we became conditioned to do the same with our extended family. Today the company sends out a monthly update to all the nationals to let us know who needs a word of encouragement for whatever reason. And, just like Mary Kay did, we send out a note.”

Executives at the company do likewise.

Richard always joked that his mother saved everything, refusing to discard old possessions. “Someday, we’ll have a use for all these,” she’d tell him. Perhaps she was thinking ahead, because today, many of those very items are on display in the museum, including the original skin-care products. Also on display are some of the prizes and awards from the past and present, including the first diamond ring presented at Seminar awards night in 1968 and twelve diamond bumblebee pins like those awarded to top sales force achievers and patterned after the original bumblebee that Mary Kay personally wore. The museum also exhibits gowns worn by Mary Kay at Seminars. And it has a collection of the suits that directors wore over the years. Because a new director suit was designed each year, viewers are enthralled to see the fashion changes over the decades.

Jennifer Cook, who formerly was Mary Kay’s personal assistant, is now the Mary Kay Museum curator. During a tour of the museum, she says with a smile, “Look at that pink hard hat. The construction workers wore them when the building was under construction.” She points to a photograph and adds, “That’s a bulldozer that was painted pink when the Atlanta distribution center was being built.”

The museum is open to the public, and during Seminar, when up to 50,000 members of the sales force come to Dallas, it is perhaps the most visited place in the entire state of Texas. Just walking through the lobby is a treat. There is a dining room with thick, three-story-high columns designed to replicate giant lipstick tubes. Photographs and paintings of Mary Kay adorn the walls in the hallways. There is a photo of Mary Kay with Ronald Reagan and another with her longtime friend, Norman Vincent Peale. You’ll even see the sheet music for Paul Anka’s “My Way,” which became Frank Sinatra’s signature song. The words “my way” in the song have been changed to “Mary Kay’s way.”

On exhibit in the Keepers of the Dream Gallery is a large crystal sculpture that resembles a pink eternal flame. It rests on a polished faceted full-lead crystal base. The sculpture was inspired by Mary Kay’s priorities of God first, family second, and career third. The base is permanently attached to the flame, creating a single sculpture. The eternal flame serves as a reminder of how Mary Kay often talked about the women she groomed to be role models for her dream company and how the torch would be passed on to them. She said that they were destined to be keepers of the flame.

Nearby, another wing off the lobby houses a hall of honor with portraits of the national sales directors from throughout the world. In the same area is the milestone wall, which displays interesting photos of the sales force’s “firsts” including Helen McVoy and Dalene White, the first two national sales directors, who both debuted in 1971; Ruell Cone, who debuted in 1976 as the first African American national sales director; Shirley Hutton, who became the first member of the Million Dollar Circle of Achievement in 1980; Maria Alvarez, who became the first Hispanic national sales director in 1991; Shirley Hutton and Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, who became the first mother-daughter national sales directors; Dacia Wiegandt, who in 2005, at age twenty-six, became the youngest national sales director; and Anne Newbury, who in 2006 became the first national sales director to earn $1 million in commissions in one year.

In another area of the museum, there is a theater where visitors can select and view continually playing videos that reveal the life and times of Mary Kay. The museum is filled with honors accorded Mary Kay during her lifetime, including the Horatio Alger Distinguished American Citizen Award. Even after her death, Mary Kay was named the Greatest Female Entrepreneur in American History by a Baylor University academic study published in 2003, and in 2004, the Wharton School and PBS named Mary Kay to its list of the twenty-five most influential business leaders of modern times.

“The sales force loves walking through the museum,” says David Holl. “It is a little piece of their home. It’s our history.”

Certainly, the museum, books, and video tapes are valuable tools that contribute to reinforcing the company culture. But the scores of endearing stories that are told and retold also reveal the character and personality of Mary Kay. Oftentimes, the stories are about little things this remarkable woman did—incidents that perhaps evoked a slight smile or a chuckle, acts and gestures that nobody thought would ever be remembered, let alone repeated years later. These are being passed down as an oral history that today defines Mary Kay, the woman. For instance, they still tell the story about how Mary Kay once walked into the office of Michael Lunceford, senior vice president of government relations. It was during the noon hour, and Lunceford was having a quick lunch at his desk. He was enjoying a hamburger from Whataburger, a local favorite fast-food restaurant in Dallas. Although there was no conversation about the meal, many times afterward, Mary Kay would cut out a Whataburger coupon from the newspaper and drop it off at Lunceford’s office. Another time, she noticed an employee who had brown-bagged his lunch but had fast-food ketchup packets on his desk. “It’s my favorite ketchup,” he explained somewhat sheepishly, “and I can’t get it anywhere else.” Evidently, Mary Kay enjoyed a good hamburger, too, because afterward, she would periodically stop by his office to drop off more packets of that same ketchup.

Rhonda Shasteen has her own favorite personal story. She was the emcee at a career conference in Orlando with 4,000 people in attendance. She explains:

“Every year, there would be a contest to determine which conference Mary Kay would attend, and it wasn’t until the last minute that I found out it would be this one. Now, I had done these conferences for ten years, so it wasn’t any big deal for me to do one. But now, all of a sudden knowing Mary Kay would be there, it became a big deal. I felt a bit nervous. The convention center had filled up, the music was playing, and the consultants are standing and starting to wave their pompoms. My adrenaline was starting to pump because I was getting ready to go to the podium to kick off the meeting. At this point, nobody else knew Mary Kay would be there, and I was getting ready to introduce her. Mary Kay was behind the curtain in a portable office that had been prepared for her.

“I started to visualize in my mind how it was going to go—greeting everybody and then surprising them by welcoming Mary Kay. I was really starting to get butterflies, and I started to think, ‘What if I trip on my way up the stairs? What if I mess up the introduction?’ I wanted it to be perfect. I started to pace back and forth, and I got a tap on my shoulder. It was Nancy Thomason, a bodyguard who traveled with Mary Kay. Nancy said to me, ‘Rhonda, Mary Kay wants to see you, right now.’

“‘What have I done wrong?’ I thought to myself. ‘I hope I didn’t say anything to someone in the sales force that upset her and she told Mary Kay. If so, I’m in trouble.’

“I followed Nancy to where Mary Kay was. She was dressed beautifully in a business suit and sitting on a small loveseat. She had her shoes kicked off, but this wasn’t unusual. In her office, she nearly always kicked off her shoes under her desk. I nervously approached her and timidly asked, ‘Yes, Mary Kay, can I help you?’ My voice cracked, and she could see that I was shaking. She looked up at me with a big grin on her face.

“‘Rhonda, hon, my right eyelash has come unglued. Do you think you could glue it back on for me?’ She took out her makeup bag and handed me a little tube of eyelash glue. She gave me a wig pin that she used to put the glue on the strip of the eyelash.

“I was very much relieved that’s all she wanted to see me for. In retrospect, I knew that Mary Kay put her eyelashes on every day. She would have had no problem gluing that eyelash on herself. But because she knew I was a little uptight, by letting me know that she needed me, she totally diffused all of my nervousness. That’s how well she understood people.”⁷¹

Although the customs, politics, and lifestyles vary in the thirty-seven markets where Mary Kay products are sold, the one thing that remains constant is the company culture. It has universal appeal to women around the world. The Mary Kay culture transcends borders and is accepted everywhere because it is so basic. Women in faraway places, from Brazil to Kazakhstan and China to Russia, are inspired by Mary Kay’s words: “God didn’t have time to make a nobody, just a somebody.” Referring to his mother at the 2002 Seminar, Richard Rogers said, “Mary Kay’s true greatness was her ability to inspire, the wisdom to praise people to success, and to literally bring out greatness in everyone.”

Ryan Rogers talks about a sales director he met in Russia.

“She told her ‘I’ story, and it’s one I’ll never forget. She said that her husband had left her, and as a single mother with a small son, being on her own was much more difficult than she had imagined. ‘I thought about suicide,’ she said, ‘thinking my son would be adopted by a family or taken care of by the state, and he’d have better opportunities than what I could give him in this country.’ A day after contemplating suicide, she was introduced to Mary Kay and became a beauty consultant. ‘Mary Kay didn’t just change my life,’ she said, ‘it saved my life.’ Today, she is a top sales director. I asked her how her son was doing, and she told me, ‘Oh, he’s in college in New York City.’”⁷²

“A magazine had a feature article on lipstick in Siberia,” Yvonne Pendleton tells. “It reported how women in some of its harshest climates love Mary Kay lipstick and our moisturizers because they work so well. Our chief scientific officer commented, ‘You know your product is good when women in Siberia can’t live without it.’” Pendleton points out that Mary Kay’s regional teams select what best suits their market from the brand’s global palette.

It is said that the big reason why Mary Kay is so well received globally is in part because the company has good products. The rest of the credit goes to the company culture. Ryan Rogers sums it up perfectly when he says, “Women have an emotional connection with Mary Kay’s story. They strongly resonate with these values. The Golden Rule is something easy for them to understand and to relate to from a business perspective. Women appreciate the whole idea of a balanced life. Here, it’s God first, family second, career third. To an Asian woman, we say faith or spirituality first, family second, and career third. When a company lives this, it’s the company you want to do business with.”