Mary Kay Consultants: Predators in Pink?
On one side you have former and current "Independent Business Consultants" from Mary Kay Cosmetics spilling the beans about how and why "working the business" doesn't work. The blog owner, who remains anonymous, has some amazing sources within the Mary Kay power structure. Some of the contributors have been multi-year award winners for ordering lots of inventory and are passing on all the dirty laundry they have for a public airing. It's an impressive colleciton of dirt.
The other side, the still-beelieving consultants, usually limit themselves to leaving comments insulting the work ethic of the bean-spillers, and saying that all is well in their little part of the Mary Kay empire and the pink Cadillac will be arriving soon. They all use the same vocabulary and phrasing - either it is one very busy woman or they can only think in platitudes.
The Mary Kay power structure - the sales directors and national sales directors - are rushing around in damage-control mode, trying to keep the lid and the blinders on the sales force. They send emails to their underlings, reminding them to avoid mentioning the nasty blog with all the negative thoughts. The CEO sent a fax to the power structure telling them: "Yes, sometimes ignorance is bliss, and this is one of those times." I have never heard a company say "lets keep our sales force blissfully ignorant" before. Occasionally, they send incoherent rants to the directors, about the "PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO KEEP UP A BUNCH OF MESS BECAUSE THEY WERE TO LAZY OR TOO EVIL OR TOO SLICK TO WORK THIS BUSINESS IN AN HONEST MANNER".
(* By a bizarre coincidence, "get out there and work your business" is a phrase a pimp uses to tell his downline to start strollin' and struttin' to attract some "business".)
I'll reveal my sympathies, and say that the national sales directors and directors reminds me of cowboys circling a restless herd, trying to avert a stampede. I understand why. These women lose money every time a consultant calls it quits and ships her inventory back.
How did I find out about this hair-pulling match? I've was stalked warm chatted recently by a Mary Kay lady. It was disturbing. All I wanted to do was pick up a tool at Sears, get a book for a road trip, and get back to gardening. My hair was in a pony tail, my fingernails full of dirt, my levis were clean but ripped, and my t-shirt was a well-worn promo from a local landscaper. And a too-perky, over-dressed woman with troweled-on makeup is pretending that I'm her long lost buddy. I thought maybe I had known her in high school … or college? Did we once work together? She had that generic "realtor" short perky bleached-blonde haircut and enough makeup to conceal any clue about her age.
She had me puzzled until I asked her, "Who the hell are you and why are you trying so hard to talk to me"? She quickly shoved a business card into my hand and asked me if I wanted a makeup class. Me? Want a lesson in troweling pigmented chemicals onto my skin? No thanks!
Well, accosting strangers in shopping malls isn't what I consider a winning sales tactic, especially when the stranger looks like she should be outside waving a leaf blower. But it made me curious enough to check out the company named on the business card - Mary Kay Cosmetics - and guess who ranks tops on Google searches for Mary Kay sales tactics … the blog formerly known as "Mary Kay Sucks".
It's been an educational experience. For starters, I thought that Mary Kay ladies were an extinct species. I remember Mary Kay from the late 60s and early 70s, with the pink Cadillacs and home sales parties, and aggressive recruiting. I thought they vanished sometime during the Reagan era. Wow!!! They are alive and well, with the same rah-rah sorority atmosphere and clique-ish behavior. It's like a collection of over-the-hill prom queens got together and formed a business.
Which side do I believe? The "Kaybots" who say that MK is the road to riches, or at least a profitable career? Or the ones who have gone deeply into debt and psychotherapy because of the pressure from their upline (oops, can't call it an upline) director and national sales director? Too many people are reporting the same bad experiences for it to be a fluke.
Under the pink fluff, the Mary Kay business model is the same old unworkable MLM scam. Just like Amway, the success of the few women at the top of the pyramid comes from the inventory ordered by the losers they recruit into the "business". Mary Kay makes no attempt to limit the number of distributors in a region. To keep the cash flowing, the "Independent Business Consultants" are pressured to keep recruiting to replace the dropouts and increase the number of consultants. It does not matter that almost none of these consultants will ever sell enough product to cover their expenses. Each one will purchase products, and that's where Mary Kay makes money. The unsold inventory sitting in a disillusioned consultant's closet is cash in the bank for the company.
Published by Lazy Gardens
I'm a writer who loves to garden and photograph great plants. I'm also a certified desert landscaper, and like helping people get the most out of their landscape for the least effort. View profile
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35 Comments
Post a CommentLovely article Tracey.
I fell victim to the MK scam a few years ago. It is ridiculous how these women are so fake and in denial... Share the opportunity, my a$$... More like share the DEBT! I had to vent, so i blogged about it. Pretty funny article too:
http://marykayvultures.blogspot.com/
I am finding it rather sad to read this article and these comments.
I have recently joined Mary Kay as a consultant and was recruited by a dear and trustworthy friend of mine who is already becoming quite successful and she only started selling 9 months ago.
As far as I understand it, there are good people and bad people wherever you go & whatever you do and Mary Kay is no different!
If you want to join but don't trust your recruiter or she is too pushy then find another one!
I certainly won't be a pushy consultant/recruiter but the whole point of Mary Kay is to make money WHILE helping other women to feel confident about themselves. You are still a salesperson when all is said and done though!
NOTICE: Comments that contain links to MLM sites will be deleted. This is not where you get to "work your business". Save it for the aisles of Walmart, or the street corners.
Lazy Gardens: when a consultant receives a returned product from their customer all they have to do is fill out a simple form and they receive a new product from the company in less than a week. No shipping or any charge. I'm not sure how much better the company can make that sutuation for everybody? ALso, there is NO reason a consultant should have a "closet full of product." Any recruit can return their products for a 90% return of their money in their first year of business. I can;t imagine any other company offers that. Next time do your research before writing an "article." There are a lot more blogs out there than just pink truth. And lots more happy consultants, too.
The people who complain about Mary Kay, are the jealous ones who never made it. They expected the money to jump on their lap then got mad once it didn't and started to blame the company. Hasn't life taught you that you have to work for your money?
Tara - I can get refunds at Walmart or Macy's, and every seller on eBay will ship product. (check eBay - tens of thousands of MLM products for cheap) The customer may get product, but the consultant often loses money on the sale.
So you are saying, the customer who purchases the cosmetics is getting nothing. If I purchase great skin care or cosmetics....I leave with great skin care and cosmetics. What's more is, if it doesn't work or I don't like the colors, I can exchange or get a refund. Try that at Walmart or Macy's. They will laugh at you, and I doubt they would deliver it to your home!
My Mary Kay story is that I've been robbed and defrauded by a Mary Kay sales person (tall black woman in her mid 30s) from Charlotte, NC area in Fort Mill / Indian Land. She stole my cash and attempted to steal big amounts of money from my credit card. I can only guess what happens to her "face models"...
Only MLMs encourage their sales staff to cut their own profits by recruiting their customer base - and MLMs do this by systematically telling partial truths, concealing the number of competitors (other consultants), and exaggerating the potential income that is possible. In the case of Mary Kay, the bonuses and benefits do not reward real sales: they reward recruiting and getting those recruits to place big orders.