The Mary Kay success story.

Mary Kay Ash has left an indelible mark on American entrepreneurship and in this single feat she has accomplished her life’s vision… to prove that a woman can be just as valuable to business as any man. She is not remembered as one of the most notable female entrepreneurs, but simply as one of the best entrepreneurs.

Many people fail to realize that Mary Kay Ash started her now infamous beauty consultant franchise after she already had decades of experience in direct selling under her belt. She started peddling encyclopedias door to door, moved on to selling home products for a company called Stanley’s Home Products and then left to conquer World Gift Co. At World Gift Co. after a career in direct sales that covered almost three decades, ten of which was spent at that company she managed to get onto the board of directors. However in 1962 she resigned for an early retirement after another one of her male associates was promoted ahead of her to make twice her salary.

Fed up and frustrated she decided to write a book on her experiences with trying to break the glass ceiling. It was in undertaking this project that she realized she had the beginnings of a direct selling company business plan that could be a practical way to help women excel rather than just writing an instructional book.

With the help of her second husband and her adult son, Mary Kay set out to build her company. Armed with $5000 in savings and a business plan she began to put things in place for what would become the multi-billion dollar enterprise that is known around the world today.

She settled on a line of beauty products and bought a recipe from a woman she has supported for some time now. The rest of the money went into setting up to manufacture the first Mary Kay line of beauty products and hiring her initial set of seven beauty consultants. Unexpectedly her husband passed away just before Mary Kay the company was launched but although she was asked to reconsider and she did indeed depend on the support of her husband she was convinced she could do it alone.

Mary Kay Ash took the company from this humble birth and steered it throughout many difficult times. It had a successful public offering launch on the stock market in the last sixties but she withdrew the listing and went back private in the eighties when shareholders questioned the value in rewarding her beauty consultants with pink cars.

Mary Kay is a true entrepreneur. She took adversity and turned it into opportunity and has never looked back, but has always advised others to strive for the best. She will always be remembered and admired for her infectious tenets;