Over 800,000 Independent Beauty Consultants work for a little company which started from a kitchen table in the home of a retiree by the name of Mary Kay Ash. Knowing the direct sales industry as well as anyone in the business, Mary Kay retired in 1963 from a long career in sales and went home to settle into retirement.
Within a few weeks after retirement, Mary Kay Ash decided that she would put together a book which would be written in such a way to inspire women to take the reins in a male-dominated world of business and push forward to achieve their own dreams. Mary Kay began to construct lists of what her ideas of the perfect company consisted of including things that she had seen during her own lifetime of working for other companies.
After she compiled two lists she realized she possibly had in front of her a marketing guide for a successful company and together with her son, Richard Rogers, Mary Kay Cosmetics was born. The birth of Mary Kay Cosmetics was conceived in a matter of a few short weeks yet no one, not even Mary Kay, could imagine what kind of world wide fame the company would achieve.
Mary Kay Cosmetics rapidly found a place within the direct sales market and Mary Kay Ash guided her employees and independent contractors to take up the Golden Rule philosophy while maintaining priorities within their own lives. According to Mary Kay, a very wise business woman, priorities should be in the order of God first, family second, and career third.
Mary Kay’s philosophy for life and business certainly inspired women to work for her company. In fact, because of the philosophies for which Mary Kay Cosmetics were founded, Fortune Magazine named Mary Kay Cosmetics as one of the top 10 best companies for women to consider when searching for careers.
Mary Kay Ash, along with Mary Kay Cosmetics and Richard Rogers, supported cancer research through The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation which began in 1996. Later in 2000, Mary Kay became active in supporting the prevention among violence against women. Her ambitions to support women were surpassed only by her willingness to enable women to work in pleasant working environments while staying home to raise their children and take care of their families. Her charitable contributions, while geared originally toward research, took another approach when she chose to take a stand in helping battered women.
Wealth and prosperity were not owned by Mary Kay Ash when she retired. In fact, her company was built on $5,000.00 in life savings and those savings were her retirement savings. The company achieved over one billion dollars in sales in 1996 and is still growing strong long after the beloved Mary Kay Ash passed away. Upon her death, Mary Kay left over 15 million dollars to the foundation which she started. She will be remembered for her generosity, determination and her willingness to help women succeed in all aspects of their lives.
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