Husband Supports Mary Kay Wife

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Oh gosh…hope you didn’t get soaked for thousands of dollars of inventory. 99% of women in MK fail. I hope your wife gets out before you lose too much money!

http://www.thepinkingshears.org

Shame on you Angie! We are here to support all women in everything they do! I have been a MaryKay consultant for 9 years and I love it! The women that you meet in this business are outstanding. It gives you goals and motivation to achive great things in every area of your life. I work construction during the summer. As a matter of fact I work for a sewer company. I do my business more in the winter when I’m laid off. And I’m the cutest sewer rat out there! Thank God for my MK!

I too was supportive of my wife in the beginning. Over time, she lived, breathed and spoke only MK stuff. She was slowly brainwashed into what I now know as a Kaybot. If your wife has lots of inventory, keep your eyes OPEN! Her Director would be one which promotes inventory loading of product that will almost certainly never be sold. It happens all of the time to women.

Mk cannot possibly be such a great opportunity, do the math. Half of the U.S. population is 149,000,000 and that would represent ALL females, 1 day to 100years old. MK states that they have 700,000 U.S. Consultants or 213 females of all ages per consultant. An MK related websit pegs markethshare at %8 for cosmetics and %9 for skin care. %9 of 213 equals 19 potential customers per consultant. That is a dismal figure. That is the extent of the opportunity. Why do you think MK tracks wholesale activity rather than actual retail sales? If they tracked both, everyone interested in becoming an IBC would realize the lack of potential for making any money. FTC regulations require disclosure of earnings potential and all MK Directors keep saying it is limitless. It depends how much one is willing to work their business. With 19 potential customers, it makes no difference how hard one is willing to work their business. There is an inadequate number of potential customers to make it a viable business opportunity. My wife has squandered nearly $100,000 on the great opportunity in a few short years. That is mind boggling to me.

If you ever decide to question your wifes activities, be careful how you question her. I was supportive too and it became difficult to not ask questions when thousands worth of inventory kept accumulating and a tiny percentage was being sold on a monthly basis.

Be alarmed if your wife mentions that you need to be more supportive of her. Also be alarmed if she wants to participate in any self-esteem workshops. Those are ways that Directors separate her from you and they can have greater access to whatever assets she may have at her disposal. Once that is accomplished they will (guess what) prompt her to buy more inventory that will sit on her shelves and collect dust. My Atty. had my wifes wholesale value of MK products at $19,000 at separation. My divorce will be final next week and it had been quite an ordeal. MK is an MLM and I believe a product based pyramid scheme.

Marykaybites,

It sounds like she or you didn’t know how to run a business. Also, sounds like she (you) didn’t have a plan.

Another Supportive Hubby

We had agreed that MK would be her venture. When I had become concerned and tried to address the issue with her, I was informed it was her business and none of mine. Just keep your eyes open. Beyond friends, family and maybe acquaintances from work, there doesn’t appear to be much of a consistent market. As for the Ex’s business experience. She was in project management for a large Corporation. She managed millions and brought projects in under budget. Real smart gal. There is a lot of mental manipulation in MK. You will see.

MKBites: Just because your wife made bad business decisions, that doesn’t mean that Mary Kay is a bad opportunity. I first became a consultant 12 years ago and had earned my first pink Cadillac and over $70,000 a year income in a little over a year. I am now qualifying for my fifth car and enjoying a great income. It’s a fantastic company, and the women I have been coached and mentored by are some of the most honest, positive, motivational and truly nice women I have ever known. Is it possible that your wife’s unhappiness in her marriage to you caused her to make decisions that she normally would never have made, in an attempt to move forward in her life and away from you? The kinds of things you described defy logic, and I don’t know any women in Mary Kay who behave as you described.

Being a good Project Manager does not guarantee a person will be good in sales. They are different skill sets. Of course, either skill set can be learned and refined. I hear of a lot of directors who push inventory for their own benefit. I have heard of just as many who do not do that, and operate their MK business with integrity. In the end it is your own business, not the business of your upline, and you must manage it as any other retail business. Stock what is moving, not everything the wholesaler is offering. The flaw in the math above is that you are looking at current marketshare and assuming that will always remain the same. In any business, market share grows (or shrinks) and the reach of any single outlet of an industry does not necessarily follow the average. I agree Mary Kay is an MLM: People sell product and recruit new people into the organization. I disagree about it being a pyramid. In a pyramid you buy exclusively from your upline, in MK you buy wholesale from the company, and there is nothing that your upline can do to force you to order if it does not fit your own business plan.

Sadly a lot of people are misinformed about Mary Kay. I have been a consultant for 7.5 years and I did not start with inventory, although I would have had it been a possibility in my situation. I had to work my way up and now I have invested a decent amount in my business and know that my many customers will be properly serviced. Sounds like the disgruntled former MK hubbie did not have the kind of relationship that my husband and I have. There are not any events to which I would exclude my husband but he would rather sit them out. He has been to several and was just as relieved as I was when he was laid off and we had to struggle through unemployment… Mary Kay saved our house and I will forever be grateful. It was, of course, my efforts as well. I would be wary of people pushing you to do something you do not want to but would be aware that experience will dictate the advice they give. I would highly recommend inventory to someone who wanted to work this as a business. It makes sense…I do not shop at grocery stores that do not stock food, and I would rarely shop from any direct seller who does not stop what I need. It is good business sense. I make decent money, I get to stay home with my kids, and my clientelle love me… BECAUSE I carry inventory and service them according to their needs just as I care for my team members… or anyone else’s who need a hand. It kinda peeves me when I hear people spew all this stuff from ignorance. Do not talk until you have really tried it yourself. Do you really think the majority of women who “do not make it” do so because it is not a viable product or marketing plan? No, they fail because they do not create a plan, strategy, schedule, whatever. They fail because they do not want to work. It takes EFFORT. It is not a freebie, but it is very lucrative if, let me say that again, IF!!! you work. Oh no, do not say the “W” word, I thought it was a free ride! There is no free ride, but work hard enough in Mary Kay and you can coast at the end and enjoy the momentum you built as you grew your business. Don’t like Mary Kay or the marketing plan? Fine, but don’t knock it just because it is not for you. My husband does not like broccoli, even though it is high in nutrients and tasty to many people… so he does not eat it often. Not your cup ‘o tea? Well, I do not care for wrestling. Personal choice… but if you like it more power to you.

I will tell you this, nobody believes I am in my thirties because the product works. A gal asked me the other day if it was easy to sell. She was doing an appt for me to put her in my portfolio as a model. I told her to wait and see. As we finished I asked her if she had the money what would she buy. She said everything and decided to start her own business with Mary Kay. I do not sell, I service. I do not recruit, I share what I do. Get technical and yes I do these things but my heart is to help and that makes the difference. Nobody tells me to order inventory. My director asked me if I was selling enough to support my orders and I was. She wanted to be sure I was not buying to buy but to restock.

Be smart about what you do and you will be fine. I love what the company offers and I love how I can make my family the priority. I love how I can decide when to become a sales director based on my efforts and within the next couple weeks we will be a new unit. We will be able to help so many more women.

Okay, so that is more than my two cents, but I get tired of disgruntled whiners who really have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to real, professional and highly skilled consultants who are helping people.

I’ve been in Mary Kay for 21 years and am so grateful for this opportunity. Was it always easy, no. It usually not easy to build a successful business. It takes time and effort.

When consultants get their priorites out of order it’s not Mary Kay Inc. fault. It’s up to each consultant how much or how little they work.

Of course most of us have heard of women in Mary Kay who aren’t conducting their business in an ethical way. Does that make everyone in Mary Kay unethical? Of course not.

The sad thing about it is that there are so many wonderful people in Mary Kay that you don’t hear about. Women that have really made a positive difference in others lives. Women who really operate their business on the “Golden Rule”. I love that part of the business.

A MK Husbands perspective

First, I’d like to say I appreciate this site because you allow all opinions - both good and not so good and I have learned much from it.

I have been married for over a quarter century to a beautiful, talented woman, the woman of my dreams who started her MK business over a decade ago.
I was all for it because she liked it and with small children at home it seemed perfect. As she got more and more involved it became more and more important to her. Then one night in tears my wife told me her Director let her use (the director’s) credit cards to buy inventory which we now had to pay off monthly but our income was not enough to pay these and household bills.
I wrote a letter to the Director and said it wasn’t right for her to not ask me first and made a deal with her to take the amount owed to the cards in inventory from my wife - which she did.

My wife did not want to give up the dream and so she kept at it year after year - running up inventory purchases and business expenses on her own credit cards - which we refinanced our house to pay off (along with other bills, debts and college tuition - to be fair) We have now done this three times. Our mortgage payment has gone from under $800.00 a month to almost double that and is interest only! Which of course puts a lot more stress on us.

Only at present after all these years are we seeing any real income from her MK business with the real potential (I see growth and am encouraged in how she runs her business now and I still believe in her abilities) to be a very good income. The loyalty and honor I have to my wife is forever. The love we have together and the wonderful children she has given me and us have eternal value. But this too came with great cost and MK has been one of those costs to be sure. All in all it has been worth it. I owe her my support - even in Mary Kay.

So, I continue to help in her dream to do this business the right way and learn from the mistakes we made and the ones she has seen others make.
I believe this is the bottom line and again that is why I appreciate this site, because it tells the whole story - even the things many won’t talk about. There will always be good or bad business persons (Consultants / Directors) in any company and business. My wife is choosing to be a good and ethical Director and I am seeing she is making a difference for good!

What I have learned…
#1 Sleep on any decision to become a consultant and purchase inventory - and then only with your husband’s blessing and support.
#2 Don’t buy inventory on your credit cards or anyone’s else’s. Try not to use household income unless your family can afford to give it as a gift.
#3 You don’t “win” the car, you “earn” it. (Even Corporate stresses this)

#4 Keep track of how much time (Remember time is money too) you spend per day on your MK business - Does your family really come before your business?
#5 (This is a big one - especially to husbands) Keep track of how much your business costs - all costs, taxes etc. - then how much profit you actually make.
#6 Reward yourself - go to Seminar and Quarterly retreats but only by using the MK profits you earned and that your family / household can afford to spend. In other words, your business pays for it, not credit cards or household income. Earn the right to go.
#7(This one may be the most important of all) Sell product - try to have fun - but make your business successful - more by selling the good product that it is - than by recruiting! I would say recruit someone only if they are begging you to start and then tell them how much work and sacrifice it takes to make money - just like a real business! And direct sales is a tough business.

Then, after a reasonable amount of time (only you and your family can determine this) ask yourself, is it worth it? Is the money really there to justify the time and sacrifice? Am I and my family happy? Of course these are questions any new business venture should ask - and all small business are a lot of hard work and sacrifice! The Mary Kay opportunity is by no means easy! Go into this business with your eyes and ears open and hopefully you will not make the same mistakes we and others did. Like any business you only get out what you put into it and it can be very rewarding!