Laura B’s Story

I’ve used MK color products off and on over the years. I have a very fond memory of my first skin care class back in 1990 LOL. I was married to a soldier stationed at Ft. Polk, LA, and my upstairs neighbor was a consultant. She also waitressed at a posh restaurant near Alexandria. She’d head off to unit meeting once a week, but never ‘shared’ the opportunity with me. She facialed another friend and me, I still remember the green mask. Somewhere out there in the big blue world, there are photos of me from that class…

I had attended a unit meeting and guest event about a decade ago with my hair stylist. I had fun, but wasn’t interested in the opportunity. I was a newly single mother of three kids under the age of seven and afraid of my own shadow. Literally. I used to be afraid to pump my own gas and go inside to pay for it!

Anyway, I live in an area where there are many new houses being built. When we moved into our new home in January 2002, the houses were all moderately sized. Now, we have McMansions going in. (I’d like to know where the people who are building these monstrosities work!) Anyway, I met a woman at church who had built her home with her husband. She seemed really nice, a little heavily made up for my taste, but nice. A couple months later, she got up in our women’s meeting in church and announced that her husband had walked out on her unexpectedly about two weeks after they moved in to their dream home. I felt bad for her because I knew what she was going through having been walked out on myself (although NOT unexpectedly). That summer, my next-door neighbor “M” told me that the woman “K” was selling Mary Kay. I remember thinking “oh, no.” I also remember commenting that you could always tell a MK lady because they were so heavily made up. (GAG) She laughed because it was so true! I then deliberately avoided “K” because I had no interest in it; well, no money, actually… Later on that summer, “M” told me “K” had earned her “free car”. I remember thinking “cool for her.” “M” then scheduled a play date at the park and invited “K” along with us. I was a little stressed because I didn’t want to be put in a position to not be helpful to the single mother of a two year old.

So we go to the park. “K” hardly says a word. In fact, she comes across as shy and quiet. Not a mention was made of her being in MK. I thought that maybe it would be okay to befriend her. How bad is that? I’m so terrible!

Fast forward to the fall of 2003. “K” calls and asks me if I could be a model for her. I thought that would be cool, to be a model. It didn’t sound very threatening to me. I’d be “just a model,” nothing else required. My first suspicion was raised when she told me she did it EVERY Thursday and Saturday. I ended up having to postpone it until the day before my birthday that November, so I guessed it was a good thing…

At the time, we were really struggling with making ends meet every month. We had cancelled our newspaper subscription (oh the torture!) and cut down to the bare minimum of cable. My hubby had brought up the idea of canceling my cell phone but I didn’t like that idea and told him no but thanks… Imagine my surprise the evening before my birthday when I attempted to make a call on my cell and found out it had been disconnected without my knowledge. Then, when I talked to my nsdh (at the time), he didn’t understand why I was so hurt he did it without talking to me about it first.

I was ripe for the plucking.

I got to the training center at the end of unit meetings and realized that it was a glorified skin care class. I felt a little let down, but hey, I agreed to “help.” I was constantly behind everyone else because I was taking my time, making sure everything was right. “K” noticed it and kept a running commentary about how well I was doing. Buttering me up. I was sitting at a table with “K”, her sister (a consultant who has since quit selling), and her sister’s guest.

The director that did the marketing part was amazing (at first). She looked beautiful, even though she carried quite a few extra pounds, which you really didn’t notice. Maybe it was the suit? She played the tickets for questions game and my mind started churning. I started asking tons of questions, right and left. Every answer I got made sense, although, there was one that kind of bothered me. I can’t remember the exact question, but her answer was that it was a win-win situation—for “K”. She didn’t mention that it was win-win for ME. I should’ve picked up on that. (After all those questions I asked, I didn’t even win a prize!)

I was angry at my nsdh and decided that I would/could do this. I signed up that night. I wanted to make enough money to be able to afford a cell phone in MY name. Not to mention a year’s supply of food storage and my own money in my own account (I used to work, but have been at home for the last four years). I also fell for the recognition and girlfriend time. I don’t have many friends. I’m too shy or uncomfortable to make friends, I guess. It’s been that way my whole life. Alternatively, when I DO make friends, they usually move away or end up being two-faced, or both. I didn’t have any sisters growing up and my only daughter is living with her dad’s family while I’m surrounded by testosterone. Girlfriend time and having instant friends were definite selling points. Not to mention the prizes and recognition. I told “K” that I wouldn’t be able to do it without her and she would LITERALLY have to hold my hand. She promised she would…

I went home and told my husband what I did. He thought it was a GREAT idea. He even went with me to new consultant training the next week. I was worried about inventory, what could I do? I had to declare bankruptcy a decade ago thanks to my nsdxh and didn’t have good credit. I can’t believe how much hubby supported me, agreeing to apply for a loan so I could get inventory! Maybe it was the guilt about my cell phone and birthday. We walked into my bank and sat down with one of the officers. Half way through the process, we found out that not only was she a consultant, but “K” recruited her! That couldn’t be coincidence, now could it? I took it as a sign that I was doing the right thing!

So I spent much of the two weeks between “signing up” and my first unit meeting researching UnitNet websites. I’ve just remembered only recently that I didn’t actually sign up, my recruiter and her director did it online without my participation or knowing about it until after the fact. (They also placed my initial inventory saying that since I didn’t know what sold, I didn’t need to be a part of it because THEY knew better.) Anyway, I probably printed a ream’s worth of paper on all sorts of information. How I wish I had been smart enough to search for groups on Yahoo. I’ve been a member of Snoopy and “JAG” groups since 1998 so I can’t believe I didn’t think of it until the past few months… Anyway, I found the idea of a debut pretty interesting. It made perfect sense, give me a chance to reach potential customers while my recruiter did the class so I could see how it worked first hand. I asked “K” about it and her comment was that since HER recruiter/director pushed the Power/Perfect Start and didn’t do debuts, then SHE wasn’t going to waste her time in doing it. Never mind the fact that she was currently in DIQ.

Did I ever get any help or handholding from her after she and the SD ordered my Sapphire Star level inventory? What do y’all think???

The first month of unit meetings, I was constantly being recognized. I felt so guilty because the only thing I did was place an $1,800 order. I earned my gold moneybag and two or three charms. I really wanted the charm bracelet (thirteen consecutive attendances at unit meeting) but had to miss two or three in February due to a hysterectomy. I think I held a class & a facial before the surgery and grossed over $400 for the one. I think the facial grossed over $100; she’s still my customer. Since I was flat on my back for several weeks, I kind of lost momentum. During that time, my recruiter reached director status. I was still waiting for her to hold my hand and to guide me. Uh, I guess you can say I’m STILL waiting.

I made lists, I talked to people. Pretty much everyone I talked to had a consultant—“K” or a family member. That was one of the questions I had way back at my first event: how could I be a success with “K” living a stone’s throw away and our attending the same church (no, changing churches isn’t an option)? Never mind the fact that a lady three houses away from me was a Mary Kay consultant. “K” told me that “no”s were good things. My first “NO” was actually my very own mom. I didn’t force her and about three months after the first discussion, she called wanting the Moisturizer! My sisters-in-law weren’t interested; one was a die-hard Clinique user, the other scares me. They’re on my PCP list, haven’t ordered a thing, although my mom did buy the one sister in law the Satin Hands set because she’s a PA and tried them at a skin care class (they live in Idaho).

I learned right away to never say
anything negative
so I never told anyone
how I hated it.

I attended unit meetings faithfully. I think in the 16 months I did attend unit meetings, I only missed 4-6 meetings: two for the hysterectomy, one for ankle surgery, one for a vacation, one for my son’s last t-ball game. I signed in to Unit Net EVERY DAY for months. I did everything I was supposed to do except for call people. It was/is a phobia. “K” would vary between making fun of my phobia at unit meeting and being nice about it.“ Other people can do it, Laura. So can you.” I tried to make her understand but she wouldn’t listen. She’d tell me it was just an excuse. I had a website for the first year. I got ONE order and that was from my mom because I asked her to use it to see if it was working.

I did PCP every quarter, at least 30 each time. My best friend (who has since moved home to Hawaii) and one or two other acquaintances would order every so often. I think they were more pity orders than anything. My best friend held TWO skin care classes for me. One was a men's class with her hubby, my hubby, and another man. One person showed to her other class and couldn't stay. Although she did order sun screen. My friend has been really good to me when it comes to ordering... She ordered a bunch at both classes.

I can’t believe I left out my first Career Conference! It REALLY scared me. I think Tammy Crayk had just started NIQ and it appeared to be a major pep rally for her area. All these women had pom-poms and would shake them and yell every time there was music. Ewww. I am not cheerleader material and it seemed to be so cultish. “Mary Kay this” and “Mary Kay that”. It was loud and extremely uncomfortable. Of course, I learned right away to never say anything negative so I never told anyone how I hated it. Other consultants just GUSHED about how wonderful it was. I remember thinking “ARE YOU NUTS?” The consultants seemed like fairly normal people otherwise, so I thought maybe it was just me. I got to cross the stage as part of a Cadillac unit, since “K”’s unit was just brand new and ‘we’ were part of the senior director’s unit when she made Cadillac. Since she made caddy unit before I even signed up, I felt weird getting the recognition for something I had nothing to do with.

I just kind of tagged along with everyone from the two units, feeling a little left out. I figured, though, that I was just over reacting. After all, it was “prime girlfriend time.” I needed to stop being so sensitive, or so I told myself.

My previously mentioned best friend was a customer of “K” before I signed up. She decided that since we were close, she’d use me as a consultant instead of “K.” “Besides,” she said, “she doesn’t even know how to spell my name!” I felt terrible because I thought I was poaching a customer from “K” and that wasn’t in the ‘go-give spirit.’ I told “K” at Career Conference that my friend had decided to use me as her consultant and how horrible I felt. Boy, did “K” lay on the guilt trip, I was nearly in tears me being as sensitive as I am. Then a few weeks later, as I was doing more research, I discovered that the standard procedure for a recruit is that if a recruiter services any of the recruits friends/family, then she (the recruiter) willingly gives the new recruit those customers so that she would have an immediate customer base to start her new business, thereby giving at least this new recruit some much needed self confidence. Hello!!! Had “K” done that, not only would I have NOT felt guilty, but there are other people I’ve been closer to than “K” that according to what I read should have been my customers!

Another thing I have had major issues with are the terms “pampered” and “facial.” How is what is being done at a skin care class “pampering”? How am I “giving” someone a facial? I understand that the class is a teaching class and that it’s not hands on, but pampering? Puh-leeze!!!

I spent nearly six years as a secretary/administrative assistant at Utah State University and loved what I did. In a different life, I’d be chasing tornadoes or studying Hawaii's volcanoes. But I’m where I am. I love doing computer work like the newsletter I briefly did for “K”. I wish there was something I could do like that at home that didn’t involve selling myself… I’m currently looking for work outside the home along those lines now that my youngest has started kindergarten. Unfortunately, the right job hasn’t shown up yet. <sigh>

When I originally wrote my Pink Eye Story, I was on T-? status, but before they removed my information, thanks to someone here, I was able to check my order history. Although I had about $2000 wholesale, my past year’s orders were worth only about $457. I think I’ve mentioned it already. $600 worth of foundation? I’m deeply embarrassed. Especially since my dh (now) believed in me and took out a loan for my inventory. AND, I spent all my 2003 Christmas money on inventory just to make consistency club. I don’t feel like I let my director down. I feel like I let my mom and husband down. Not to mention the fact that I failed AGAIN. I knew I’m not an aggressive individual (unless it involves Snoopy). I knew I’m shy until I know someone well enough or am hiding behind a computer screen. I knew that I couldn’t rationalize all the questionable things away. It’s just NOT ME.

I’m not sure it’s worth it to send it back. I do have customers that order from me and are willing to wait or group their orders together. I’m certainly NOT going to be ordering anything that I won’t use or has been prepaid! Of course I’m going the way of the sell at my cost plus shipping, etc... route.

I’m not as afraid as my own shadow as I was a decade ago, but asking people to buy something from me is extremely difficult. I should’ve known back then that it wasn’t in my personality makeup to sell makeup. If I could just ‘teach’ the classes (no scheduling, no chasing leads), I’d probably be a success. I definitely enjoyed the few I taught.

I have been searching for my purpose in life and actually thought Mary Kay was it. Not a ministry, but a way to be able to help other women feel good about themselves. My favorite skin care class was a year ago in June. It was actually my last one… My sister in law invited two of her divorced friends over (who couldn’t afford to buy anything) and they were literally transformed with their makeovers. I felt so good after that class, even though I didn’t make a dime.

When I first signed my agreement, a woman at my husband’s work told him it was more of a cult. Sadly, I didn’t believe her. Well, I do now. I don’t love the product anymore, but I do like many of the things. I just can’t justify the methods. I’m not even sure anymore that I want to be a personal-use consultant and service the few friends and family I have, placing orders perhaps once a quarter. We shall see…

If you’re still reading, thanks for the support and letting me vent. I really appreciate this group. You’re all the best!