Mary kathlyn wagner biography definition
After all, no other entity in the world would understand that Mother's dream ministers to the welfare of humankind Ash Ash was widely respected, if not always understood, for her unconventional approach to business. She considered the Golden Rule the founding principle of Mary Kay Cosmetics, and the company's marketing plan was designed to allow women to advance by helping others to succeed.
Known as the "Go-Give Spirit," this is a spirit of sharing and caring for the other person and is the first and most important of the three ideas that are the philosophical foundation for the company Ash An example of the Golden Rule in action in the Mary Kay company is is the "adoptee" program, whereby sales directors "adopt" those new salespeople recruited by other Mary Kay directors.
There are no territories in the Mary Kay company. Thus, one Mary Kay sales director may be visiting a friend in Pittsburgh and recruit a new person there. On returning home, say to Chicagothey continue to receive commission on all sales made by their new recruit, but it is the Pittsburgh sales director who educates them, invites them to local meetings, and works with them to nurture their success.
Mary kathlyn wagner biography definition: The story of her life,
The Pittsburgh director receives no financial reward for this, but the program works because they know that if they recruit someone in another region they will be taken care of by that local sales director Ash Ash's slogan "God first, family second, career third" is the second cornerstone of the philosophy. This expresses Ash's insistence that women keep their lives in balance and maintain these priorities as they strive for success.
It reflects her strong Christian faith and her belief that God was using her and working with her in this company. She valued family highly, noting that in another company a man who took time off work to be with his wife as she gave birth to their child could be fired for forgetting to call his work to explain his absence. In her company, however, such an employee would be highly valued for keeping their priorities clear:.
As I've said, when you put God first, family second, and our career third, everything seems to work. Out of that order, nothing much seems to work Ash The third cornerstone is the belief "in the beautiful potential inside each and every human being" Ash Ash wanted people, especially women, to feel good about themselves so that they could achieve their potential.
She advocated "praising people to success" believing that everyone can be successful and do great things:. Every one of us is important and necessary to God's plan. If someone else will just believe in you—you will be able to do great things. I know this because someone once believed in me Ash She also believed that women would work hardest for recognition, competing against themselves not against each other—regarding that as destructive competition.
Mary kathlyn wagner biography definition: Brief Life History of Mary Kathlyn.
Thus, she designed rewards that are not limited to a single "winner" or first, second, and third places, but to everyone who achieves a specified goal. These rewards are not just pretty symbols of success, but have value as well: Automobilesjewelrydiamondsvacations, and so on. For several years, fur coats were offered as rewards; this ended in The most famous reward is the "Career Car"—notably the pink Cadillac.
Ash purchased the first car in It was repainted on site, by the dealership owner, to match her Mountain Laurel Blush Clanton It was such a good rolling advertisement that she decided to reward her top five producers by providing them with a pink Cadillac paid for by the company. Sincethe shade used by the Mary Kay fleet has been exclusive to Mary Kay.
The exact shade of pink has changed over the years. For example, inthe color was changed to "pearlized pink. She believed in the golden rule "treat others as you want to be treated," and operated by the motto: God first, family second and career third. Ash wanted everyone in the organization to have the opportunity to benefit from their successes.
Sales representatives — Ash called them consultants — bought the products from May Kay at wholesale prices and then sold them at retail price to their customers. They could also earn commissions from new consultants that they had recruited. All of her marketing skills and people savvy helped make Mary Kay Cosmetics a very lucrative business.
The company went public inbut it was bought back by Ash and her family in when the stock price took a hit. At the heart of this profitable organization was Ash's enthusiastic personality. She was known for her love of the color pink and it could be found everywhere, from the product packaging to the Cadillacs she gave away to top-earning consultants each year.
She seemed to sincerely value her consultants, and once said "People are a company's greatest asset. Her approach to business attracted a lot of interest. She was admired for her strategies and the results they achieved. While she stepped down from her position as CEO of the company inAsh remained an active part of the business. Retrieved February 6, June 14, Retrieved February 21, American Academy of Achievement.
Times June 27, Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 30, Washington Post. Napa Valley Register. November 25, October 14, Retrieved May 18, The Advocate. Retrieved June 18, Further reading [ edit ]. Primary sources [ edit ]. Texas Women's Hall of Fame. Lucy G. Rodriguez Annette Strauss. These feminists shunned standard conventions of feminine beauty in favor of clean faces, shorter or looser hairstyles, and more masculine clothes, such as pants and simple shirts.
The opposing views about the "correct" look for women still continue. However, the debate opened the door for women to decide on a look that suited them. By the end of the s, standards of female beauty had become very diverse and based on individual preference. It was as acceptable for women to wear heavy makeup, frilly clothes, and carefully styled hair, as it was for them to wear no makeup, jeans, and a T-shirt.
In addition, fashion designers introduced unisex styles that could be worn by men or women, a trend that continued into the early s. As more and more job opportunities opened to women during the s and s, sales of Mary Kay leveled off. The family succeeded in transforming the company into an international empire. Ash was succeeded by her son in but remained active in the company until her death on November 22, ByMary Kay Cosmetics had more than one million consultants selling more than two hundred different products in thirty countries around the world.
Ash told Sales and Marketing Management in that "the biggest legacy we are going to leave … is a whole community of children who believe that they can do anything in this world because they watched their mamas do it. Ash, Mary Kay. Mary Kay. New York : Harper and Row, ; revised, Lutz, Norma Jean. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House, Lopez, Kathryn Jean.
Mary Kay Inc. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.
With innovative sales techniques and programs aimed at boosting the self-esteem of her employees, Mary Kay Ash has built the largest direct-sales cosmetic empire in the United States. As a child, Mary Kay was forced to be self-reliant. Her father was ill with tuberculosis, and her mother worked hour days managing a restaurant. Ash did the housework, cooked meals, and cared for her father.
She gives much of the credit for her later success to her mother, who constantly encouraged her. Ash was an honor student with a keen competitive streak. One of her favorite hobbies was extemporaneous speaking, which she enjoyed doing competitively. She placed second in a statewide speech contest mary kathlyn wagner biography definition still in junior high and was an honor member of her high school's debate team.
She completed high school in just three years, but her family could not afford to send her to college. Instead, she married J. Ben Rogers when she was 17 years old, and they had three children. The marriage failed after her husband, who had been drafted by the military, returned from fighting in World War II and announced he wanted a divorce.
At 27, Ash enrolled in undergraduate courses at the University of Houston, intending to become a mary kathlyn wagner biography definition. The emotional turmoil surrounding her divorce, combined with her other duties of homemaking and child-care, prompted her to quit college and concentrate on a career in sales. Ash remarried inbut her second husband died suddenly of a heart attack three years later, just as she was preparing to launch her new business.
Shortly afterward she met her third husband, Melville Jerome Ash, whom she married in Although Ash took this husband's surname, she was already widely known as Mary Kay by In Mary Kay began work as a salesperson for Stanley Home Products, which sold household products at "parties" hosted by a housewife and attended by women friends and neighbors. Her sales were remarkable, and in she was lured away to become national sales director for World Gifts, another direct sales company.
In little more than a decade she extended World Gifts distribution into 43 states and earned a seat on the company's board of directors. In Mary Kay sustained a devastating blow. After less than a year at work, a male assistant, whom she had trained in everything she knew about selling and training others, was promoted above her at twice her salary.
In response to this incident, she quit. At the age of 48, a veteran of both direct sales and the corporate boardroom, Ash felt challenged to offer energetic women business opportunities they might not find elsewhere.
Mary kathlyn wagner biography definition: Mary Kay Ash (born Mary
She soon came up with a blueprint for a workable direct-sales company. What she needed was a product, something that could be used up and reordered again and again. She furnished a modest storefront in Dallas and set up a small manufacturing plant. Ash's first employees were her second husband, a chemist, and nine of her friends. Tragically, her husband died of a heart attack just a month before the business was to open, but she still launched Beauty by Mary Kay on September 13, Mary Kay Cosmetics offered its stock for sale to the public in and the company's greatest period of growth after its formative years came in the s and early s, when stock prices rose by an astonishing percent.
The stock bottomed out at nine dollars a share. In part, the crisis was a result of the improving economy. Women traditionally quit their jobs or found steadier employment rather than continuing to work in direct sales, according to Texas Monthly. The company's growth was stagnant. A new group of younger executives, brought in to handle the day-to-day operations, quickly updated the company's image.
The rather bland line of cosmetics was revamped and pretty young models were pictured in the product catalogs. The executives also boosted the commissions paid out to consultants to persuade younger women to leave their high-rise offices and join Mary Kay. Ash was succeeded by her son Richard inbut remains active in the business.
The company also claims responsibility for creating more than 75 millionaires, calculated by the number of women who have earned more than a million dollars in commissions over the course of their careers. From its base in Dallas, Mary Kay Cosmetics has grown into an international empire, with consultants throughout Canada, Europe, and even the former Soviet Union.
The company's success rests nearly as much on Mary Kay's dynamic personality and personal sales ability as it does on the quality of the merchandise. From the outset, Ash's company was different. Her salespeople were called "consultants. Ash managed company affairs, particularly the important task of motivating and rewarding her consultants. Perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of Mary Kay Cosmetics is the enthusiasm of its sales force.
This infectious fervor for both product and company philosophy is largely the result of Ash's personal style. She showers top performers with lavish gifts and public praise. Every year the company awards trademark pink Cadillacs, diamond jewelry, and five-star vacations to deserving employees. The affection of her work force was once the subject of amusement in the business world, but now other companies study her program of self-esteem boosts and generous incentives.
Ash has been credited with offering a business run by women to benefit women. Remembering the promotion she lost to a man 30 years earlier, Ash told Texas Monthly, "Those men didn't believe a woman had brain matter at all. I learned back then that as long as men didn't believe women could do anything, women were never going to have a chance.
Colwell, Shelley M. Current Biography Yearbook. New York : H. Wilson Co. Fitzpatrick, Doreen D. Hollandsworth, Skip.
Mary kathlyn wagner biography definition: Mary Kathlyn Wagner was
Neely, Jamie Tobias. Steffy, Loren. Terry, Dian. Two years after she was born, her father developed tuberculosis, and the family moved to Houston's disadvantaged Sixth Ward. Her mother had to support the family while Ash took care of her father, an experience she later credited with giving her self-assurance. Her mother kept encouraging her, saying, "You can do it!
Although Ash had been an outstanding student, who in had graduated at the head of her class at Reagan High School in Houston and aspired to become a doctor, lack of family funds made college impossible. She married Ben Rogers, an aspiring musician and gas station attendant, right out of school in In at age seventeen, Ash gave birth to a daughter, and later had two sons.