Video: How divorce helped a single mother become the most influential businesswoman of the 20th century: Mary Kay Ash
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Nowadays, her name is known all over the world thanks to the cosmetic empire that she founded. But few know that Mary Kay Ash decided to start her own business only at the age of 45, having behind her only a bitter experience of resentment and disappointment. After the divorce from her husband, the mother of three children had to start from scratch, without any help or support, but her business was so successful that in 2000 Mary Kay Ash was named the most outstanding businesswoman of the 20th century.
Mary Kathleen Wagner was the fourth child of a poor American family. Her father was sick with tuberculosis, spent 4 years in the hospital and could not support his family - this responsibility fell on the shoulders of the mother. As a qualified nurse, she was forced to work as a manager in a restaurant, where she disappeared from morning to night. At that time, the eldest daughters were already living separately, and Mary had to take care of her sick father and household from early childhood. Later, she admitted that she was actually deprived of childhood, but thanks to these difficulties she learned to take responsibility and make independent decisions.
At 17, Mary married a gas station worker, and the couple had three children. They lived in very cramped material conditions, the husband was not ready to take care of his large family, and Mary had to look for part-time jobs. She went from house to house offering children psychology manuals to neighbors, and advertised household items at parties in private homes. Due to the fact that she constantly carried weights and was on her feet all day, she developed rheumatoid arthritis in her youth. However, there was no one else to count on - at the beginning of World War II, her husband went to the front.
Having accumulated enough funds, at the age of 28, Mary entered the University of Houston. When her husband returned from the front, he announced that he had met another woman and offered to divorce. Then it seemed to her that she found herself in a completely hopeless situation, and later Mary Kay said: "".
The only thing left for her was to go headlong into work, but even then she faced difficulties: she was praised for her professional achievements, but at the same time only men received promotions - this was due to the fact that they needed to provide for their family. After Mary moved to Dallas and got a job with another company, she was able to increase turnover by 50% and become a director of human resources training, but the position for which she applied was again taken by a man, her former apprentice. Having lost hope of achieving success in this area, she quit.
Mary decided to write a book about her work experience and tell about her own vision of the company, where women would be able to achieve no less success than men. As the work on the book was nearing completion, Mary realized that before her was a ready-made business project that could be put into practice. At 45, a single mother decided on a desperate step - to start her own company almost from scratch. She risked investing all her savings in a new business - she began to produce a cream for softening the skin of her hands and other cosmetics.
Mary married a second time 2 months before opening her own company. Her chosen one, chemist George Arthur Hallenbeck, agreed to take over the finance of the new business, and Mary was going to start selling cosmetics. And then misfortune happened again: a month after the wedding, the husband died of a heart attack.
This happened on the eve of the opening of her first cosmetics store, which could no longer be delayed. Mary again took over everything, and her 20-year-old son Richard became her main assistant. After 8 months they were joined by their youngest son Ben, and even later - by their daughter Marilyn Reed. Probably, no one believed in the success of their family business except themselves. All experts predicted failure of their business. In the first Mary Kay cosmetics store, there were 9 sellers who offer visitors only 5 types of products, and she herself not only sold the goods, but even took out the trash.
Within one year of its existence, the company became profitable, and after 10 years it turned into a real brand, a multi-million dollar corporation, which was spoken of as a phenomenon in the world of business. Dozens of women, and later hundreds of women, who had previously been subjected to gender discrimination at work, aspired to work there. Mary Kay gave them the opportunity to receive decent material rewards for their work. She regularly held seminars for her sales representatives and systematically rewarded the highest performing employees for their success. The rewards were very generous - cars, travel abroad, diamond bumblebee pins. The example of the leaders was a good incentive for the rest of the staff. The good-natured relationship in the team has significantly increased productivity.
In her third marriage, Mary Kay finally found personal happiness. Melville Jerome Ash remained by her side for 14 years, until the last days of his life. In 1981, the founder of the cosmetics empire wrote an autobiographical book that has sold over 1 million copies. Later, she released several more books, where she shared her own experience of founding the brand, and for many of her followers, they became desktop.
She passed away at the age of 83, in 2001. By that time, her fortune was estimated at $ 98 million, and her name became a global brand. Her company history has become one of the 20 best-known examples of business development published in Forbes magazine. In 2000, Mary Kay Ash was named the most prominent and influential businesswoman of the 20th century, and in 2015, Mrs. Ash's family was included in the ranking of the richest families in the United States.
The story of her life still inspires many, and her books have long been sold to quotes that motivate them to action: "".
Today she is called one of the 10 most entrepreneurial women in the world who have achieved success on their own.
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