Reading Reflection

Miracles Happen: Mary Kay Ash

1) What surprised you the most?

• I was most surprised by the amount of struggles Mary Kay had to overcome from such a young age, and throughout young adulthood. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I most admired how relentless she was and how she always fought to be successful, and never let adversity hold her back.  I also admired how she was bold/courageous in standing up for her beliefs and what was right on behalf of herself and other women.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• This is a tough one... I honestly can't answer that.  May Kay was a driven individual who believed in empowering women.  She was one of the first successful women in business and she became a leader and role model, opening doors for other women.  She was motivated, determined, relentless, and cared about people... What is there not to like, really?
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Mary Kay faced adversity from early on.  Her father was diagnosed with tuberculosis when she was 7 years old. At 7, she immediately had to take on responsibilities of a grown woman.  Mary Kay was taking care of her father, cooking, cleaning, and shopping on her own, in addition to going to school.  And, when she was only 17 she married and began having children.  11 years into her marriage her husband left her for another woman.  And, her second husband passed away.  It seems as though regardless of what Mary Kay endured she always continued to move forward.  She didn't let set backs define her, and she continued fighting for her own success.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

 Mary Kay was competent in sales, beginning with encyclopedias, and Stanley home products and ending with make-up.  She was competent at innovating products, business in general, and relating to other people, especially women. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The book discussed her jobs prior to starting her own company, and the transitions between companies, which is where I got somewhat confused.  She worked for Stanley Home Products where she was super successful and was crowned "queen of sales" but then began working for the World Gift Company, where she was also successful and trained other employees.  But at World Gift Company, a man that Mary Kay had trained was placed above her and given double her salary, this being the pivotal moment in her career.  It just confuses me that men were treated superior to women in business, while I know it's fact, I just can't relate to it because of the world we live in today.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

1. What made you keep faith, and continue fighting amidst all the obstacles you had to overcome?

2. What are the 3 most important pieces of advice you would give someone starting their own business?

I would ask these questions because they are relevant to myself.  I often times struggle with staying faithful when faced with adversity.  And I want to own my own business so I know her insight would be helpful to me on my journey.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

In my opinion, Mary Kay didn't view hard work as "hard."  I think she saw opportunities, and decided she would take them regardless of what it required.  I think she just did what she thought was necessary and right at that time.. I don't think she would have necessarily viewed it as "hard work."  

But based on her work ethic, and relentless pursuit of success she would probably say that if you really want something, you have to commit to doing it regardless of the work required; & that success takes time, persistence and consistency, and to never give up.