Mary K Ash

Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash was a commendable business leader and opened doors for several women that were previously unheard of. She put the needs of women worldwide at the forefront and built her business around empowering women. Ash experienced the “glass ceiling” firsthand, which prevented women from obtaining top positions in the corporate world that was dominated by men. The response she had to this type of experience was visionary. In the year 1963, 45 year old Mary Kathlyn Wagner known world-wide today simply as “Mary Kay” founded the Mary Kay Cosmetics Incorporated. May Kay Ash lived by the Golden Rule, “do to others as you would have them to do unto you” this was something she incorporated not only in her everyday life but in her business life as well. Mary Kay Ash realized that women were not treated fairly, and decided to take a stand in the most effective way she could think of. Little did she know that, Mary Kay Ash would become one of the world’s largest direct sales companies. Mary Kay Ash built her company around inspiring women to push the boundaries and defeat the odds placed on them by society. A push for broader opportunities for women by Mary Kay Ash was extremely beneficial, because it shed a light on a problem that was previously swept under the rug. Mary Kay Ash’s business philosophy empowered women to succeed.

Mary Kay Ash started her business venture in the 1930s when a door-to-door saleswoman allowed Mary Kay Ash to showcase her ability to sell, by challenging her to sell 10 encyclopedias. Mary Kay Ash did not only accept the challenge, but blew it right out of the water. She ended up selling a total of 10 encyclopedias in just a day and a half, when that amount would typically sell in three months. Mary Kay Ash thought she found her calling, until family members and close friends accused her of selling a product to them that was not useful. This is when her search for a more beneficial product began (Mary Kay Ash). At this point, many entrepreneurs would have given up, yet Mary Kay Ash pushed through the criticism and used it to guide her future business undertakings. Mary Kay Ash demonstrated self-awareness as it relates to the Goleman text. She was able to recognize the emotions of those around her which led May Kay to remain persistent and confident in herself by following her dreams (Goleman 26).

After joining Stanley Home Products and World Gift Company as a direct-sales representative, Mary Kay Ash watched man after man get ahead of her on the business ladder, despite her knowledge of the product and sales. She was constantly told that she was, “thinking like a woman” and ended up quitting, “after a man she had trained was named her supervisor and given twice her salary” (Mary Kay Ash). That was the last straw for Mary Kay Ash and she decided to take an early retirement to concentrate on assisting other women to succeed in the