Thanks... But No Thanks

Dear Mary Kay,

Is the "Mary Kay Dream" truly what it claims to be?  Some would say yes:  Sell makeup.  Get free products.  Earn "free" cars.  Run, essentially, your own business, making your own hours and getting together with women frequently to "learn new strategies" to sell.  All women love to gossip, right?

I don't want to offend you.  I am just venting a little, so please allow me the room.  I will say that, for a lot of people, your program works.  I am actually amazed at these women who work their tooshie off and get their (pink) cadillac.  I have relatives and friends who have done this... and only one has successfully stuck to it.  Kudos to her.

I can't say I don't love your products.  But one of my problems with this business is that it's all or nothing. You will get nothing if you do nothing.  And, as such, the more you do, the more you get from it.  Each time I get suckered (excuse the expression) into going to one of your "meetings"  in a bit of a dingy room in a warehouse-type building, I feel pressured as I sit there, feeling I must come up with as many names as I can of as many friends as I have so I can get something "free" from your "magic" makeup kits... just to get my friends dragged into the same "opportunity" I am now sitting through.

I will say this, however: your ladies do a dang good job. I can say that when I have the lucky chance to attend one of these meetings, I feel like I could do it.  I could sell this stuff.  I could throw parties and make them seem fabulous... pedicures, facials, and my favorite, "microdermabrasion."  (What is that, anyway?)  They make it seem so glamorous and easy. But, most experiences, that I have seen, don't end well.  I have even heard that you give others a hard time when they stop selling, calling them names or telling them they are quitters.  Come on. That's not very nice.

The point I'm trying to make is... I know that your program can be a good thing. But for us, on the non-sales end, it can be exhausting. Please, stop trying to get us any more involved than we want to be.  We will contact you, and we will buy your products, when we want them.  Let us make the decision for ourselves if we choose to follow the "Mary Kay Dream."  We will start returning your phone calls as soon as you stop making them so often.

I have agreed to let one of your ladies come to my home tonight to share her products with myself and a few friends.  Please don't be pushy.  Please just let us relax and enjoy ourselves... that is, after all, what the American woman really needs, despite the advice to join your team.  We work hard already and we don't need anything else on our table.

Thank you for your time.