A story about how much money you can potentially lose in Mary Kay.
and
An accusatory evaluation of a Mary Kay Event.
Click on the picture to see full size. Tonight I will focus on the latter.
I have been to many seminars and events in many different settings. It is almost always a given that the event organizer is going to make some money (often very good money). This particular event, and many like it, does not seem overpriced for what you are getting in exchange. For instance, Sean Key, the Vice President of Sales Development for all of Mary Kay is a very charismatic individual that is both entertaining and motivational. I am not sure what kind of price tag a guy like that fetches for a speaking engagement, but he is certainly a value add.
So we come to it. A sales representative for Mary Kay reaches a significant milestone in her career. National Sales Director takes a lot of hard work and focused determination. She naturally sets up an event to celebrate this accomplishment with all the people that helped her get there. Instead of just getting these people together for snacks and punch, she decides to bring some folks to the event that will help train, inform, and motivate the guests that she has invited.
All of this takes a lot of effort and costs a lot of money. Most event coordinators that I have talked to expect to make between $20k and $50k for a single event. That is the coordinator, not the person financing the event. Now this particular event may be considerably smaller than the ones my friends have put together but nonetheless, if she made money in the process of helping other women get excited about their careers, what is wrong with that?
Regarding the math on this post. (again, click the picture below to see it full size, or click here)
Lets just use the 500 people scenario. At full price -$110.00 you have $55,000! I know, I know that is a big number! How could a person take ALL THAT MONEY and not be an evil monster? Lets look at some of the expenses that are going to eat up that money. I will try to stay low on my estimates here to add to the possibility of lending credence to this MASSIVE rip off that Pink Truth is decrying.
$55,000 Income
- $2,000 Meeting space ($1,000/day)
- $20,000 Food – ($10/person/meal) 500 people, 2 meals (dinner/luncheon) – $10,000 if we assume meals are $5/person –unlikely
- $3,000 Guest Speakers – This is assuming that you can get these guys to come speak at an event for $1,000 dollars. That barely covers airfare, hotel and food so they would basically be doing this as a favor for this debuting NSD (if that is the case)
- $4,000 Labor – Assuming that all the processing of paperwork, mailings, phone work, reservations, set up of sound systems, worship team, coordinating guest speakers, and everything else is this “cheap”
Grand Total for Event - $29,000 leaving $26,000 dollars for this NSD who probably put enough effort into this to earn that figure.
More likely, the numbers will be something like
- $5,000 Meeting space
- $30,000 Food
- $9,000 Guest Speakers
- $6,000 Labor
Leaving $5,000 for the new NSD who has probably invested a considerable amount of her personal time in this project.
Which number is accurate? I can’t say, but what I can say is that:
It probably wasn’t quite the “pretty nice paycheck when all is said and done” picture that Tracy painted for this post.
Even if she did MAKE $50,ooo by putting this together, there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe you should put together an event like this. Its done all the time. They are called SEMINARS. Some can cost upwards of $1,200 per person – and they don’t feed you at those!
Some comments:
steph53282 said:
It's $110 plus lodging? Seriously? You are paying for one dinner and one lunch...that's it. I am appalled. Another $129 for lodging. You are paying for her to have a party about herself. She needs to pay for everything. Guests will be free I'm sure. Plus her directors will have to get her a gift, that is so expensive. How much does it cost for NSD's and special guests to come to a debut and speak. Doesn't GMB and PS always do debuts?
This is the epitome of lame, whiny, excuse making crybabies that inspired me to create this site…. “she needs to pay for everything”???? What kind of twisted attitude is that? Someone goes out of her way to include you in an event that could help you improve yourself, enjoy yourself, and have fun with others, and you say “she needs to pay for everything”????? This makes me sick!!! She achieved something that you didn’t, so SHE should PAY for YOU???? Outrageous!! This should be a time of celebration and anticipation of growth. Pony Up. If you don’t have the dough, stay home. No one is saying you have to go! For that matter, this wasn’t even sent to you. It was designed for someone else. You are appalled? I am appalled!!!!
Theory said:
1)…”Employees are reimbursed in full for all food, and pay for their lodging on an agency credit card for work travel. 100% free for them.”
2)…. “The bottom line is, no legitimate company would dare to charge employees for work related travel, food or lodging.”
3) …. “Thank God my sister in law is out of this cult and awaiting her refund. MKC in no way even resembles a real business!”
EMPLOYEES are reimbursed… First of all your talking about employees being REQUIRED to go to an event. OF COURSE they don’t pay a dime. Welcome to corporate America. They also tend to zone out during these meetings, whine about how annoying it is to have to be there, etc. This is an event that you are being INVITED to. You can choose to come… or NOT. It has the POTENTIAL to help you learn and become a better salesperson. YOU are NOT an EMPLOYEE. You are an INDEPENDENT contractor. If you want to make the most of your new career, go learn what has made other people successful. Guess what, it is going to COST you something. No one is going to hand it to you for free. Get over it
“no legitimate company” – where do you get off saying something like this. First off, the legitimacy of a company is based on it having something we call legal recognition… “In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit.” It has nothing to do with their business plan. Mary Kay would not be in operation if they were not a legitimate company. The government will make sure of that. The inc. after their name is usually a pretty good “tell” on something like this. You MIGHT question their strategy, or their business model on this point, and say, “no company that wants to SURVIVE would dare…” but with 44 years or so behind them, I am not sure that you have any traction there either. Oh, and there you go using that EMPLOYEE word again. You are not an EMPLOYEE. This is your business. ACT like it!
“Thank God my sister in law is out of this CULT”?????? This is a popular term with the Pink Truth Gang. I will get into this more later when I have more time to really get into it, probably devote a section to explaining what a cult is and how to recognize one. Suffice to say, just because you don’t like the fact that other women are having fun, making money and meeting new people, does not mean that you get to call them a CULT. Mary Kay is not a cult. Is Mary Kay a cult? I’ll say it again. Mary Kay is not a cult
sayitaintso said:
She is probably having to pay back all what she spent on becoming a national. Think about how much money she put in personally to "make it happen" to "find a way make a way". I bet she has massive bills she needs to pay.
Really? Sayitaintso, Really? So YOU let yourself get sucked into a spending spree thinking that you could BUY your way to where this girl and others are. And because YOU did it, that must be how EVERYONE does it? And you DARE suggest that the ones that made it were simply MORE cunning and conniving than you. Sorry to pick on you exclusively, but I see this attitude all the time on Pink Truth. (in snide voice I am sure) “I bet she has massive bills she needs to pay” WHAT!!!???!?!?! You really think that someone can finance themselves to this level of sales!!!!!????? That there is no way that she EARNED this by helping one consultant at a time? Open your eyes people. She started out where EVERYONE starts. She sold. She recruited. She was good at it and I am sure that she had to learn a lot to get really good at it. Now she has what you couldn’t get so you take pot-shots at her from the side-lines? That’s ridiculous.
This and many of the events offered in Mary Kay may or may not be right for you. If you are a consultant and have opportunities like this, think about it. Go if you can. It can help you. If you let it. If you can’t go, don’t. Don’t think that going into debt for something is a good plan. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses. Always seek the wisdom of the people around you.
Don’t let people tell you what to believe. Not Mary Kay people, not Pink truth people. Think for yourself and make your own decisions. Mary Kay CAN be a really good thing. I have seen it first hand myself.
If you are wondering why I am so harsh on these Pink Truth folks, click here.
Thanks everyone.
i am very close to the Meixsell family and know personally that the money the hotel required them to spend on food highly exceeded both estimates and she actually spent money out of her pocket to host this even, rather than making any. She's a remarkably amazing lady with a heart of gold. If haters could open their heart to family, friends and god maybe they could learn some of the go-give spirit that Donna has.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by an letting us know that.
I suspected as much. I don't know much, but I do know that events can be very expensive.
Often, if you are attending a big event and the admission fee is "reasonable", it is because the event organizers had some "sponsor" dollars, or some other way to keep costs down.
It has been a while since I wrote this post, but just talking about it again gets me all worked up... I am not sure if you saw my comments on the recent criticism levied against MK for their charity... but nothing gets me more "fired up" than ungrateful people pointing their fingers in pure ignorance.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by and especially thank you for that inside information and vote of confidence in Donna's character.
I hope (and am quite confident) that she has learned to ignore these ignorant blasts and continues helping those she helps!
I had not seen this article before today.
ReplyDeleteAs some of you know, I work closely with my director who is also my NSD. I worked very hard for and with her on her National debut. Let me tell you, nothing is cheap about doing one of those! I was in charge of the money and I know how much was charged for people to attend two days and one night of training by many Nationals who came to not only pay tribute to the new national, but also to train those of us in her area (and other areas too--it was open to all). Dave, you did not include decorations, teacher gifts, name tags, programs--gosh I can't even remember everything now (it's been several years ago) but just as I saw money coming in, I saw it going right back out. These things are not cheap to produce.
In return, however, the consultants who attended came away with a wealth of knowledge that is not offered to us very often. Imagine having training by ten nationals at one sitting. Amazing. We had someone from corporate attend as well. I have gone on to do very well in my business and a lot of it is attributable to what I learned those two days.
Can I put a price tag on that? Maybe if I tried very hard, but truthfully, I don't think I can. And the friendships made during the prep and during the event itself is priceless.
You are SO right about this. If corporate American presented something like this and forced employees to go, it would not be appreciated. Because we choose to go, much more is gained.
I don't know Donna Meixsell but I have heard her speak. She seems like the real deal to me.
ONCE AGAIN, PTer's have no grip on reality or business practices.
ReplyDeleteThere are reasons why EMPLOYERS pay for the expenses of training for their employees.
First, this extra training is for the employees to perform better and, in turn, make the employer more money. Period. They often get very specific training that is designed specifically for that company. It is mandatory, because the employer will only benefit if all of the employees (or all of the managers, depending on the type of training) go. This does not make the employer evil. It is just a standard business practice.
AND, unless they work on commission, the employee sees no entra income for the extra money he brings to his employer, either.
An event like this is different. You do not go so you can make more money for your boss - you go to build your OWN business and enrich your OWN life.
Robert Kiyosaki (author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad, books) says that the difference between the wealthy and those who are not is that the wealthy INVEST in seminars (emphasis mine), while the middle class take college classes. You can learn more in a weekend seminar than taking a class for a semester. Mr. Kiyosaki and his wife attend several seminars each year. (And this is a man who is already wealthy.)
A weekend event with Mr. Kiyosaki is $5000+. Meals are not included, nor is lodging.
I am sure that there are PTer's who will be appalled at that kind of money being charged for a weekend. "Shame on Mr. Kiyosaki," they may say. I don't think he'll lose sleep over that. ROTFL
As far as the Meixsell event:
For a hobby MK rep, it would probably not be a smart idea to go to an event like this.
To someone who wants to build a larger business, then it will be of benefit.
JMHO
Wow, Wow. I thought this was just going to be a page where I could print off a copy of the Meixsell Debut flyer for keepsake........... and looky, looky. Another group of sad people that spend their time doing the devils work. Tearing down someone that spends their life building others up. I know for a FACT that Donna spent a TON,... let me say that again- a TON of her own money on this event. And you see that flyer? That's called an "Invitation" just incase you didn't get that. Not a court ordered appearance. Everyone that CHOSE to pay the registration did just that. Others kept their wimpy little butts at home. Let's be real- Those of us who are making the money don't get on here and complain about a $110 registration fee, because we're actually spending our time working... WOW, what a concept. Thanks David for being ALL facts. You did a good job. We just have to stop giving negative people a place to throw up on our Mary Kay world.
ReplyDelete