Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Pink Truth: We are afraid of taking risks... That is why Mary Kay scares us

Pink Truth clearly illustrates their inability to grasp the difference between percentages and chances

I would like to point out two things about Tracy's evaluation of Amy, the director that she calls into question in this post.

First, the $130,000 that Tracy calculated does not include personal sales. I am constantly in awe that Pink Truth is so convinced that, literally, no one in Mary Kay sells any product that they never count that toward a directors income. As I understand it, a director (as the example in a unit) is supposed to be the number one consultant in her unit. I am sure that does not always happen, but I know my wife's director has a very nice customer base herself. I won't speculate about how much Amy earns from her personal sales, perhaps someone from Pink Truth would like to come over here and take care of that for us? But suffice to say that $130K is only from her commission(s).

Second, how many companies can Tracy name that have even 63 people making more than $100K? I mean, sure, go ahead and poo-poo "only" 63 people that make more than $100K, but at least give us a small list of other companies that are paying out those kind of commissions on a regular basis.

But outside of that, the truly striking element of this post, to me, is that Pink Truth seems to (and Tracy obviously does, based on her direct comments) believe that just because a relatively small percentage of people accomplish something, your chances must be small.

Based on Pink Truth's mindset, clearly illustrated with this article, you should not aspire to do anything that has odds that are stacked against you.

Forget professional sports. HA!

Don't try to be an executive of anything. Do you know what the percentage is of people that accomplish that? HA!

Don't try to start your own small business. You will be doomed! HA!

For that matter, you probably shouldn't even get married.

I don't often say this, because it really is fairly irrelevant. I personally do not have any desire to sign up to work in an MLM sales type environment. I know that it is not a match for my personality. It does not "work" for me. I would, most likely, not be successful. However, these "odds", the small percentage of people that "make" it, is exactly what would appeal to me. I love a challenge. I want to go through basic training as a Navy SEAL, just because I know how hard it is, and I would love to be one of the few that come out on the other side. The fact that Pink Truth sees this as a downside that would, undoubtedly, cause potential recruits to, "...reac if they were told up front that they had almost no chance of making an executive income in Mary Kay...", seems to be very telling about their character.

Thoughts?

5 comments:

  1. I *know* Amy, and have had incredible personal encouragement from her mom, not merely for my Mary Kay business, but as a writer. I am not in either of their units. Her mom is a former English teacher and was the woman who challenged me to marry my dream of writing and holding down my Mary Kay business - we kind of met by accident after I wrote a piece about her following Career Conference last year. We've become email buddies, of sorts.

    I am, indeed, now doing both: MK and writing.

    So, this particular post at PT really irked me - especially those who were questioning Amy's use of a babysitter and not being there for her children, etc - information that they couldn't possibly know.

    More gossip.

    I am a VERY quarter-time consultant. And no, my 1099 doesn't show my personal sales!!!!!! Come on PT! My personal sales were over $14000 in 2008 . . . I "took home" 40% of that. My commissions were $500. All in all, after working, like 5-10 hours a week, my net ended up being around $5000. But THAT's ME! It's what I wanted when I began. I set out to make an extra 3-400 a month.

    And I did that - even with going to every conference, including Seminar and keeping inventory on my shelf.

    I'm planning a move to a new city. MK is coming with me. And it was Amy's mom, who, once again, served as a great encouragement to me as I move my MK business and my writing business.

    Just my thoughts on the most recent PT post . . . this one got a little personal for me . . . can you tell?

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hm, I dunno...I think most people who make profits in MK are making an "extra" income like I do with my 2 part time jobs. No way could I live on either or both of them, but they help.

    I doubt that "executive" income is likely for most people no matter what job they work. I'll certainly never make such money as a copy editor. In this job, it's pretty much a given that I'll always be on the edge of poverty. I accepted that. However, I manage okay because I 1. have extra jobs and 2. Live with partner and share expenses.

    To make executive income you have to have a really difficult job, such as doctor, or you have to seriously bust your @$$ (though that is no guarantee of payoff) or both. In or out of MK, it's never even crossed my mind as a possibility.

    ReplyDelete
  3. P.S. Dave, you're right. I should never have gotten married. ;)

    Rest assured, I'll never do it again!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So it seems to me that Pink Truth could not disprove this womans claims, but they still had to find something to be critical about.

    So all they could come up with in a nutshell is this: If everyone cant make the six figure income that this woman makes, then no one should ever try. Is that right?

    Even in a 9-5 job, not everyone working at any given company will be making 6 figures or whatever the definiton of executive income is, so according to PT's logic, that means none of us should even try to be employed or take a job or try to get ahead, because there is a slim chance of ever making the type of money that the top people make..is that it?

    Does anyone else see how ridiculous this is! I am trying so hard not to say mean things about everyone over there chimin in on this as if it is some type of nugget of wisdom that Tracy has laid done. Its just crazy!

    The point is that the "potential" is there. She cant deny, no matter how hard she tries that this woman has made this business work. After all the hopla and attempts to tear down what Mary kay is about, Tracy cant deny that this woman has done what PT says cant be done, and many other women have done it do. It does not matter how many others have done it, it just matters that it is being done.

    The next thing she will do is try to say that this woman cheated her way to the top or frontloaded people. But when someone is miserable with themselves they will always try to minimize the success of others.

    Of course not everyone will be able to make it to this level in Mary Kay. In any given endeavor, not everyone will make it to the top. Thats why they call it "the top", only those that endure and perserver will make it there and when they get there the number of people there with them will always be smaller than the numbers on the levels below them.
    Not every athelete will make it to the olympics, not every person in the olympics will win a medal, not everyone that wins a medal will get a gold one..
    but does that mean that the potential isnt there, or that the endeavor is not worthwhile because of the slim chance of making it that far. According to Tracy it is.

    Or maybe her sour attitude only applies to Mary Kay

    But the potential to make it is what makes any given endeavor worthwhile. Its up to each individual to decide if they want to do what is necessary to make it to a certain level.
    I never went into this business thinking that everyone one of us in my unit would be rich, but I am glad for the potential and the choices that being in a business like Mary Kay has given me.
    So what if I never make the sort of money that director made. My director has made me no unrealistic promises. She has only told me to work this busisiness consitantly and I will see results, and she has not been wrong about that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As David pointed out, personal sales are never included in the commission amounts. Many of us do sell lots of product. As for many saying there is no market for MK, I have seen many posts on pt where the posters say that they sold lots of product, one even said she had consistant thousand dollar weeks, but then it is always followed with a but... I still didn't make any money... now, we have posters saying "if" they could sell the product, they WOULD have been able to make money but they couldn't sell product... then we have another bunch saying, oh they could sell lots of product but they couldn't make money.

    So which is it?

    and.. For anyone having $1000 weeks back to back and saying that you couldn't make any money, my suggestion would have been to take a money management course.

    I was watching a clip on tv and it went on to say how at least 40,000 small business go out of business every month. So I guess noone should try to open their own business? As with any venture there are risks - it is up to the individual if they feel the possible benefits are worth the risks.

    ReplyDelete

For Further Reading...

This Week On Pink Truth - Click Here
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First Post - Why I Started This Blog
The Article I Wrote For ScamTypes.com (here) (there)
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