Think pink, the Mary Kay way
March 22, 2006 | 12:00am
Beauty begets beauty. I realized this at the Mary Kay center in Hangzhou, China. The famed explorer Marco Polo once described the province of Hangzhou as "the most beautiful place on earth," even going so far as to call it "paradise on earth." It’s a statement that Chairman Mao Tse Tung, when he was still alive, affirmed by visiting the province in China’s southeastern region 43 times – a number Hangzhou tour guides seem to relish revealing.
Hangzhou, with its picturesque landscape, lush greenery, and serene West Lake, which has become the province’s primary attraction, is indeed beautiful even on a cold, foggy day, which is how I experienced it. Even in four-inch stiletto boots, which is how I walked it.
I didn’t come to Hangzhou to appreciate its striking foliage or its rich cultural heritage, though. I came to witness how this beauty makes possible more beauty. In recent years, while retaining its majestic natural environment, Hangzhou has become one of China’s thriving industrial centers. Foreign investment is flourishing, and has made Hangzhou’s aggregate economy the second largest among China’s provincial capitals.
One foreign investor is direct-selling beauty brand Mary Kay, which recently re-opened a manufacturing plant, the opening ceremonies of which I came to Hangzhou for.
On this trip, I learned that this new Hangzhou plant is Mary Kay’s biggest manufacturing center outside of its Dallas, Texas, headquarters; that it is even more state-of-the-art than the latter. I learned that this new plant, amidst Hangzhou’s natural beauty, provides the Chinese market – also Mary Kay’s biggest outside of the United States – with quality beauty products. It is slated to produce a botanical line for the country – and eventually for a world – that is fast recognizing the allure of plant-based beauty necessities.
On this trip, I also learned of a sisterhood that breaches race and language barriers, and thrives on an enthusiasm and loyalty to a woman and a company that gives it back.
It was cold and foggy on the day I experienced Hangzhou, the same day I had more than a glimpse of the signature "Mary Kay enthusiasm." It was cold, foggy, and drizzling. But neither rain nor fog nor single-digit climate could dampen the excitement and enthusiasm of the 700-plus individual sales directors that had gathered for the ceremony. Coming from all over the Asia-Pacific, these women – and a handful of men – are some of Mary Kay’s top-selling sales force. Swathed in pink plastic raincoats (pink being a company trademark), the crowd cheered, shrieked, and applauded as soon as David Holl, president and chief operating officer of Mary Kay, Inc.; and Ryan Rogers, board member and grandson of Mary Kay Ash, the company’s founder; alighted from their vehicles, like royalty to their own pink-clad Mary Kay nation. There were more cheers and applause when K.K. Chua, president of Mary Kay Asia Pacific, cited the rain as a blessing from the heavens – in central Chinese feng shui, water symbolizes prosperity.
What drives these women to such high spirits is not just the thought of reaching a sales quota, or getting a huge discount on skincare products. What gives them a high is knowing that they are part of a lifestyle – one conceived by a woman who dedicated her life to selling in order to achieve a dream.
Houston-bred Mary Kay Wagner started her life in sales at seven years old, peddling Girl Scout cookies and school-event tickets. Later, as a mother with three children, she garnered sales awards as a direct-selling agent for Stanley Home Products, and then at World Gifts, where she became national sales director. But as she realized that the male colleagues she trained were promoted ahead of her, at twice her salary, Mary Kay quit the direct-selling business.
Within a month, she had tired of "retirement" and was planning to build her own "dream company." Starting out with a formulation for skincare cream, Mary Kay’s fledgling company was composed of her husband, who handled operations, and her own friends, who became her very first independent beauty consultants. Her husband died a month before "Beauty by Mary Kay" was launched, but Mary Kay, encouraged by her two sons and daughter, pushed on. The Mary Kay company was formally launched on September 13, 1963. In its first year, Mary Kay already turned a profit. Forty years later, it is a billion-dollar company – still family-owned – and is marketed in 30 countries apart from the United States.
The basic principle behind Mary Kay’s success is simple: "The more you give, the more you receive," the genteel lady often repeated. And giving wholeheartedly was something Mary Kay did better than selling. She gave energy and inspiration to her largely female sales force, believing they were the soul of the company. She gave them her time and inspiration. Grandson Ryan remarked that, had she still been alive and well to attend the latest Asia-Pacific sales gathering, "She would have taken photos with every sales director in the room – all 700 of them."
It is this gift of giving that Mary Kay’s successors are trying to keep alive. Aside from providing earning opportunities to women, it has become a Mary Kay signature to reward the sales force with incentive prizes. "We award them with things these women want but won’t necessarily buy for themselves," explains Mary Kay Philippines general manager Bernie Mercado. Such as jewelry, which explains the diamond-studded brooches that adorn the suit jackets of sales directors (just like military regalia, a more decorated jacket signifies higher honors). Such as trips abroad or cars. Even those pretty little trinkets that women fawn over in boutiques but don’t buy because they don’t figure into their budgets. These rewards ensure a happy sales force, but it is the sincerity and inspiration with which they are given that clinches a loyal, and very enthusiastic, one.
"In Mary Kay, we are not only selling cosmetics," says K.K. Chua, echoing what Mary Kay Ash always used to say. "We are selling a way of life where you can make your dreams come true."
And for a lot of women, it has been a way of life worth looking into.
Log on to www.marykay.com.ph for more information on Mary Kay Philippines.
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