PEARLS OF WISDOM: Mary Kay Ash

Quote from Mary Kay Ash~~

"Before you ever receive the wonderful treasures of a happy life, you must first give.

Give of yourself. Share our fabulous product. Be of service to others. Only what you give can be multiplied back into your own life. That is the law of the harvest, the law of the ten-fold return.

If you give nothing, even if it is multiplied, you receive nothing.”

LEAD BY EXAMPLE: Always In Fashion

Mary Kay Ash once said, "We must not compromise our principles in order to further our careers."

Everything Mary Kay did during her lifetime came out of her simple belief that 'doing unto others as you would have them do unto you' was the right way to live and do business.

She believed that if we truly live by the Golden Rule in our every action and even in our thoughts, then our lives will take on new meaning and so will the lives of those about us.

She also said, "My sincere desire is that each and every Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant will learn to live by the Golden Rule, not only in her Mary Kay business, but in her daily life.

If there is ever a question about how to deal with a situation, simply put yourself in the place of the other person and treat that person exactly as you would want to be treated. In the long run, you will find that you will gain more than you lose, for it is true that all you send into the lives of others comes back into your own."

Mary Kay Ash was a role model par excellence. Through her example, she has inspired many women to become a role model for individuals who still struggle to find their own creative path of beauty and purpose.

Living the Golden Rule -- it's one thing that never goes out of fashion!

Perfectly Pink!
© Brenda Leyland, 2009

BIZ BUILDERS: Organizing Your Ideas

Have you ever come home from an inspiring meeting or Mary Kay conference with your head swirling with wonderful new ideas, only to misplace, forget, or lose them?

I learned a great organizing tip from well known organization expert, Marva Ruot. She recommends categorizing the information when the the ideas come, not later, and she suggests using the back page of your notebook in which to capture these great ideas.

So, when you get an 'oh, I love that idea' moment, flip to the back of your notebook and jot it down. Then, quickly categorize it. Ask yourself what this idea is for -- is it a booking idea? A customer service tip? Is it about money management, team building, or product knowledge? Is it about image and etiquette or inspiration?

The next time you need a new idea, you'll know exactly where to look! How easy is that?


Perfectly Pink!
Brenda Leyland, 2009

BIZ BUILDERS: Add Value - Eliminate Waste

Are you familiar with the Japanese word "kaizen"? I understand it is a term that, when translated in English, means 'continuous improvement'. According to Wikipedia, the concept of kaizen aims to eliminate waste -- waste being defined as 'activities that add cost but do not add value'.

This is not about looking for the cheapest way to do business, but it is about ensuring that what you are doing actually adds value to your business.

Marva Ruot, President of Success is in Order, has identified several ways Mary Kay consultants sometime add costs to their business that, in the end, do not add value. The following tips are from her book entitled, Success Is In Order.

1. You buy prizes and incentive gifts you never use. They look good at Seminar, but you have not made a clear plan on how to use them. You've spent money on a drawerful of items that are now taking up valuable space.

2. You buy too many prizes. Also with no clear idea on how you will use them.

3. You plan prizes too late. Which means you order and pay rush shipping.

4. You don't file often enough. So you make tons of copies of the same thing, because you can't find the originals when you need them.

5. You overstock on items that change quickly. E.g. literature from the company that gets updated regularly. (Maybe it's better to be more realistic here, and order fewer, knowing you will use them.)

6. You make up too many packets at one time with material that dates quickly. (So you end up having to throw them out, unused.)


This is only a short list, but perhaps it will give you the incentive to take a look at the things you are doing in your business.

Think about what you are spending your money on, and where you are spending your time. Ensure that the money and effort you put into your business are giving you a good return, that they are adding value.


Perfectly Pink!
Brenda Leyland, 2009

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

"Be honest. Don't we spend a lot of time wishing the people around us would get with the program? Namely, my program? What a colossal waste of time and energy. They can't get on my program, because they are really busy wishing I would get with their program."

~~ Anita Renfroe, If You Can't Lose It, Decorate It! Perpetual Calendar, 2008

BIZ BUILDERS: LIKE A TRAIN SCHEDULE

HAVE YOU EVER FELT, even though you’re busy all day with your business, sometimes you can’t seem to get anything done? Does it feel like you’re off track and you can’t get back on?

Perhaps what your Mary Kay business needs is some structure – just like a train timetable. Trains get to where they’re going because they run on a track, and because there’s a set schedule. You know when the train will leave, which direction it will head, and when it will arrive. Once the schedule is made, the train just has to stay on track, and it will reach its destination, and on time!

How do you plan your weekly ‘train’ schedule for your MK business? First, you decide what you need to accomplish (that’s your destination). For example, you need to book classes, order inventory, do paperwork, deliveries, attend the unit meeting, meet with your director, make phone calls and be part of the conference call, as well as make time to read or listen to motivational material.

Once you decide the destination, you set up your schedule – when will you actually work on each activity? What day? What time? For how long? Trains would run amok if they didn’t follow a set timetable of the days and times they come and go. No one would ever know when to book a ticket.

We probably all enjoy spontaneity, but when it comes to running our Mary Kay business, it is much better to keep to a schedule if we want to stay on track. Our minds tend to work best when there’s an order to things and when we know what comes next.

As Mary Kay Ash once said, Plan your work and then work your plan. Ready to climb aboard?

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HERE ARE FIVE guidelines to help you work your plan. These ideas were shared by Robin Rowland and Pam Shaw in the article entitled, What is an Efficient Mary Kay Work Week?

1. Do something with your business every day.

2. Booking classes should be your highest priority.

3. Don’t get buried in paperwork. If it takes more than two hours a week to stay caught up, you might be doing more than is necessary.

4. Make warm chatter a part of your life. As quoted in the article, “It’s not something you go out to do; it’s something you do while you’re out.”

5. Remember to have fun while you’re working, and those around you will have fun as well.

Perfectly Pink!

© Brenda Leyland, 2009

LEAD BY EXAMPLE: Don't Play Small

What if Mary Kay Ash had sat down at her kitchen table all those years ago and decided she was just too small, too insignificant to accomplish anything big and worthwhile in her life? What if she had decided she could not – or should not – follow this dream she had? Where would we be today?

South African leader Nelson Mandela once said something I believe Mary Kay would applaud: “Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?”

I ask myself that question and I ask it of you. Who are we not to be great? Our playing small does not serve our world. To feel unworthy and insignificant throws our gifts into the wind (into the face of God, if you believe He’s there). Our world will stay in a mess if we each continue to believe that our contributions are hardly worth it.

Mary Kay Ash paved the way for women all over the world to make a difference. We’re not starting from scratch. I believe she would want us to stand on her shoulders and use her successes – not as our ceiling – but as the floor of where we can start. Don’t think dozens, think hundreds. Don’t think hundreds, think thousands. Don’t think 10’s of thousands, think millions. Not for your benefit only, but for the enrichment of many, many others!

Where would many women be today if Mary Kay had not believed that her dream was worthwhile? Like her, we need to first believe that our playing small does not serve our world.

Will you risk opening your imagination to greater things for your own life? Whether it's with Mary Kay or some other venture, start where you are, but don’t stay there. Then encourage others to also step out into their destiny too. It's a great way to lead by example.

Perfectly Pink!

© Brenda Leyland, 2009

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

"Almost every woman will tell you she wishes she looked like someone else. Which means that somewhere out there in your circle of acquaintances there's a woman wishing she looked like you."

~~Anita Renfroe, If You Can't Lose It, Decorate It (perpetual calendar)

~~Clip art with permission from 'Just Beauty Clip Art Images' book and CD.