Mary Kay

Mary Kay Ash was born May 12, 1918, in Hot Wells, Texas, Mary Kay Ash left the traditional
workplace after watching yet another man whom she had trained get promoted over her. She
started her own cosmetics company, using incentive programs and other strategies to give her
employees the chance to benefit from their achievements. Mary Kay's marketing skills and
people savvy soon led her company to enormous success.

Early Career
Business leader and entrepreneur Mary Kathlyn Wagner was born on May 12, 1918, in Hot
Wells, Texas. Ash was a pioneer for women in business, building a substantial cosmetics empire.
In 1939, Ash became as a salesperson for Stanley Home Products, hosting parties to encourage
people to buy household items. She was so good at making the sale that she was hired away by
another company, World Gifts, in 1952. Ash spent a little more than a decade at the company,
but she quit in protest after watching yet another man that she had trained get promoted above
her and earn a much higher salary than hers.

Entrepreneurial Venture
After her bad experiences in the traditional workplace, Ash set out to create her own business at
the age of 45. She started with an initial investment of $5,000 in 1963. She purchased the
formulas for skin lotions from the family of a tanner who created the products while he worked
on hides. With her son, Richard Rogers, she opened a small store in Dallas and had nine
salespeople working for her. Today there are more than 1.6 million salespeople working for
Mary Kay Inc. around the world.

The company turned a profit in its first year and sold close to $1 million in products by the end
of its second year driven by Ash's business acumen and philosophy. The basic premise was much
like the products she sold earlier in her career. Her cosmetics were sold through at-home parties
and other events. But Ash strove to make her business different by employing incentive
programs and not having sales territories for her representatives. She believed in the golden rule
"treat others as you want to be treated," and operated by the motto: God first, family second and
career third.

Commercial Success
All of her marketing skills and people savvy helped make Mary Kay Cosmetics a very lucrative
business. The company went public in 1968, but it was bought back by Ash and her family in
1985 when the stock price took a hit. The business itself remained successful and now annual
sales exceed $2.2 billion, according to the company's website.

At the heart of this profitable organization was Ash's enthusiastic personality. She was known for
her love of the color pink and it could be found everywhere, from the product packaging to the
Cadillacs she gave away to top-earning consultants each year. She seemed to sincerely value her
consultants, and once said "People are a company's greatest asset."

Personal Life
While she stepped down from her position as CEO of the company in 1987, Ash remained an
active part of the business. She established the Mary Kay Charitable Foundation in 1996. The
foundation supports cancer research and efforts to end domestic violence. In 2000, she was
named the most outstanding woman in business in the 20th century by Lifetime Television.

The cosmetics mogul died on November 22, 2001, in Dallas, Texas. By this time, the company
she created had become a worldwide enterprise with representatives in more than 30 markets.
She will be best remembered for building a profitable business from scratch that created new
opportunities for women to achieve financial success.

Married three times, Ash had three children—Richard, Ben and Marylyn—by her first husband,
J. Ben Rogers. The two divorced after Rogers returned from serving in World War II. Her
second marriage to a chemist was brief; he died of a heart attack in 1963, just one month after
the two had gotten married. She married her third husband, Mel Ash, in 1966, and the couple
stayed together until Mel's death in 1980.