“As I stood in the twilight of my life, I felt a challenge-a mission undone and it was then that the seed of inspiration of the formation of our enterprise was born.”
On her dramatic rise becoming one of the more successful businesswomen in American history, Mary Kay Ash endeavored to brew a corporate culture which revealed the best in herself and her people. She believed that the golden rule will need to serve as a practical guide to conducting one’s business relationships. She tried not simply to live by this belief herself, but to encourage the women who accepted any business opportunity to develop a similar sort of effort.
Ash’s company philosophy was grounded in her intense beliefs. She was a dignified Christian and proclaimed that her belief in God had been what kept her grounded. “God doesn’t have time to create nobodys’ – only somebodys”,claims Mary Kay. “It is my opinion that each one of us has God-given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition. Each person is distinctive and wonderful.” from this faith Ash created a corporate culture based on the golden rule ” Do unto others”.
As she marketed her business opportunity she had an obligation to make every single woman feel important.” Ash wanted to bring dignity to selling as a career, particularly when promoting Mary Kay cosmetics because, after all, they are all out there representing themselves. “Everyone wants to be appreciated,” she said. “Therefore, if you appreciate a person, never keep it a secret.”
Ash’s “goodwill towards others” method was not only beneficial to the relationships she was creating with lots of people, it was equally good for business. Ash recognized that the Golden Rule also made for a golden precept in business; dealing with people nicely basically made better business sense. It was to this end that Ash developed a company that came to be often called a ‘people company’. “Mary Kay Cosmetics is much more about praising people to success, than it is about selling make up’” said Ash. “We think this is so essential, we established our entire marketing plan on it. Indeed it is essentially the primary reasons women become consultants .”With a company culture firmly rooted in Christian ideals Ash felt she was able to attract women of the finest character. Early on she founded the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. Ash felt fervently about her ties to the community mainly her crusade for woman’s rights. Even now her foundation raises and contributes millions for research to put an end to cancers prevalent in woman which includes breast cancer and to bring about relief from domestic violence.
Mary Kay will be remembered as a ground breaker who was not afraid to break all the rules and challenge the status quo. She did it with style, with class and with glamour and in doing so made Mary Kay one of the nations premier business opportunities.”
As an image and beauty consultant Londa has over ten years of experience creating beautiful women, check out her tips on anti-aging. Don’t miss her delightful article: The Cowardly Lion’s Guide to Conquering Your Entrepreneurial Fears . This article, Golden Rule Of Woman Leader Mary Kay Ash has free reprint rights.
