About Mary Kay
On Sept. 13, 1963, Mary Kay Ash created a Company that allows women to achieve open-ended success. She also wanted that Company to be guided by principles and values. Mary Kay believed in the Golden Rule – treat others the way you want to be treated. She believed that only by helping others could your dreams come true. So she designed a career path based not solely on the goals you can achieve but also on the goals you can help other women achieve. It’s this formula for success that sets the Mary Kay opportunity apart.
Mary Kay’s mission is to enrich women’s lives. As one of the most successful, global direct-selling companies, Mary Kay provides millions of women with a unique business opportunity in more than 35 markets worldwide. Quite simply, the opportunity encourages building a successful independent business while living a balanced life – a philosophy that continues to thrive more than four decades after the Company’s founding. In fact, Mary Kay Ash often said, “My priorities have always been God first, family second, career third. I have found that when I put my life in this order, everything seems to work out.”
Born in rural Texas at the end of World War I, Mary Kay spent her childhood keeping house and caring for her sick father while her mother supported the family. Years later, as a single mother at a time when very few women worked outside the home, Mary Kay was determined to pursue her professional goals. Twenty-five years later, after she retired from as successful career in direct selling, Mary Kay – a middle-aged grandmother – felt the call of a challenge. In founding what she termed her “dream company”, Mary Kay exceeded her own expectations and became a champion for women. An academic study by Baylor University named her the greatest woman entrepreneur in American history, and the Wharton School of Business deemed her one of the most influential business leaders of the modern times. Mary Kay passed away in 2001.