17 Years Ago

Today is a very special day to me.  Seventeen years ago today I signed my Beauty Consultant Agreement and began my Mary Kay career!  I remember it like it was yesterday….

I was pregnant with our first child, and wanted desperately to stay home and raise our family.  I was working full-time at a local manufacturing firm as an administrative assistant (a glorified secretary).  We needed my income, and I carried our family’s insurance through my work.  Bill farmed full-time with his family.  I can remember driving to work each morning during those days, asking God to show me what I was to do with my life, and if there was a way I could stay home with our child, for Him to show me what that was.  I had no idea it would come in a big pink box!

I won a makeover at a Baby Fair that January, and little did I know, the woman I would soon meet through that makeover would become a dear, life-long friend.  My mom came over one Saturday morning in February, and we received our very first Mary Kay makeovers, and tried their facial products for the first time.  The lady that came out to the farm that day wore a pink suit, and drove up in a pink car…AND she was pregnant (like me)!  I liked Jeanie from the moment I met her. 

I fell in love with the products, and it was the first time in a long time that I felt pretty.  I liked the things Jeanie was saying…how she was able to work from home and raise her children.  How she could design her career around her family.  Bells began going off in my head…DING, DING, DING, DING!!!  Could this really be my answer?

I met Jeanie that week for lunch, signed my agreement, and I was soon on my way.  I worked diligently at my new career, enough so I could take my maternity leave from work, and then decided not to return afterwards. 

God continued to bless my business, to bless our family through it, and to bless me.  I loved being a “stay at home mom,” yet have a career I loved!  I earned numerous awards, diamond rings, vehicles (even a pink Cadillac), titles, and etc.  Those things were important to me then, but not so much today.  (I honestly can’t remember the last time I wore one of my rings.) 

Mary Kay Ash built this company on the philosophies of putting God first, your family second, and your career third, and also to treat others as you would want to be treated…the Golden Rule.  I have learned so much of how to work with others, how to treat others, how to help others, how to communicate, how to relate to people, etc.  Those “intangible” things are the things that are still so valuable to me today.  I have used almost everything I’ve learned in my Mary Kay business in my life outside of Mary Kay…especially at Mission of Hope!  I’ve always said each woman in the world should be a part of Mary Kay for at least a year, just for the training alone!!  It’s incredible! 

God continues to bless my business.  And I’m thankful.  Today I was able to do something I love…I pampered one of my customers with an updated makeover.  She looked, and from what she said, felt beautiful.  It was a great gift on my 17th anniversary…making another woman feel beautiful on the inside and out.  It took me back to the day when Jeanie helped me feel that way back in 1994.  🙂

I never thought 17 years later I’d be doing what I’m doing today, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Being involved in this wonderful company has changed my life…and it has changed our family’s life.  I thank God for this journey, and for the women who have stuck with me all these years as customers and consultants.  I am truly a blessed woman!  Thank you, Lord!