Reading Reflection No. 1

For my autobiography, I chose to read Miracles Happen by Mary Kay Ash, which gives an insight from Mary Kay’s point of view about her company and how she got to be so successful.

What surprised you the most? While reading her autobiography, the thing that surprised me the most was Mary Kay’s childhood and her background. When Mary Kay was only seven years old, she already had quite a bit of responsibilities and had a large amount of independence because of these responsibilities. Since her mother worked, it was up to her to take care of her father and cook a lot of the meals. In addition, she was also allowed to run errands and go shopping by herself at the age of seven and this shocked me because I could not imagine seeing a seven-year old running errands and having that much responsibility today.

What about the entrepreneur did you admire the most? The thing about Mary Kay that I most admired was her ability to uphold her values throughout her life and when establishing her company. Mary Kay was devoted to her Christian faith and her family, and I think those are two important aspects that sometimes get lost in the business world. I admire her ability to place her faith and family over her career because I think, especially when one is starting their own business, that it is difficult to not put your career first. As Mary Kay said, “God first, family second, career third.”

What about the entrepreneur did you admire the least? There was not anything that I did not really admire that I learned about Mary Kay from the book, except I felt that some parts of the book were repetitive and I felt the book also might just be another sales promotion. Obviously, it is an autobiography so Mary Kay had to talk about herself and her successes, but there were certain times that it felt as though Mary Kay was bragging, but again it is an autobiography that’s kind of what she is supposed to do. Nothing else really stood out, in which I did not admire about her.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? Like most entrepreneurs, Mary Kay definitely encountered adversity and failure. However, she handled it perfectly and it actually allowed her to stay determined during the process of starting her business. During this time, many women were overlooked in the business world and were immediately seen as less valuable than men. Mary Kay, for examples, experienced being passed up for promotions by men that she had trained and men that had been in the company for a smaller amount of time than she had. Instead of accepting this idea that she is less than a man, she took her adversity and turned into motivation and created Mary Kay Cosmetics to give her and many other women better opportunities in the business world.

What competencies did the entrepreneur exhibit? I think one of the greatest competencies I noticed while reading the book was her ability to communicate and her passion. It was obvious by her many anecdotes throughout her novel that she was an excellent sales woman and could get people excited about a product. I think that this is such an important skill that Mary Kay had and developed because I believe it allowed her to sell her business and it allowed her to come up with the idea of having her employees work as independent sales consultants for Mary Kay Cosmetics. Another competency I noticed that goes well with her ability to communicate is her confidence. Despite many advisors explaining to her that following through with Mary Kay Cosmetics would not be financially sound, Mary Kay still had enough confidence in herself and in her business to take the risk.

Confusing part? The book was pretty straightforward and I did not find myself super confused by any of it, but I am confused as to how Mary Kay took the risk of following through with creating her own business despite the fact that it could end up leaving her in poverty. I understand she was desperate for new opportunities, but it is hard for me to grasp how she made that decision.

Two questions for the entrepreneur. If I had the chance to speak with Mary Kay and ask her questions, I think it would be hard to narrow it down to only two questions as there is truly so much one could learn from her. One question I would definitely ask her is how she upheld her values so well throughout her career and how she ensured that her career truly did come third? It truly amazes me that this was such a practiced value throughout her life, because in today’s society I believe a lot of people tend to put their career first and base their worth on that instead of focusing on their religion or their family. In addition, since we have a lot more technology now and we tend to bring our work home with us I think that Mary Kay could offer some insight on how she avoided making her career her top priority. The second question I would ask is what she thinks about the business world today and any advice she could give to young women entering the business world? Even though her book is filled with advice, I would want to know more personalized advice for the current business world.

What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? I believe that Mary Kay identified hard work as key in the business world and for achieving her goals. Mary Kay continued to work hard throughout her life, and even when she was supposed to be retired she went back to start her own business and work hard. From the autobiography, it was easy to see that Mary Kay truly worked hard at everything she did from her youth to death. She valued hard work and believed it was a necessity to success. I definitely agree with Mary Kay’s opinion on hard work and believe it to be one of the most important aspects in succeeding. I believe that you must work hard if you really want something and that life does not just hand you things.