Reading Reflection No. 1

1. What surprised me the most was how relatable Mary Kay was- I wouldn’t have known without reading the book that she experienced such hardship and adversity so close to the launch of, and during the running of, her business. It made her seem more like a real person who has dealt with issues similar to us all, and made me appreciate her work ethic much more. I really admire the fact that she did not let any of the hardships that came her way stop her from achieving the goal she set up for herself. Even after having sick family members, and losing her husband, she just reached out further than before for support to continue working hard despite what was happening in her personal life. Mostly- the fact that she never lost sight of her goal. I really couldn’t say what I least admire about her.

2. I noticed that Mary Kay has many, many competencies that she uses in her every day life and business to get her through. She discusses knowing how to balance both work and family, and where and when to draw lines between the two. She is able to market her “woman who has it all” public personality as attainable to her customers, and also brings amazing advice to the table, such as giving off great one liners like “the only difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person is extraordinary determination”. It really makes it seem like she has it all together and that makes her and her brand much easier to market.

3. A part of the reading that confused me was the overarching message that Mary Kay was an “incurable optimist”, and that only those type of people stand a chance of succeeding in life. I disagree with that, and believe that possessing even a small amount of pessimism is necessary to handle reality and truly appreciate the good things that do come. I think it is important to see negatives in certain things to really put an emphasis on the positives. Also, being life is never without struggle, it’s crucial to have the emotional intelligence to deal with those problems, and a lot of times, you can’t just “happy” away your issues.

4. I would ask Mary Kay what exactly inspired her to pursue a make-up business, as in, what part of her saw that as being an attainable goal. To me, I would shy away from that market due to the extreme complications that can arise with chemical engineering of cosmetics. I would also want to ask her if there is anything she would go back and change now that she has amassed such a huge success and following.

5. I think the entrepreneur sees hard work as the number one thing that predicts success, and therefore wouldn’t have gotten to where she is without it. I agree with her- in the line of work I want to pursue, if you don’t work hard, you’ll very quickly be beat out by competition and by those who are willing to work circles around you to climb the ladder.