Well a little good news I guess.  At least the wife is looking to fill her MK larder via ebay instead of the ripoff MK catalogue.  Could be that she's buying from some of you. 

Other note, Wikipedia, the web's most popular encyclopedia, needs someone(s) to give the other side of the coin on their Mary Kay Cosmetics page.  I emailed PT but here's been no response so far.

Here it is:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kay

If you want to contribute it would be in the "Controversy" section.  You might list negatives about the company givng them a paragraph or two each with cites.  I'd do it but I think some of you have so much more experience to speak from.  As it stands the Kaybots are controlling the page. 

Well I'm hoping that one of you who know the many deficiencies with this company can fill in details (with cites of course).  Unfortunately the seem to be certain pro-MKers like "BlueAmy" though who continue to delete anything negative they find in the article claiming "bias".  Wikipedia might need to lock the article at some point.

Blogs and forums do not count.  There is some discussion about that right now as there is an exception that says "Self-published material may be acceptable when produced by a well-known, professional researcher in a relevant field or a well-known professional journalist." Pink Truth is just such an example as it is run by a professional fraud investigator.  I don't know how it will resolve.  For more see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mary_Kay#REMOVAL_OF_External_Links_Discussion

Currently the article contains the following:

A number of criticisms have been leveled at the company by ex-Mary Kay consultants and directors. Says Pyramid Scheme Alert which deals with a variety of Multilevel Marketing schemes:

After years of silence, Mary Kay distributors are now coming forward to report abuses of inventory loading, pressure to recruit other MK salespeople, large financial losses and a company culture that blames its own victims.... The site [The Pinking Shears] focuses on the reality that Mary Kay is a multi-level marketing scheme. As such, the rates of financial loss among recruits is huge. The group also confronts the tragedy of how these schemes cause people to believe they "failed" even though nearly all new recruits will lose and the multi-level system is designed so that those above profit from the losses of all "below." Mary Kay Distributors Document Losses and Abuse -- End Silence. PSA also includes on its advisory board fraud investigator Tracy Coenen who's own site Pink Truth has been a magnet for former Mary Kay associates.

However certain contributors have been regularly deleting it.  Here is an amusing expose on some (one?) of them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mary_Kay#Spamming_Wikipedia

I really think it's time for me to take a break from all this Mary kay stuff.  It's been consuming a lot of my energy and spoiling my usual good mood.

                                                                     

If anything significant occurs I'll pass it on.

I commend those of you who are working tirelessly to aid MKs many victims.

 

Chaparral

what can a husband do?  Just support their wife and be there for her. or support her the best you can.  sometimes that is hard to do.

Just found this forum and glad I did.

My wife has been sucked into this for about 7 years now.  But lately, its become more of a problem than just a minor annoyance.

When she started in 2000, until late 2005, I was making a very steady income working as a professional.  I was employed consistently by two law firms where I was paid a good salary.  We had (so I thought) a decent amount of money in reserves.

At the end of 2005, for reasons outside of my control, the firm I was working for collapsed.  I had been wanting to strike out on my own for a while, so I did, forming my own practice and have never regretted it.  The downside has been that cashflow is less consistent as I am no longer a salaried employee.  Couple that with startup costs and needing to build my clientele, and it certainly has been rough, though things are improving.   

Late in 2006, I finally found out that not only was my wife not making any money, but that her inventory purchases had been funded largely by her dipping into accounts without my knowledge.  Beginning in early '06, she started dipping into them heavily, thinking that she was going to make MK "work" and she would be helping me and our family out by "truly working this opportunity".

She is still working under this unrealisitic expectation and belief that somehow she just needs to work hard for a while, become a Director, and then it will be smooth sailing.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard the damn stories of this NSD or that "Top Director" who made it big after her husband died/left/became disabled, or about all these husbands of "Top Directors" who "do not have to worry or no longer have to work, etc etc.

I really love my wife - we have been married 16 years as of a week ago, and I need her to see the light.

My challenge is, it truly would be a blessing if she could supplement our income while I continue to build my practice, so I need to figure out how to free her from this trap that she sees as her/our salvation.  Now she has booked us to go to that ridiculous seminar in Texas, and I know that this is only going to make things worse.

UGH!!!!

She has herself so emotionally invested in this it is ridiculous.  She will break down in tears because she cannot devote as much time as she wants to her "business" because of our kids/dogs/family obligations.  She has shut herself off from many of her non-MK friends, and I just cannot stand it.

Any suggestions on where to start?

Thank you so much.

One thing I think I may be able to call on is the fact that her Director recently "stepped down".  I know her husband pretty well, and have been thinking of calling him.  I know that they had massive marriage troubles up until recently, and I think they were related to her business.

The doubts have come and gone for my wife over the years, but the thing had always been, it was kind of a "hobby" for her, and I knew it wasn't hitting us on the bottom line.  But when we needed our reserves the most, she has burned through them in this desperate attempt to "get rocking and rolling" (how I am tired of that phrase) so she "become a director" and the hard part will be over.

SOOOOOO . . . .

I am going to start on getting her figures together so she can see the true numbers she has posted over the last two years, and tactfully getting her to see the light.

My immediate need is to tell her I DO NOT want to go to Texas, and I think she should forego it as well.  It will only set things back that much further, I think.  This is going to be tough.