Famous Business Lady

Mary Kay Ash (May 12, 1918 November 22, 2001) was an American
businesswoman and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She was born in Hot Wells,
Harris County, Texas. She attended Reagan High School in Houston, and graduated
in 1934. Ash married Ben Rogers at age 17. They had three children. While her
husband served in World War II, she sold books door-to-door. After her husband's
return in 1945, they divorced. Ash went to work for Stanley Home Products.
Frustrated when passed over for a promotion in favor of a man that she had trained,
Ash retired in 1963 and intended to write a book to assist women in business. The
book turned into a business plan for her ideal company, and in the summer of 1963,
Mary Kay Ash and her new husband began Mary Kay Cosmetics with a $5,000
investment. The store opened in 1963, but grew rapidly, particularly after Ash was
interviewed for CBS's 60 Minutes in 1979.
Ash was widely respected. She considered the Golden Rule the founding principle of
Mary Kay Cosmetics and the company's marketing plan was designed to allow
women to advance by helping others to succeed. She advocated "praising people to
success" and her slogan "God first, family second, career third" expressed her
insistence that the women in her company keep their lives in balance.
Both during her life and posthumously, Ash received numerous honors from business
groups. Ash was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in
1996. A long-time fundraiser for charities, she founded the Mary Kay Ash Charitable
Foundation to raise money to combat domestic violence and cancers affecting
women. Ash served as Mary Kay Cosmetics' chairman until 1987, when she was
named Chairman Emeritus. Fortune magazine recognized Mary Kay Inc. with
inclusion in The 100 best companies to work for in America. The company was
also named one of the best 10 companies for women to work. At the time of Ash's
death, Mary Kay Cosmetics had over 800,000 representatives in 37 countries, with
total annual sales over $2 billion at retail. As of 2008, Mary Kay Cosmetics has more
than 1.7 million consultants worldwide and wholesale volume in excess of 2.2 billion.
Mary Kay herself was honored as leading female entrepreneur in American history.
Mary Kay Ash authored three books, all of which became best-sellers. Her
autobiography, Mary Kay, has sold more than a million copies and appears in several
languages. She died on November 22, 2001. Mary Kay Ash is interred Memorial Park
in Dallas, Texas.