All About Me

I have been an Independent Beauty Consultant since 2003. I have been a Senior Consultant numerous times. Currently, I’m on the verge of becoming a Senior Consultant yet again. I work my business very part-time around a full-time job, school, and a chaotic life. My ultimate goal in life is to work from home. I believe I can reach that goal in due time — even though those around me do not.

Prior to joining the Mary Kay independent sales force, I was teaching and performing ballet and working part-time. When I was no longer able to teach dance and I made the difficult decision to stop performing, I wanted to find something else I could identify with. So far, this seems to be it.

My Former Life:

Before this 9–5 rat-race and the discovery of Mary Kay, I was a ballet dancer. Dance was all I knew. It was pretty much all I did from ages 4-26! Sure, I took piano lessons, gymnastics, sang in the choir, and performed in plays; but first was DANCE!

Was I any good? Perhaps. It’s a matter of artistic opinion. Where did I dance? All over! I danced at The School of Cleveland Ballet, University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State University, and last (certainly not least!) The Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. I danced semi-professionally with a company in Ohio from the time I was a senior in high school until I retired in 2002.

I lived, breathed, ate, slept nothing but dance. It was my passion; my purpose; my identity. Everyone who knew me knew I danced. I performed regularly at local theaters. People in the community would recognize me from my shows. I was even asked to sign “autographs” for children in restaurants! Yea, kind of odd, I know, but kids see you on stage and then they see you out and about and they get excited.

Dance was my first true love (yes, not a man — DANCE). This was what I lived for. I conditioned, worked out, you name it. I danced 30+ hours a week. I was in some excellent shape! Many relationships didn’t last because of my career. Men just don’t like to share when it comes to time! I was dedicated.

So, how come I don’t dance anymore? Why did I stop? What happened? Lots of things happened. After my summer in New York, I wanted to move to NYC and dance. My parents said, no. College was the way for them or the highway. They said they would not support me if I didn’t go to college. I was 19. I could not afford NYC alone. I stayed in Ohio and continued college while dancing here. I enjoyed it, but I knew I had missed the boat. I began auditioning for companies and schools. To no avail. I was too old for the schools (yep, you’re over the hill after 21 in the dance world!). I decided that if I wasn’t making real money in a more established company by age 25, then I would stop pursuing dance full time. I continued to dance until I was 27. By then, the politics were getting to me. There was too much drama and people in the company just weren’t genuine or nice anymore. Most of the people I had danced with in the past had either retired, quit, or moved on. So, in 2002, I was going to quit during the summer, but stayed on to perform in Cinderella. I was going to quit after the performance. My new boyfriend (now husband) encouraged me to stay on and do The Nutcracker that winter. I did–thinking he would come watch! He did not. It was his loss. It was probably one of my best performances. Fitting as it was my last.

I still hold a special place in my heart for dance. Sometimes I feel nostalgic for my “dancing days” as I like to call them. It was one of the happiest “eras” of my life thus far. I still dance when there’s a class available that I can squeeze into my schedule.

How I Learned About MK

In 2003, I was working part-time for a university. I had recently retired from dancing in a professional ballet company and was teaching ballet twice a week at a non-profit community organization. In April of that year, I was invited to a Mary Kay party. I had heard of Mary Kay, but I didn’t know it was skin care. I thought it was julst makeup. Had I known it was skin care, I probably would have turned down the invitation. Why? Because I didn’t trust any skin care after what a particular mall brand did to my face. I had horrible rough scars on my cheeks that my mom thought was rosacea. I was using Clean & Clear by Johnson & Johnson and didn’t dare moisturize in fear of a nasty breakout that might cause more scarring.

So, I went to this Mary Kay party expecting to just play with makeup. Much to my chagrin the woman wanted us to wash our faces first! I was leary, but figured one time wan’t going to melt my face off so I did it. Surprisingly, it felt wonderful. I was too afraid to buy it–worried it was a first time fluke. I bought the foundation. I was out of my usual stuff and the MK actually matched my skin tone perfectly. That was that.

Next, in May, a coworker handed out invitations to a “Step into Spring” party at her house. She was a consultant herself. I had been warned to “watch out” because she might try to sell me Mary Kay. Well, I’d tried it at the other party and liked it so I went to her house, too. (Note: I was completely unaware of consultant loyalty–that first lady didn’t try to keep my business.)

When I got to the Spring Party, I was asked to draw a slip of paper from a bag. The color of the paper determined my discount for the night! My color corresponded with 45% off! Not bad! (I guess I just wasn’t meant to pay full price!) I bought a mascara and Satin Lips Set. Off I went.

June came and went and I found out I would no longer be teaching ballet. I wasn’t making tons of money, but $20 per class was a nice supplement. The non-profit organization had lost its funding and wouldn’t be receiving its grant money. Back at the university, I was trying to switch to full-time with zero success. The man running our department was not nice about it at all and acted as though I didn’t know my position was part-time. I had even gone to HR and asked them how I might switch. They told me exactly what to do. It was the dept. head that was being difficult. I started thinking of other things to do. I wasn’t dancing anymore. Dance was a HUGE part of my identity. I knew I didn’t want to go back to that life. I had closed that chapter. I had too much time on my hands and wasn’t making enough money to simply take up a hobby. Besides that, I wanted to feel I had a PURPOSE. At least dancing had given me that.

In late June I learned that one of my best friends from high school was a Mary Kay consultant and my best friend (different friend) was hosting a party for her. It set wheels in motion! I liked the Mary Kay products. It seemed like a job (although, I had no idea how to get that job–I really thought you had to apply!). There seemed to be a purpose to it.

I went to a facial in July–just after my birthday. I finally broke down and bought the Basic. I told my friend I thought I wanted to sell Mary Kay. What were the qualifications to do that? (I thought you had to be qualified; after all, nobody EVER asked me if I wanted to do it) My friend gave me a tape called “Discover Something More” and told me to listen to that and to come to her Success Meeting the following Tuesday.

I listened to the tape on the way to the meeting. I thought it was kind of odd. Kind of cheesy from the outside. I got to the meeting and was met with tons of enthusiasm! I was seated at a round table with other guests. My director was conducting the skin care class. She recognized me from when I was in kindergarten! I thought it was funny since I was then in my late 20’s! The skin care class was fun. My director was very nice. I was listening to the other director who was training the consultants in the room. What I heard AMAZED me. I heard women being NICE to each other. SUPPORTING each other. CHEERING for each other. I couldn’t believe it. Most women were not so nice. I worked with very catty women. I had gone to school with girls who were jealous or had a chip on their shoulder or just liked to be mean. These women were nice and they were nice to me. I felt like I belonged! So, I signed up that night! And I have NEVER regretted it. I’m enjoying EVERY moment!!! Oh yea–and those awful scars and red marks? GONE!