Mary Kay Ash:
The most surprising aspect of Mary Kay Ash was that she was creating her business while she was caring for her sick father and divorced her husband. While her father was sick, she did cleaning and cooking, while taking care of herself and succeeding in school. What is surprising is she wanted to go to college and become a doctor, but her parents could not afford the schooling. So she got married instead.
What I admired the most about Mary Kay Ash was how she focused on being happy at all times and really putting her heart into her business. She also really put an emphasis on using her femininity to her best advantage. She shows the advantages that you can receive from showing off and how it helped her build her business. There was much that I didn’t admire of Mary Kay.
As I mentioned what I admired of her previously, there are not many negative things to say. Maybe the only thing is she used her femininity to be succeed in a Man’s world, when she was probably successful enough. It seems like she may have been taking advantage of her powers as a women, but it is still inspiring to some young women who don’t feel as confident.
I think Mary Kay Ash had more hardships in her life than failures. From her father passing away to her divorce with her husband. She also struggled a little bit what she called a male-dominated business world. These struggles she had though didn’t get to her and she grew from the challenges life threw at her.
I think that some competencies Mary Kay Ash exhibits are responsibility, adaptability, and determination. These characteristics made her so successful in her business and should be a role model for other entrepreneurs.
The most confusing part of the story was when they explained the profits of Mary Kay Ash had made and how they were transferred from SHP to World Gift Company. I feel like the timeline of events was a little confusing and was a little unclear.
I would ask Mary Kay Ash how she coped with the struggles in her life. I feel as she grew the most from her lower points and I feel as that would be valuable advice in life. I would also ask her if she would’ve done anything different in the whole business process. Knowing this information would give me an insight on what and what not to do while being an entrepreneur.
I feel as that Mary Kay Ash truly did put in the hard work for her business to be successful. I think that she was very passionate about her business and was full involved throughout the whole process. To be successful, you have to put in the work. The business isn’t just going to start itself.
We read different autobiographies for this, as I read about Ray Kroc the founder of McDonald's. They had many hardships in common, including divorce and death in the family. They also both encompassed determination. I think Ray Croc also encompassed responsibility and adaptability, but they weren't his prominent traits because he wasn't as responsible with his personal life as he was with his business life, which lead to divorces and losing friends and loved ones. He did adapt as the economy changed and as hardships came up, but his adaptations were almost necessary and unplanned rather than meticulously thinking about how to adapt to certain situations. Our opinions differed on the topic of admiration. I greatly admired much of what Kroc did and how he held himself as a person. However, his obsession with business leads me to not like how he lived his personal life so much.
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline,
ReplyDeleteWow, reading about Mary Kay from your perspective is very astounding. I did not know that she originally wanted to be a doctor, but due to family circumstances, she could not. She is very empowering, as she attempted to access the business world even through many of her hardships! Being responsible and adaptable are key principals in the business world, and I inspire to be like that as well! Success comes in a long way, and you should always try to overcome the obstacles that are given.