Mary Kay Ash was explicit about the values which guide her life and her business. She considered a belief in God to be the foundation of all life activities, including business activities, and she believed that her business helped other women to be better people. In this essay, the intent is to examine her religious and ethical commitments and examine how she applied them to her business.
Mary Kay Cosmetics, as the name indicates, is a company similar to Avon in that it relies on door to door sales of beauty products to women in their homes. The women who are employed by Mary Kay Cosmetics are called independent beauty consultants, and they can obtain high incomes and many different kinds of prizes or rewards for their success. However, they do not receive salaries or benefits packages. Thus, their income depends completely on their current performance.
According to Julia Lieblich (1996), the basic philosophy of Mary Kay Cosmetics can be stated as "God first, family second, and career third" (p. 10B). Lieblich noted that the company started from the premise that God was involved in all decisions and all business activity, and that this helped them to attract a certain type of employee, or salesperson.
Mary Kay herself is very clear about her religious and ethical commitment. In her 1995 book that is autobiographical, but primarily about values and living a life with good priorities, she indicated that her belief in God was a priority even early in her career when she was struggling. She asserted that faith is a 24 hour commitment and that religion and beliefs should be left outside of the workplace. Instead, for her, religion is at the center and the individual's work must be congruent with that. She indicated that there is no situation, or no work, that it should require a double standard or require people to go against their fundamental beliefs (Ash, 1995, xii).
Mary Kay Ash also indicated that the Golden rul...