Mary Kay and Diverisity Campaign 2009

By: Angenene Kendrick

Near the end of February, 2009, Mary Kay announced that for the first time in history they will begin television advertising in March. I was thrilled that the TV ads showcased a colorful heritage of a diverse sales force and customer base.

As an independent beauty consultant since 1997, I've met some amazing people from all over the world. Each summer we are invited to gather in Dallas at Seminar to celebrate our successes and to catch visions of higher dreams.

A few years ago, I attended a banquet with National Sales Director Emeritus Rhonda Burnsides. I sat with my friends from Southern Oklahoma and a new friend from Michigan. We were already diverse at our table, but the real fun started when the sales directors from Miami, Fla. took the stage. Very few of them spoke English. (I had already learned a lot of Mexican Spanish through meeting people in Mary Kay.) I was surprised that I could keep up with most of the Cuban-based Miami Spanish. Then we danced. We were together to celebrate -- it didn't matter from where we came, the color of our skin or our native tongue.

During some of the lunches -- can you imagine dining with over 8,000 of your sisters? -- we had the pleasure of visiting with other consultants and directors from all over the world. It was after one of these meals where I got to take part in a translation chain that I will never forget.
Some of the consultants from Spain wanted to purchase some Mary Kay sales materials, but the company representative was trying to refer them back to the Mary Kay Europe division so that there would not be issues with Spanish customs. There was a problem with the conversion from Texican Spanish to Castilian Spanish. I stepped in and asked if any of the Spanish consultant spoke French. One of them did. Within a matter of minutes, we had everything smoothed over -- from English to French to Castilian Spanish.

My director always taught me that the only qualification a prospective customer or business associate should have is "does she have skin on her face?" Diversity has been a way of life and business. According to the company's website, there are over 35 markets on five continents -- 20 of these markets were added since 1990. With an international sales force of over 1.8 million, similar products are distributed all over the globe.
Vice President of U.S. Marketing Yvette Franco explained that the new commercials purposely include diverse models.
"In fact, we will have three commercials that target our diverse general population, Latinas, African-American women. Remember these groups are the fastest growing population segments, " Franco said.

My Mary Kay experience has not only taught me about the importance of God first, family second and career third, but also about diversity. I have learned that folks are just folks. We are all sisters together on a quickly shrinking world. Language, cultural tradition and national political background shouldn't matter. We all have skin on our face.