As I mentioned in an earlier post, I attended and spoke at a Global Business Summit recently in Dallas, sponsored by the local chapter of the American Marketing Association.  I was the last speaker, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad; this time it was good.  The theme of the conference was focused on doing business in a tough economy, and all day long I listened to folks who were sharing their concerns about the current state of business and sharing stories of challenging times for their companies.  As the day went on, my head became filled with thoughts of how well prepared Mary Kay was, unlike many other companies, for any sort of challenge that came our way.  I wondered, why are we are in such a different place?  What is it that Mary Kay has done differently that has us in such a strong place?  I continued to think about that most of the afternoon, so much so that I was often distracted from the program. 

When it came my turn to speak, I shared the story of Mary Kay's global growth, and our record sales year in 2008, much to the astonishment of the audience.  At the end, a gentleman in the audience asked me why I thought Mary Kay was getting these kinds of results.  (Thank goodness for the seeds that had been planted earlier in the day, as I was well prepared to tell him exactly what I thought.)  I responded that I'm certain there are a number of reasons, but one of the most significant has to be that we continue to be long-term focused.  And our "farsightedness" began at the very beginning with Mary Kay Ash herself in 1963.

Mary Kay Ash's decision to take her then life savings of $5,000 and invest in her vision for women's potential was indeed farsighted.  She knew that the lives of these women were not going to change over night, and that it wouldn't be easy.  I can only imagine the short-term sacrfices that she and Richard made in order to see their long-term dream become a reality.  As that reality began to come to fruition, and Mary Kay realized that this thriving organization was not only going to outgrow her ability to personally mentor each woman but would also outlive her, she raised up a new group of leaders to carry on the legacy. Mary Kay and Richard once again exhibited their farsightedness when they made the decision to take the company public in order to raise the capital needed to provide regional distribution centers to better serve our growing sales force around the country.  Knowing that being a publicly-held corporation would not be in the best interest of Mary Kay long-term, they had the vision to risk everything, taking the company back under private family ownership.  And in 2001, deciding to become debt-free brought us to the place of security and sustainability that we have today.  In any of these situations, if the range of sight was near, rather than far, I wonder how different things might look.  I am grateful for the farsightedness of Mary Kay Ash and Richard Rogers, and am thankful that it appears to be contagious, as our current executive team exhibits these same qualities.

Then I got to thinking more (which can sometimes be dangerous) about how that same farsightedness, that has served us well in business, could be applied in other areas. I thought about all the successful people that I know, and they shared a focus on long-term thinking. I also thought about myself and examples of my own near versus farsightedness. Case in point: In my mid-forties, I was carrying quite a bit of extra weight and had tried numerous times to diet and get it off, with no success.  When my focus shifted to the fact that my dad had his first heart attack at 50, and I was quickly approaching that age myself, I began to look at things from a different perspective.  My nearsightedness (focusing on dieting and losing the weight) changed to farsightedness (my long-term health and quality of life) and I began to see very different results.  Finally I was able to get the scales to move in the direction of that long-term focus.  I can think of numerous other examples that I can cite in my personal life, and in my career, where this is also true.  (I won't share those, though, because then this would be a novel instead of a blog.)

I was chatting at dinner on Monday evening with Inner Circle Independent National Sales Director Jan Harris, and sharing my thoughts on this short-term versus long-term thinking and the affect it can have on us.  Jan shared something that I wanted to pass on, because she in fact is an example of one of the most farsighted people I've encountered.  When I asked about the length of perspective on her business, her answer was "My lifetime".  Now THAT is farsightedness!

I wonder how many of these challenges that individuals, families, corporations and even nations are currently facing could have been mitigated if only they had been more farsighted.  All of this has inspired me now to constantly ask myself, "If I do this, am I sacrificing my long-term goals for today?" and "Is what I'm doing today contributing to my lifelong vision?" Of course I know there will be times when I will have to adjust plans because of short-term circumstances, but if the adjustment is moving me away from rather than toward my long-term goals, I'm going to continue to search for a win-win course of action.

So...when was the last time you had YOUR VISION checked and HOW FAR CAN YOU SEE?

Today is the day that we celebrate Mother Earth.  I'm thankful that we've decided to set aside a day to honor our planet and to reflect on sustainability in the environment, however, every day should be Earth Day.  After all, it is the only Earth that we have.  Many people will be out doing special things today to help the planet in their local communities, but I wonder how  many of them will go right back to their normal routines tomorrow without having made any long-term changes in their behavior that could make a difference.  Each of us, doing small things, can collectively add up to big changes that will improve our sustainability for generations to come. 

At Mary Kay, we take our accountability as a good steward of the environment very seriously.  Are we perfect?  No, not yet.  Are we working harder every day to make continuous improvements? Yes, we are. This last year I've witnessed first-hand how, by working together, we've made a tremendous difference.  Thanks to the efforts of our Independent Beauty Consultants and their customers who recycled their old platinum and pink compacts, we planted an ENTIRE FOREST in the Bitterroot National Forest.  That's 200,000 trees!  Thanks to our corporate employees, who willingly (okay maybe they fussed just a little) gave up their space heaters and turned off the lights in their work area when they weren't being used, we saved enough electricity in 2008 to power more than 700 homes for a whole year.  We continue to recycle the water and alcohol that is left over after we manufacture our products; and the alcohol can be used in the production of fuel.  For 20 years our employees have recycled paper, cardboard, aluminum cans and now plastic bottles, saving tons of landfill waste. We're continuing to find ways to reduce the amount of plastics and paper used in our product packaging, and to make all our products more recyclable.

Today, Van (my husband) and I will be planting one more tree at our small farm.  In the last year, we've also planted 4 other trees, which will provide fruit for us this summer; started composting with the help of our cows and horses, and I compost all the kitchen scraps as well.  It works wonders on the vegetable garden, which we also started last fall.  Because we are at least 10 miles away from most of the city conveniences, we've also made a conscious effort to bundle our trips to town, so my grocery shopping and other errands I frequently do on the way home from the office in the evening in order to save fuel. I'm currently in the market for some rain barrels to catch the rainwater and use it to water the garden and the animals. Nothing really earth-shattering, but I know that these small steps will make a difference in the long run.

With almost 2 million Indpendent Beauty Consultants and tens of millions of customers around the world, if we were to each do a few small things, imagine the HUGE impact it would have.  I encourage you to do something good for Mother Earth today, stop doing some of the things you've been doing, and create new lifelong habits that will contribute to our world's sustainability. Let's show the world that we are PINK DOING GREEN (SM)!

I was asked to give the closing keynote speech at a Global Business Summit yesterday, conducted by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the American Marketing Assocation.  On Tuesday evening, there was a reception at a local university for the speakers, several marketing industry professionals and faculty from the university.  One of my staff members from Mary Kay's market research team is the President-Elect of the local AMA chapter, so she also attended the reception.  I don't get many opportunities to socialize with my team, and I was glad to have the chance to visit with her outside the normal work day environment.

As we were talking, she shared with me her dream of continuing her education and pursuing a PhD, and then the conversation somehow turned to getting out of school and trying to figure out where you fit in the business world, and all the things that they don't teach you in college that you wish they would.  She said they didn't teach her in college how to find the right organization that would be a fit with who she is. She went on to tell me a story about going to work in "Corporate America" and being totally excited about finding something that would allow her to utilize the market research skills she had studied and worked so hard to develop.  However, she would soon learn that while the opportunity gave her a chance to use those skills, and she actually liked the work, that company wasn't a "fit" for her.  She realized she would never be happy there, no matter the opportunity she was provided.  She left that company, and found Mary Kay.

(Now we're coming to the part of the story that inspired me to write this post.)

She's now been with us for just under two years, and she's found a fit.  In fact, she says that all her friends (the ones who DON'T work at Mary Kay) are always talking about how "disgustingly happy" she is since she went to work at Mary Kay.   They often question the reason behind her extreme happiness, and here's what she tells them:

"When I worked at (the other company), I would walk from my cube to the ladies restroom.  On the way there, I would walk past no less than 10 other people's workstations, and every one of them would look down, start shuffling papers or pick up the phone, not wanting to make eye contact with me, let alone say anything.  At Mary Kay, I also have a long walk to the ladies room.  Everyone I pass by looks up from what they are doing, smiles, offers a greeting or starts a conversation.  In fact, sometimes it can make for a real feeling of desperation by the time I finally get there!"

When I heard this, of course I immediately had to agree.  There is something special about Mary Kay people.  When the fit is right, you know it.  And more often than not, it is the people that make the difference.  

Michelle, I'm glad you've found a home at Mary Kay. Keep telling your story to everyone you meet.  And don't give up on pursuing that dream. 

The Mary Kay women are really a creative bunch!  We've had well over 500 suggestions for the Reflections blog tagline.  We'll close down the contest and gather all the entries tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM Dallas time.  Then we'll narrow it down and put several of the best back out there for you to vote on. The tagline that receives the most votes will be declared our winner, and the author will be the owner of a fabulous new Michael Kors designer handbag.

I've noticed that many of you have left duplicate comments because you didn't see it post immediately.  Comments made to this site are moderated, which means that I review them before they are posted to the site.  I review the comments several times each day, but there are times when I eat, sleep, do my other Mary Kay work, and spend some time with my family.  Also, for you "night owls", I'm an "early to bed, early to rise" person, so I rarely review comments after 9 PM, and often review them prior to 6 AM in the morning.

This would also be a good time to let you know that I won't be blogging every day.  A few times a week is the plan for now, and we'll see where that takes us.  I have a Twitter account that is complementary to the Mary Kay Reflections blog.  If you'd like to follow on Twitter, the ID is MKReflections.  To make it simple, when you're on the blog, you can simply go to the bottom right of the page, and click on the link that says "follow me on Twitter".  If you don't already have a Twitter account, you'll have to set one up.  It's really easy, and it's free.

That's all for now, and happy blogging!

Welcome to the inaugural post of “Reflections” --  I’m delighted that you’ve come to visit!

Perhaps we’ve had a chance to meet already; if so, it’s good to connect with you again.  If we don’t yet know each other, I’m looking forward to learning about you. (If you’re curious about me, you can click on the “About the authors” button at the top right.)

It is so exciting for me to have this opportunity to share with you a bit about what’s going on at Mary Kay and my perspective on issues that interest us as women.   I’d also like to hear from you about what’s on your mind.  I wish Mary Kay Ash were still here, so she could see us utilizing these new avenues of communication.  In my early days at the company, I remember Mary Kay referring to “the three forms of communication – telegraph, telephone and tell-a-woman”.  She would be so surprised at how far we’ve come as a society and as a company, and the wonderful tools that technology has made available to allow for instantaneous, worldwide sharing of thoughts.

The name “Reflections” is perfect for the blog because  it truly represents the vision for what will happen here.  Reflections are thoughts or opinions resulting from careful consideration, or, in another sense, what we see when we look at ourselves.  Our goal is that the content you find here inspires you and gives you food for thought. Ultimately, we hope this blog is one more way that Mary Kay can enrich your life.

I’m just the navigator here, though, helping guide us through the path that, together, we decide to take.  Of course there will be times when I want to talk about something specific that’s on my mind, or an exciting event that we want to make sure you have the scoop on.  You’ll hear often from other Mary Kay executives and employees  as well.  And we’re counting on you to provide lots of interesting things for us to explore.  What a fun journey this will be!

This site is for you, and we’d like your help from the very beginning to create a tagline for “Reflections” that will help readers know what we’re all about and why they should join us.  Think about the things you love about Mary Kay or the way it makes you feel.  To get your creative juices flowing, here’s an example: “Beauty from the inside out – be inspired, share ideas, stay connected.” Post your creative ideas on the tagline here, we’ll narrow it down, and let you vote on the final tagline.  And what’s a Mary Kay challenge without a PRIZE?  Of course, there will be one.  Who knows?  You may be the author of the winning words.

Thanks again for being a part of what’s happening here and we can’t wait to hear from you.