It’s Home Business Month, and the Examiner is focusing on successful .jpg)
home businesses!
In this economy with layoffs abounding, home based businesses are thriving. Some enter into the home based world out of necessity – they have lost their corporate gigs and can’t find another. Some go home based on desire for more family time – like the attorney who enters private practice to work around their offspring’s schedules. The gains seem to be legion.
In interviewing two very successful Mary Kay Director’s one gain that jumped out to me, and surprised me, was their ability to openly incorporate their personal faith into their home based business. As a Human Resources professional who has spent a career trying to ensure comfort in the workplace for all, mostly by keeping what you bring to the office work related, openly bringing your faith to work, and having that be okay, is a novel concept!
No matter what your motivation, the home based business is a rich and viable alternative to the corporate gig! Unlike most corporate endeavors, there is no ceiling – glass or otherwise – to your success.
The following is an interview with Cindy Gobrecht and Lenore Hatzenbiler, pictured left to right above, of Mary Kay Cosmetics:
Q. What’s your educational background?
A. Cindy: BA Linguistics UC San Diego 1981
Lenore: BA - San Diego State University
Q. What is your current title with Mary Kay Cosmetics?
A, Cindy: Future Executive Senior Sales Director
Lenore: Independent Sales Director
Q. How long have you been with Mary Kay cosmetics?
A. Cindy: 23 years this month
Lenore: 11 years
Q. How did you get started?
A. Cindy: I was looking for a business I could work from home when I started a family. I was delivering mail in Berkeley CA for USPS while putting my husband through school at UC Berkeley. I started selling Mary Kay part-time while delivering mail 60 hours a week and caught the vision because I was making double per hour at my Mary Kay appointments than I was at the Post Office. I took a leap of faith 4 months into my business and quit the P.O. when they would not cut my hours to part time. I won my first Mary Kay car in my first 10 months and have won 10 more since including two Pink Cadillacs.
Lenore: I joined after seeing how happy my friend was working for herself and how stressed out I was working in the corporate world while trying to balance my family with my job.
Q. How has the economy affected your business?
A. Cindy: I had one of my best years in 2008 and 2009 is off to a great start. I won my 11th car (a Saturn Vue) in March 2009. Mary Kay does great during a recession because women are looking for additional ways to make money and less expensive beauty products. Our recruiting was up 40% in June over last year. We call it a lipstick economy because a woman can't buy the big ticket items but she can pamper herself with a new lipstick.
Lenore: For the better! A woman may not be able to spend the money on a new outfit or a new couch, but she can afford a new lipstick and that makes her feel great! (Lenore is currently driving a Saturn Vue as well, earned through her Mary Kay success.)
Q. What’s the best thing about being home based for your career?
A. Cindy: The flexibility I have to work around my customers' schedule helps me to build a loyal customer base. I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss. It was a perfect career while raising my daughter. I could be there for her and still have something else in my life to give me purpose and a way to achieve.
Lenore: The ability to live my life based on my priorities: God - Family - Career
Q. What advise would you give yourself if you were just starting out?
A. Cindy: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. Proverbs 3:10 Faith is the key to success. Believing is seeing.
Lenore: Don't make the decision so complicated. Just do it!
Q. What are your future plans for your career?
A. Cindy: To build my National Area so that I can have the Family Security Plan for my retirement. Our National Sales Directors receive $1-10million in a retirement plan from Mary Kay paid out over a 15 year period.
Lenore: National Sales Director
Q. How did it feel to bring home a pink Cadillac?
A. Cindy: It is like driving a Pink Cloud! It is like being in a parade. People wave at you everywhere you go. I felt like a true success.
Lenore: Amazing! It was so rewarding to have my daughter with me and witness what happens when you set a goal and work hard!
Q. What do people do if they want a home based business like yours?
A. Cindy: It is $100 plus tax for our Starter Kit and training is provided by local Directors. There is info on our personal websites about the career info. I can be contacted for more information. www.marykay.com/cgobrecht.
Lenore: I’m happy to help. Website: www.marykay.com/lhatzenbiler Phone: 805-530-1162
Q. Anything else you want to share???
A. Cindy: I have moved three times back and forth across the country for various personal reasons. It was great to be able to build my business wherever I wanted to and to create the life I wanted to live where I wanted to live it not based on an employer’s will but my own. It is great to have a job that pays me what I am worth and I can increase my income at anytime. It is great to have a job that you cannot be laid off from. It is great to be in charge of my destiny. The best part is the personal growth and Mary Kay philosophies that have taught me to be a more faith filled, positive person.
Lenore: It is very rewarding to be part of a company that is focused on changing lives. I love being part of an organization that encourages me to be the best person I can be so I can make a difference for my family and the world. Quite different from most jobs where everything you do is for the company.
Thanks Cindy and Lenore for sharing! And, if you were wondering, men are welcome to become Mary Kay consultants!
Comments
Great article! Yes, working at home is definitely the way to go. I am considering becoming a Mary Kay consultant myself.
I changed careers by deciding to work at home to be with my children. I have worked from home for more than 10 years. www.stay-home-income.com has a FREE list of hundreds of LEGITIMATE stay at home jobs offered by known companies. The work from home sector is definitely thriving in this economy!
Mary Kay Cosmetics is a product based pyramid scheme. Learn as much as you can about this seductive predator before investing any time, energy, or money in this scam. Multitudes of women (and their families) have been injured financially through their association with the Mary Kay Cosmetics MLM. Do yourself and your family a favor; simply avoid the MK MLM. For more information, do a Google search re "pinktruth."
Beware of uninformed individuals with hidden agendas using scare tactics. Mary Kay is not a mult-level organization, nor is it a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal and the FTC shuts those down as quickly as they can. Mary Kay has been in business for over 45 years, their marketing plan is taught in top MBA programs, and frankly, I have trouble understanding how anyone could blame their Mary Kay business for financial injury. No one can be ruined financially without their full participation. No one is being tricked into anything. Instead of pointing the finger, maybe it's time for some personal responsibility.
I agree that ANY irresponsible person can get themselves into great debt with ANY COMPANY they choose to run. The idea is...work smart. Sell the product, stop blaming others for your failures. If you bought a tire store and didn't sell any tires, is it the tire manufacturers fault you didn't sell any tires?
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