Latest / Glovisor Podcast / Ep. 45: 40+ Years in Mary Kay: The Secret to Surviving Change - Jeanette Deatherage
Transcript
- Joe: Imagine running a business within a global brand that survives every move, every market change, and every technological shift. Welcome to the Globizer Podcast, where we explore business growth, communication, and personal development through real conversations with people that make an impact. Our guest has spent more than four decades mastering the art of resilience. Her journey through military relocations, market shifts, and digital transition has empowered countless women and built a powerful personal brand inside a global sales organization. Globizer welcomes Jeanette Detrich. Jeanette Deatherage: Well, hi Joe. Thank you for having me. Joe: it's a pleasure. Looking forward to the conversation. Jeanette Deatherage: Read you. Joe: All right, Jeanette. So let's start off with please tell us more what you do. Jeanette Deatherage: Well I'm a beauty consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics, and as we'll talk about it later, I've been around for quite some time. Joe: Yeah, well I mean over four decades, that's pretty good. So you you've seen a real shift in Mary Kay. Jeanette Deatherage: Absolutely. Joe: so what inspired you to pursue this path? Jeanette Deatherage: When I was sixteen I had a facial done by my cousin and when I say facial, we actually don't touch, we teach how to put it on. And I liked the products and but you know, I was pretty young and so it wasn't really something I thought about. So instead I joined the Air Force and I have a good math score, so I was working with all men. There's twenty one men to every one woman. And that's when I realized I had to find a different situation for myself. So I remember the culture of Mary Kay was faith, family, career. And I thought that's exactly what I need. So I joined, I like to say I traded my combat boots in for high heels. Joe: I like that. Okay. So let's let's go back though. How was Mary Kay back then compared to what it is today? Jeanette Deatherage: Well, we didn't do anything on computer at all. And just as a a kind of fun thing, we actually dr we I was in Oklahoma City. So when we had, you know, orders or things like that, maybe agreements to get started with the business, we literally drove them down on the last day of the month from Oklahoma City to to Dallas. So we you know, everything I do is electronic now and it's so much easier than having like I said, one person we be pick to drive everybody else's stuff down. So it wasn't like we all drove. But it was just completely different. And and I do a lot through Zoom and I'll talk a little bit about that later. But it's entirely different than, you know, in person that that and now a lot of people do both. They do in person and they do Zoom. But I'll kind of explain that in a little bit. Joe: Sure. Now have the products and offerings changed at all? Jeanette Deatherage: Well the products have completely changed. It we have so many scientists on our staff and they're constantly testing the product, they're and we get new products. We when I first started, there was only like five pieces to the basic, and then there was one palette of lipstick and one palette of eyeshadows, and that's all we had. So it's entirely different than we do have one, the original night cream that we have is It's the one thing that stayed since nineteen sixty three, one product. Joe: Well, is that the beginning of Mary Kay, nineteen sixty three? Jeanette Deatherage: Yes, she started on Friday the thirteenth in nineteen sixty three. Joe: so now has marketing changed dramatically in those years? Jeanette Deatherage: Yes, because we do everything by sending out emails and you know, we can do everything from Zoom or meet meets, whatever people like. I like Zoom so I can talk about it a lot. But it's definitely changed. I mean, now some people still sit around the table and then they demonstrate, you know, you put this on, take it off, put it put this on, take it off. But I just find that I can see more people and you know, through electronics systems. than you can just locally. Joe: do you think your customers are embracing the new technology? Or do you think that there's still a segment of the population that still needs that one on one? Jeanette Deatherage: There's definitely people that want one to one. But again, I I've moved so many times I can do it right over the phone. If they don't want to do a Zoom call, we can do it over the phone and it works out that way. But I remember like the first or second move, my customers would say, you don't have to mail it, I'll just find somebody else and in my heart it's thinking, you know, I really like this person. I you know, hope that she stays with me and sometimes I did and sometimes they didn't. Joe: So the goal as a Mary Kay consultant is to sh show them the offerings and then somehow Jeanette Deatherage: Mm-hmm. Joe: match it to them. Is that what you're doing during those Zoom calls? Jeanette Deatherage: we have our books that get sent out five times a year. And then also, you know, through like I said, through Zoom you can do almost anything. And we send out samples. Some some do samples and other people just say, Let's get together and we're gonna do it, you know, just in person through electronic media. Joe: So now how has the world c changed for Mary Kay since these other big companies like Amazon and those large corporations who are now just pumping all these products out there? how has it changed for Mary Kay and also what is the difference that Mary Kay offers that they don't? Jeanette Deatherage: We had personal service, if you order something through Amazon or whatever, no one's gonna call back and say, Well, how is a product working for you? I just really wanna know. So that's the di that's the biggest difference. We we stand behind our products personally, but then the company also stands behind the product one hundred percent. They can use half the bottle and we still will exchange it for them or return it for them. So it's just so much different than you know, the big companies. Yes, they're They might be a little tiny bit faster, but not necessarily. I mean, I use it's something called Pirate Ship and it tells me the fastest way to send the product and and which is the least expensive and the fastest way. And I'm always gonna go with the fastest way for them to get their products. Joe: Now has anything else changed that do you think that it's valuable to share? Jeanette Deatherage: I like to tell people that, you know, it but at first and get in front of a camera, it could be hard. It was hard for me when I first moved here, you're gonna laugh, but I did networking with the camera off. It's not a great way to network. But I finally because it we got here right when Florida closed up pre for COVID. So when I I got my hair cut, put my makeup on, I I can do this and I went in front of the camera and ever since then it's been so much more fun to see people on camera and we and I made really, really good friends from Zoom just because you see them in the Hollywood squares or Brady Bun, some people call it, but you can really make good friends. And sometimes I've actually had some of those friends, like one person lives in Philadelphia and I've seen them in person twice now. So that's kind of neat. It it doesn't have to be yeah, only electronics. We two try to find each other in person too. Joe: you take us through the process? If someone contacts you today, how does it work? How do what does it look like? Jeanette Deatherage: Well the first thing we would do is ask if they've ever tried the product. and then the next thing is if they say, yes, I love so and so, then the next thing is I'll say, Do you have a consultant? And if they say, yes, but she lives so and so, I'd really like to have you do it, we actually send them back to the consultant. but if you know, if that consultant really wasn't working for business and she wasn't getting the catalogs in the mail, then we'll go ahead and you know, we'll work with them, but it is so important, Mary c called it the golden rule that we always send that consultant, I mean that customer back to the consultant. so that's one thing that's really, really important in what we do. But you ask the process. So if somebody you know just contacted me today and they said that they wanted to join the company, I would ask them again the some of the same questions and say, why don't we try the product first? I don't want them to become a consultant if they don't like the product. So that would be the first thing. Let's try the product first. And if they're real excited about the product, then we can help them get started. And it's like thirty five dollars to get started. They fill out us some information and then they even get a free website for that thirty dollars. So it really it's changed. We didn't have websites back then. Everything was done either over phone or you know, just at their kitchen table. Joe: It sounds like a very small investment to get into a business. Jeanette Deatherage: Yes, yes it does. Joe: Can you share with us a little bit more about Mary Kay? How big is Mary Kay? Where are they servicing? Wh where where are they selling their products? How many consultants do they have worldwide? Jeanette Deatherage: First of all, want you to remember that Mary Kay Ash was one person who started this company because of a dream. She was writing a book. And when she, after she retired from sales, she started to write a book and she says, my gosh, I have a business plan. And so that's how the company started with her just writing that book. And then it spread, and we're actually in 30 countries around the world. So it's so I'd say over a million consultants. And it's just amazing that one person had a dream in her heart and then she gave us that same dream that we can do anything as long as we try hard enough. Joe: one of the things that I do remember from Mary Kay a very long time ago was these pink Cadillacs. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Jeanette Deatherage: Well, the pin Cadillacs are iconic and if you see Pink Cadillac, you know that that's a somebody that worked really hard in their business. the way the car program actually works, you have a it's a team and it's for d right now it's for directors only. back in like twenty, thirty years ago, consultants could also earn a car. But the pin Cadillac, the way it actually started it wasn't gonna be a pink Cadillac. Mary Kate took her palette For her eyeshadow and went to, I believe it was the Mercedes. I can't exactly remember. But she said, I would like you to paint that car pink. And the guy says, no, Mary Kay, then you're gonna have to paint it back. You're really just not gonna want to have a car that's pink. So she went across the street to the Cadillac dealership and she said, I would like to have this car painted pink. And they said, Fine, we will paint it pink. So that's how we actually got started with Cadillac. And it is iconic if again, like I said, if someone sees a pain Cadillac, they know that person's worked hard. Because Mary Kate pays the taxes, the tags, and mostly insurance. And the car is leased, and Mary Kate also pays that lease, as long as you keep up your production, your sales, and you're bringing in new people. every two years you can get a new Cadillac. I do want to mention only one percent of the company actually drives a company car. Joe: i an original company car or pink Cadillac? Jeanette Deatherage: there's two other cars before the pink Cadillac. I I don't have the stats on how many people drive a Cadillac, but it's definitely a a a team effort that's gonna earn the Cadillac. But yes, there's they've changed the other cars. Like when I was consultant, I actually got a grand am, a red grand am and that was pretty fun too. Joe: I I wasn't aware that you had different car levels and so can you explain to us a little bit about that? Because you mentioned consultant and I believe you also s used the word director. Jeanette Deatherage: Yes. I actually was a director for thirty years and I earned the use of eleven cars in twenty two of those years. So it is you know, it it's really the real thing. And again, you have can you have consultants in your on your team In the production, the sales might be the same as somebody with the smaller team. So it really depends on meeting the pr production requirements in order to get a car. But again, you know, they hand you the keys and she pays the tags, the taxes, most insurance and and the lease on that car. My last car I actually bought because we were in the middle of moving and then I had an accident and I I wasn't hurt but the car was hurt. So that was that was the last of me having a Mary Kay car. Joe: Now, Jeanette, who should be contacting you right now? Jeanette Deatherage: Women that are going to the store because they saw an ad and they pick up the product and they get a handful of products and they buy them and they have no idea how to use them. So that's people, you know, anybody that wants cosmetics, they can contact us. There's consultants all over and I can help them find a local consultant if they want one. But service becomes behind that product. And again, after you use it for a day or two and someone says, How's that product working for you? How's it? Do you like the color? Is it all working? And they say, Well, no, it really isn't. Then we get right with them and say, Well, how can we help you? Let's exchange it. Let's make sure it's right so that way you like and love what you're using instead of having a drawer full of cosmetics that they're never gonna use. They tried and they didn't like it. And and they can't take it back, usually because it's an open jar. So we, you know, we take it back. But it doesn't happen that much. About ten percent of the total sales is what I've heard, does come back. Joe: In having that relationship with the consultants, is there an additional fee or is this just products that you're purchasing? Jeanette Deatherage: It's only products that they're purchasing. There is no charge to become a customer and you know, to be a coming a consultant, as I said, they're gonna get a free website for thirty dollars and they can s you know, we help them, we train them and we can train them through either the phone or through Zoom. So they don't have to be like sitting at my kitchen table to get trained. We can train them through many different areas and it you know, we all treat we treat everybody the same. They might, you know, go faster or slower. Like I was pretty slow for a while. I didn't get I don't know if you counted the numbers, but I didn't really earn it took me five years to earn the use of my first company car because I really didn't have a goal. And my mentor said you need a goal. So I bought a Thunderbird. And I six months later I earned the use of my first car and I gave my husband a Thunderbird. So we went from always driving an older car to we both had new cars in the driveway, so that was pretty fun. Joe: if someone contacts you to join your team, will they be working directly with you? Jeanette Deatherage: Yes, I'll be working directly with me, but also with my sales director, my mentor who's a who's is helping me. She might, you know, not exactly get everything that she can from me so she can go to our sales director and she'll get trained that way too. But our back office is so good. There's a whole library of training. So I would teach her how to do that too, to go into the back office and learn all I mean, there's just hundreds of different trainings in there. And you wouldn't do all of it as a new consultant, of course. Just take them through baby steps. It's so important that they get they have a goal and have a small goal and let's get that accomplished and then go on to the next thing. Instead of throwing something out there and saying, Well, you need to do this, this, and this. That person may not want that. They may just want a little bit at a time. And that's where we start them. What's where they're gonna go and and what's gonna be best for them. Joe: if they contact you today to join your team, how soon can they ramp up and start doing their first sale? Jeanette Deatherage: They can start that same day because as soon as we get them to sign the agreement electronically, we'll help them set up their website. They can h tell their mom, their sister or anyone, their best friend, to go to the website and they can start purchasing the product. Joe: Now if listeners remember only one thing from today's conversation, what do you hope that message is? Jeanette Deatherage: that we take each person seriously. We wanted to help them, we want to make them feel successful. And we want them to love the product first. That's the first step. But after that, if they can go as fast or as slow as they want to, and and you know, Mary Kay said that every person is individual, but they're also all beautiful. And we show them how the the beauty comes from within and The makeup is is kind of the second thing. So we really teach them confidence and that's an important part of it. Joe: It seems that it's not just getting into a business, you're also joining a very helpful team. Yeah. Jeanette Deatherage: Exactly. Yes, it's all about teamwork. Joe: Jeanette, please tell us, where can our audience connect with you, learn more about your work, and continue this conversation? Jeanette Deatherage: Well the first step would be go to my website. It's www.mary K dot com slash Jeanette D. And they would get to my website, set up my phone number there, and everything else all the products are right there. And as soon as you know, they put I'll get an email that says someone's looked at your website and we go from there. I'd give her a call, ask her what she knows about the product, does she have another consultant? And if she doesn't, we'll get started with her training and s those small baby steps to because we wanna make her feel successful right off the bat. We don't wanna give them a huge goal and they say, Well, I can't do that. so that's not really fair to her or to anybody else. So we're gonna take them and hold their hand step by step. Joe: Jeanette, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time and the value you've shared. Jeanette Deatherage: Well, I appreciate having an opportunity to to tell you what we do. And if anybody has any questions, I'm really here to answer anything that they might have. Joe: Well thanks everyone for listening. If this episode inspired you, share it with someone who needs it. And don't forget to follow the Globizer Podcast for more conversations that make an impact. Till the next time.