Mary Kay | Pyramid Scheme Or Legit Opportunity?

In this article, we are going to address the May Kay pyramid scheme allegations.

Here’s a quick spoiler:

The Mary Kay business model is based on a network marketing structure, also commonly referred to as MLM or multi level marketing.

And MLM is widely misunderstood and often confused for Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

But there is a big difference between a pyramid scheme and MLM…

But we’ll get to that.

You’re probably reading this Mary Kay review because you were approached by a representative for the company.

And they introduced you to a home based business opportunity that almost sounds too good to be true.

And before just blindly jumping into something new, you figured you should do your due diligence and research this company for yourself.

Good for you.

Starting a home business is a big decision and it’s always good to know the facts before making a big decision like this.

The truth is, a network marketing business like the Mary Kay MLM can be a good opportunity to build a large income for yourself and your family…

But it’s not all good.

Like everything else, there are two sides to the coin.

And in this article, we are going to discuss the good, the bad, and ugly.

We’ll also talk about the Mary Kay scam rumours and whether or not this is something that you should take into consideration.

Before we get into all that, let’s talk about how this company got started.

Mary Kay History

The Mary Kay MLM was founded 1963 by Mary Kay Ash. 

Her son Richard Rogers is the chairman of Mary Kay today. David Holl is the president of Mary Kay and was named CEO in 2006.

Mary Kay is a privately owned company and has seen explosive growth over the decades. 

In fact, it is the 6th largest network marketing company in the world according to Direct Selling News and generated over $3 billion in revenue in 2020.

Mary Kay distributes its cosmetic products through a network of independent distributors called beauty consultants. 

Consultants can make a commission every time they make a sale. They can also earn commissions when they recruit others to sell products in their distribution network.

In 1963, Mary Kay had just over 300 consultants, but that number has exploded to over 2.5 million consultants worldwide today.

Where Is Mary Kay Headquarters?

Mary Kay is based in Addison, Texas. 

They have two main manufacturing plants: one in Dallas, Texas and one in Hangzhou, China. 

They used to have another plant in Switzerland to serve the European market, but that plant was closed down in 2003.

Does Mary Kay Have Lawsuits?

Unlike other network marketing giants like Amway and Herbalife, Mary Kay appears to have a pretty spotless reputation.

Many network marketing companies are mired in lawsuits, alleging pyramid scheme practices.

Surprisingly, this is not the case with Mary Kay.

I think the lack of Mary Kay pyramid scheme lawsuits speaks to the integrity of the “beauty consultants” that distribute these products into the marketplace.

Mary Key did however, get sued in 2004 by one of their own distributors, Claudine Woolf.

In 1997, Woolf achieved the rank of “Fabulous 50s Director” for building a 50 person sales organization.

As a result, she was awarded a free car.

After experiencing extensive health complications, she was unable to meet the sales quota required for her to keep the rank she had achieved.

Woolf requested that Mary Kay remove the quota, but they refused and eventually took back the car.

Woolf sued Mary Kay, arguing that workplace rights could be applied to independent contractors who worked out of their own home, just like somebody who works a job.

The courts ultimately ruled in the favor of Mary Kay and Woolf was terminated from her position.

As we will discuss later in this Mary Kay review, becoming a distributor for a network marketing company is not a job…

It’s a business.

That’s a very important distinction to keep in mind when you’re making this decision.

Before we go deep on the business opportunity, let’s briefly go over the products you’ll be selling.

Mary Kay Products

As mentioned already, Mary Kay sells cosmetic products. Their products fall into 5 main categories:

• Skin care
• Makeup
• Body and sun
• Fragrance
• Men’s

You probably came to this article to learn about the business opportunity, so we are not going to cover the products in great detail.

You can, however, find many other Mary Kay reviews online that really dive into the details of these products.

Let’s briefly go over the 5 main types of products that you would be selling as a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant.

Please keep in mind: I have no affiliation with this company. The videos shared below are for informational purposes and do not necessarily reflect my own views and opinions.

Skin Care

Mary Kay has been a leader in skin science now for several decades. 

At a skin care conference in 2021 (RADLA), Mary Kay’s dermatologists shared a clinical study that revealed a process to significantly improve the skin’s tolerance to a higher concentration of pure retinol.

Retinol is a formulation of vitamin A that can be applied directly to the skin to mitigate the effects of ageing and acne.

According to Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Scientific Officer at Mary Kay:

Retinol is a gold standard ingredient when it comes to skin care. Beauty products containing retinol are marketed globally but higher concentration retinol products are commonly associated with potential skin irritation, stinging sensation and peeling as skin acclimates to retinol use. Through safety and clinical studies in both the United States and China, we found that a gradual retinization process can significantly improve tolerability and still provide known skin benefits associated with retinol. We are honored to present our findings at RADLA among the world’s foremost skin care experts at this prestigious event.

Makeup

Mary Kay is probably one of the best known makeup brands in the world today. 

They’ve been around for over half a century and virtually every lady you talk to is intimately familiar with this brand.

There are some negative Mary Kay makeup reviews to be found online, questioning the safety of the ingredients used.

The video above is Mary Kay’s defence.

The truth is, there are no credible complaints to be found online in regards to the product safety.

Since Mary Kay is a network marketing company, you can be sure that governmental regulators are watching this company like a hawk.

If there were any credible safety concerns, you could be sure that it would be a high profile news story in no time.

Body and Sun

Hydration is only one of many products in this category.

They have anti-ageing, cleansing, foot care, hand care, moisturising, and even sun protection.

There are simply too many to cover in this article. 

Unless you wanna be reading all day…

Didn’t think so.

Fragrance

Mary Kay sells 15 different perfumes and colognes. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the prices of the scents… out of all 15, not one of them costs more than $60.

That’s not bad considering I have personally spent over $100 on a bottle of cologne on multiple occasions.

Men’s

Not surprisingly, there are only a small number of products for men available from Mary Kay.

It’s pretty obvious from every single piece of marketing this company puts out, they are not too focused on attracting men to the Mary Kay products.

Which is OK.

We’ll find something else to do.

Mary Kay Business Model | How It Works

As we briefly talked about already, becoming a Mary Kay consultant is not a job.

It’s a business opportunity.

This means that if you don’t make sales, you will not make any money.

You also do not have access to workers benefits like health care and insurance.

As a business owner, these are things that you must take care of on your own.

Is Mary Kay A Network Marketing Company?

We addressed this already, but yes. This is a very common question people ask when they are considering signing up for this business opportunity.

Mary Kay is a network marketing company, also referred to as direct sales or MLM (multi level marketing).

Many people are not actually aware of the MLM structure that this business has.

I think it’s because of the widespread brand recognition that Mary Kay has achieved.

There is a lot more focus on the products than the business end.

How Mary Kay Works

So let’s talk about how the business works.

When you sign up to be a consultant for Mary Kay, you will be tasked with selling beauty products.

Every time you make a sale, you will earn a commission.

Now, the commissions really are not that big. It would be nearly impossible to build a life changing income from product sales alone.

But there is another way to earn income from the Mary Kay business…

By recruiting folks into your own sales team.

This is really the true power of network marketing.

Think about it…

Your time is limited, right?

You can only sell so many products by yourself.

But if you can build a team of hundreds of consultants to make sales and earn commissions for you, you can take time out of the equation.

It truly does allow you to have some more leverage in your income.

As the late Jim Rohn said:

Profits are infinitely better than wages.

So here’s how Mary Kay is structured:

You can recruit folks into your “downline” and earn a commission every time they make a sale.

But the folks you recruit can also build their own teams.

And those folks can also make sales of which you will earn commissions, down several levels deep.

Can You Make Money With Mary Kay, Really?

If done correctly, you could build a very large organisation over time and earn an extremely large income.

But what you need to realize is that it will not be easy.

It will take a thick skin, time, dedication, and a lot of hard work.

If you want to gain a better understanding of MLM and how it works, feel free to read my deep-dive analysis on network marketing.

So exactly how do you get paid with Mary Kay and how is it structured?

Let’s talk about it.

Mary Kay Compensation Plan

There are 4 main types of compensation plans used by most network marketing companies:

• Unilevel
• Breakaway
• Forced Matrix
• Binary

The Mary Kay compensation plan is based on the Breakaway model.

This means that you can build your sales organisation as wide as you want.

You can have as many people as you want directly underneath you in your team.

The downside however, is that you can only earn from a limited depth in your team.

One of the bigger advantages to the Breakaway compensation plan is that you can out-earn the person who recruited you, or anyone else in your upline.

So if you make more sales and recruit more people than somebody higher up in the sales organisation, you would actually move up the organisation in position.

The truth is, there are pros and cons to each of the compensation plan models. You can learn about them in this deep dive MLM article.

To compensate for the disadvantages in the Breakaway plan, Mary Kay has implemented a bunch of bonuses and incentives into their pay plan.

This makes for a very nuanced and complex compensation plan.

For example:

Based on how well you perform, you will start to move up the Mary Kay pay scale…

Meaning that your commission percentage that you receive from your downline sales will actually increase.

Honestly, it gets pretty confusing and you don’t really need to know all the convoluted details unless you really decide to join the business.

Here’s all you really need to know:

There are 2 ways in which you build your Mary Kay business:

• Sell products
• Build a sales team to sell products for you

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Mary Kay Business?

I am not affiliated with this business in any way, so there is no way for you to join Mary Kay through this website.

In order to get started with Mary Kay, you will need to reach out to the person who first introduced you to the business.

You will need to buy a Mary Kay starter kit, which contains some sample products as well as promotional tools and forms for you to fill out.

The startup kit costs roughly $100.

Which really isn’t too bad.

Starting any other type of business will cost you thousands or more.

How Much Do Mary Kay Sales Reps Make?

Like most things, there is not a simple black or white answer to this question.

The truth is, most average Mary Kay reps do not make anywhere near enough money to allow them to quit their day jobs.

But some do…

In fact, there are a handful of Mary Kay consultants that earn millions of dollars per year.

It’s very possible.

Here’s the problem:

Most new Mary Kay business builders quit their business too soon.

The reality is, the only real way to fail is to quit.

So why do so many quit prematurely?

It’s because they got started with unrealistic expectations.

They assumed it would be very easy and they would make life changing income in a very short period of time.

The reality is, network marketing takes really hard work and dedication.

Yes, you can get rich…

But you can not do it easily or quickly.

This is why I want to tell you the truth:

So that if you decide to move forward with the Mary Kay business, you will know exactly what to expect. 

You will be able to move forward with conviction and persevere through the hard times when they inevitably come.

Is Mary Kay A Pyramid Scheme?

This is one of the most common questions asked and needs to be addressed in this Mary Kay MLM review.

The short answer is NO.

The Mary Kay pyramid scheme allegations are completely unfounded.

In fact, the Mary Kay network marketing business has received a lot less public scrutiny than competitive MLM giants like Rodan + Fields and Arbonne.

So why is Mary Kay not considered a pyramid scheme?

There is a fundamental difference between a pyramid scheme and a legitimate network marketing business.

In a pyramid scheme, you would simply pay for a spot in a pyramid shaped organization.

That’s it… that’s all you would get for your money.

You would then be incentivised to add more people into the pyramid structure in order to get paid.

The people at the top get rich, while the people at the bottom lose all their money when the pyramid collapses.

The problem is that there are no products or services being sold in an illegal pyramid.

In a legitimate business, there are desirable products being sold into the marketplace because there’s a demand.

That’s what keeps a business sustainable.

So it stands to reason that if there is a “business” that is not giving the market what it wants, it will inevitably collapse.

Here’s the problem:

In the past few decades, there have been multiple illegal pyramids operating under the disguise of network marketing.

When these illegal schemes inevitably collapsed, they received a ton of negative press.

And for good reason…

A lot of innocent unsuspecting people got screwed!

But the broader public didn’t realize that these illegal pyramid schemes were fundamentally different from network marketing.

So now, many people simply equate MLM with pyramid schemes.

It’s too bad, but that’s where we are.

A legit MLM business is not that different from a traditional business.

There are real products and services being sold into the economy in both cases.

It’s simply a value for value exchange.

Consumers trade money (value) in exchange for products (value).

The main difference between the MLM structure and traditional business is the way by which products are marketed and distributed.

The Mary Kay business saves millions of dollars in advertising and retail fees, and chooses instead to pass those profits on to their customers and distributors.

And they offer the regular Joe or Jane (like you and me) an opportunity to build a life changing, passive income over time.

Many people will point to the “pyramid” shape that a network marketing organisation takes as it grows.

But what you must understand about human nature is that we will always organise ourselves into hierarchies.

It’s how we created human cooperation and managed to climb to the very top of the food chain.

And those hierarchies will inevitably take on the shape of a pyramid.

Have a look at the corporate business model:

Looks suspiciously like a pyramid, doesn’t it?

Our governmental organisations take on the same shape.

It’s just not avoidable.

The difference in network marketing is that it’s very possible for you to out-earn somebody who is higher up in the pyramid structure.

If you sell and recruit more, you will make more money.

But if you work in the mail room at a corporation, you will never out-earn the CEO.

Unless you manage to climb up the corporate ladder and take the CEO’s job away, displacing other workers all the way up.

Network marketing is not nearly that harsh.

I believe it’s inherently more fair than any other hierarchy we have.

The incentives are properly aligned.

Another Reason For Mary Kay Scam Rumors

One of the things I really dislike about most network marketing companies is that there is a lot of hype.

The company reps make unrealistic income claims and exaggerate the effectiveness of their products.

I think nuance is important, and we must realise that perfection does not exist.

But I find that many network marketing reps claim that their products and opportunities can completely fix any woe you may have in your life.

As I’m sure you realise, I like the MLM business model…

We just need to be realistic.

Anyway…

Many people who get started in network marketing are not seasoned professionals.

So let’s say you get started with Mary Kay.

And you quickly realise that the business is not as easy as you were told it would be.

Many of your family and friends don’t “see the light” and it can be very frustrating for a new network marketer.

Over time, you start to become pushy and obnoxious, which puts a real strain on your personal relationships.

All you ever want to talk about is your business, even though it has become painfully obvious that most people don’t care.

So your loved ones start to think that you were scammed.

They start feeling like perhaps Mary Kay is a cult.

When in reality, you just became a bit overzealous and you let your excitement get the better of you.

I believe this is where a lot of the Mary Kay scam rumours are born.

Mary Kay Business Opportunity | How To Succeed?

Remember how we said that the true power of the Mary Kay business opportunity lies in building a sales team?

Here is the most important thing you must understand about building this team…

You will not be building it alone.

Remember, the folks you recruit will be recruiting their own people. This will create multiple levels in your team over time…

And you can earn from those levels, down several generations.

So instead of becoming a recruitment machine, you will need to empower your people to build their own teams and empower their people to do that same.

Does that make sense?

As Randy Gage says in his latest book:

You don’t grow your team. You grow your people so that they will grow your team.

So the key thing that you must focus on to build a long term sustainable income with Mary Kay is duplication.

Over time, you do not need to recruit as many people as you might think.

If you lead and teach your team the right way, your team will grow itself over time.

Don’t get me wrong, you still need to do your part in order to grow and set the right example.

But you do not need to recruit hundreds of people per year.

Not even close.

Let’s say that you went out and learned how to do high pressure sales.

You might recruit a ton of people in short order.

And your team would try to emulate you because they will look to you for leadership.

When they can’t do what you did, they will quickly quit.

And you will be forced to constantly replenish your team.

You have effectively built yourself a job… which is what you wanted to escape.

How To Succeed With Mary Kay

When you get started with the Mary Kay business, you will receive a lot of guidance and training from your team leaders.

Remember, the incentives are properly aligned in MLM… if you make more money, so will your team leaders.

So they will not steer you wrong.

At least not intentionally.

So you will need to commit to follow the system that you are taught.

Every company has a different system that they teach their distributors. And these systems are intentionally designed to create maximum effectiveness and duplication.

Here’s the deal:

If you follow the exact system that you’re taught, then your new members will do the same.

This is how you create duplication.

How To Get A Fast Start

One of the best things you can do to ensure that you will stay motivated in your Mary Kay business is to get off to a quick start.

If you can get some quick wins, you will have staying power.

Your team leader will likely teach you to make a list of friends and family that you think would be interested in your products or business opportunity.

And then you will need to extend an invitation to a meeting where they will be presented with the Mary Kay opportunity.

So with that in mind,  I’d like to talk about a concept that Randy Gage discusses in his latest book called The Major Blast.

Here’s the idea:

Your goal should be to get 80-100 invitations out the door as quickly as possible.

Don’t expect nearly all of them to show up…

That would be unrealistic.

But there will be a small percentage of folks who are interested in starting a side hustle, and they will probably be people that you wouldn’t expect.

So you won’t be showing 80-100 presentations.

But if you get enough people flowing through the “funnel” then you will have more coming out the other side who are ready to get started.

Network marketing is a numbers game, and you just gotta work through the numbers.

Here’s a few actionable steps that you should take as you implement The Major Blast:

• Hosting a social get together to create a customer base for your products 
• Put together one or two business presentations to launch in your area 
• Launch an email and text message campaign 
• Distribute some mass marketing marketing materials in appropriate places around your area 
• Edit or create various social media accounts to promote your business
• And finally, move all the people that have entered the “funnel” from your various efforts towards a bigger presentation (speak to your sponsor about this bigger presentation)

I would recommend you read our full guide for succeeding in MLM here so that you will have a good understanding of what it will take.

Mary Kay | How To Sell Online

Most network marketing companies have little or no training when it comes to building a business online.

And as we discussed, you should follow the training that you receive without falter.

However, you will eventually run out of people to talk to in your personal life.

But you will likely have built up some momentum in your business already.

If so, it might be time to take your business to the internet.

After all, we live in a digital world. We should take full advantage of the technology we have available to us.

Internet marketing is not as complicated as most people think it is.

But it will require you to learn a few new skills and take very intentional actions.

Essentially, online marketing boils down to three steps.

I. Build An Audience

In order to build an audience, you will need to attract people to you.

You will do this by creating content that your potential customers would be looking for.

You could use:

• A blog
• YouTube channel
• Social media platform

The objective of your content creation is to become a thought leader; an authority figure in your niche.

Ask yourself…

What questions are my potential customers asking themselves?

Those are the questions that you will need to address in your content.

When your audience is looking for guidance or training online, YOU should be the first person that comes to their mind.

You can achieve this by creating valuable, entertaining content that addresses the questions your folks are asking.

II. Build An Email List

Once you’ve built up trust and authority with your online followers, your next objective is to collect their email addresses.

But how can you incentivise people to give your their information?

You do it by offering a free gift.

This gift should offer A LOT of value.

It can come in the form of an eBook, webinar replay, video course etc…

The only way somebody can access this free gift is by entering their email address into a form on your website.

(There are many tools available online to make this super simple — no techie skills required!)

III. Sell & Recruit

Once you have people on your list, you’ve already created a lot of trust with them.

But you will need to continue providing a ton of value through regular emails that will nurture your new leads and continue to strengthen that trust.

But you gotta make money, right?

So every now and then, you can sprinkle in a recommendation for a product or even an invitation to view your business presentation.

But don’t overdo it!

People are very sceptical when it comes to sales pitches through email…

I would recommend keeping the ratio at 80/20.

80% pure value and 20% salesy.

This is a very simplified explanation of internet marketing.

There are more nuances and complexities in it. I would recommend reading my full guide to digital network marketing here.

Mary Kay Business PROS and CONS

I’m sure my bias is just painfully obvious by now…

I like the network marketing business model.

But there is bad stuff about this industry too. 

And in the interest of full transparency, I wanted to share some of the negatives in this Mary Kay review.

Mary Kay Cons

Strained relationships

When your contacts aren’t as receptive as you thought they would be, you may find yourself getting frustrated and somewhat desperate.

You might start to become pushy and your loved ones could start to distance themselves from you.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Stigma

Because of some bad actors in the past, network marketing has a pretty bad reputation. Mary Kay pyramid scheme and scam rumours abound.

This scepticism will be a potentially difficult hurdle to overcome.

Cult-like

This is a common theme in many network marketing companies. The reps feel as though their products and opportunity can solve every single issue folks may face.

While it may be awesome, don’t let yourself fall for this.

It will be unattractive to people when you’re talking about your business.

It’s important to remain balanced and nuanced in your views.

Pure results based income

While this is a good and inherently fair thing, there is also a downside.

You will find that you will make next to no money in the beginning, even though you’re working super hard. 

Remember, network marketing is a long term plan… it’s NOT a job.

Mary Kay Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s talk about some of the most common questions asked by people who are considering the Mary Kay business opportunity.

If you have any more questions left after reading this article, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll get back to ya, ASAP.

Mary Kay Business Review | Conclusion

Quick story…

We’re almost done, I promise.

One of the first network marketing companies I ever joined was a health and wellness company.

It was a really good company… great products, wonderful people, and a powerful business model.

In fact, I still use the products to this very day, over a decade later.

But I was never able to make the business work for myself.

Why?

It was because I didn’t really have a passion for health and wellness.

That’s what it really comes down to.

If you’re trying to decide whether or not you should join the Mary Kay business, you need to ask yourself if you have a passion for beauty.

If not, you will find it difficult to persevere through the hard times that will inevitably come.

But if you do, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

You’re researching this company, so you’ve likely had an interaction with an existing Mary Kay rep…

If this opportunity excites you, then I would recommend you reach out to the person to learn more.

There’s certainly no need for you to be concerned about the Mary Kay pyramid scheme allegations.

So I hope that after reading this, you have a balanced view of what MLM is and what it is not.

Hopefully you can move forward with confidence, no matter what you decide.