“For every failure, there's an alternative course of action,” said Ash. “You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”
Ash is the only woman business leader who is profiled in the book ‘Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time.’ Why is that? Because Ash rose to prominence in a time when few faces of women could be seen in the business world, let alone at the top of a company. Time after time, Ash encountered discrimination in the face of her male counterparts, which made it all the more difficult for her to succeed. Nevertheless, Ash never let anything stand in her way.
In 1952, Ash joined World Gift Co. and used her years of experience in direct sales to expand the company into 43 states. Within ten years, Ash had already earned a position on the company’s board of directors. Despite having her suggestions often dismissed by her male colleagues and being enraged by those who would say, “Oh, Mary Kay, you’re thinking just like a woman”, Ash believed she had finally earned their respect and staked out her claim in the company. That is, until one day in 1962, when a man who Ash had trained was promoted to be her supervisor, with a salary twice that of hers.
Ash quit World Gift Co., but she didn’t give up on her dreams. “Those men didn’t believe a woman had brain matter at all,” said Ash. “I learned back then that as long as men didn’t believe women could do anything, women were never going to have a chance.” With that, Ash set out to prove wrong every single man who had ever stood in the way of her professional success.
“I knew that I had been denied opportunities to fulfill my optimum potentials simply because I was a woman,” said Ash. “These feelings were not mere indulgences of self-pity, because I had personally known so many other women who had suffered similar injustices.” Instead of giving in, Ash decided to break out on her own and challenge her doubters. She knew that the only way to silence those who said she couldn’t be in the business world because she was a woman was to prove them wrong.
Once she had established her own success, Ash devoted her life to opening up opportunities for other women who had been denied. “You can do it!” she exclaimed. “So often a woman comes to us who desperately needs to hear that. Frequently she is a housewife who has been out of the job market for many years, or who has never worked outside the home. When I see a woman like this, I want to do for her what nobody did for me, in the way of providing opportunities.”
To that end, Ash saw her company as one that provided more than just jobs. Instead, Mary Kay Cosmetics was about self-improvement and creating a new way of life. Ash had broken down the barriers standing in her own way and wanted to help others do the same. “You cannot keep determined people from success,” said Ash. “If you place stumbling blocks in their way, they will use them for stepping-stones and climb to new heights.”
Lesson #4: Break Down the Barriers in Your Way
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