Born: May 12, 1908 (?)
Died:November 22, 2001 Place of Birth: Hot Wells, Texas
Major Notes:
Mary Kay Ash was the founder of the popular business known as Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.
She was conscious of her age and did not reveal her actual date of birth.
At a young age, while her father was ill at home, Ash's mother worked long days in a restaurant.
Her mother encouraged Ash to work hard to attain success in all she did.
Her parents could not afford to send her to college after a very successful high school record.
Over the next ten years, Mary Kay had married and divorced, sold books door-to-door, attended and dropped out of university, and worked as a Stanley Home Products representative.
Ash then became a World Gifts representative but was discouraged by not being promoted.
She felt that men in the company were favored over women for higher appointments in the company.
In 1963, she started Mary Kay Cosmetics having seen the success of the Avon direct sales approach.
Ash wanted the company to help women achieve business and financial success.
She became a popular business woman and was known simply as "Mary Kay."
Although the Mary Kay business faced hurdles, it eventually carried over 200 products and grossed two billion dollars annually.
Her second husband, Mel Ash, died of cancer in 1980.
Mary Kay also established the Mary Kay Ash Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and began raising funds to fight cancer.
She was the recipient of numerous awards and honors and the company Mary Kay founded has an estimated 300,000 employees.
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