Mary Kathlyn Wagner was born in the small Texas town of Hot Wells in 1918. Married at age 17, she soon found herself mothering a brood of three children. During World War II, with her husband serving in the armed forces, she was obliged to supplement the family finances. Lacking any trade skills or advanced education, Mary initially struggled trying to find a job, but, finally she landed one selling books door-to-door. After her husband’s return following the end of the war, the marriage deteriorated and ended in divorce. Now Mary no longer needed employment to enhance the family income, she needed to fully fund their needs. With all the men returning from the war, job availability for women became quite scarce. After searching for months without success and with money for basic needs nearly exhausted, Mary finally landed another sales job with a local company. Her innate talent for marketing quickly got her superior’s attention and Mary was ultimately promoted to sales director. She held that position for 25 years. Then, after learning that a man she had trained was promoted above her and given a salary twice as large as hers, Mary quit.
Now in her mid-forties, Mary once again found herself without a job and undervalued, unappreciated and seemingly unwanted by the business community. Despite the dire straits she found herself in, Mary had no intention of giving up. As a child, she’d been told again and again by her mother: “Don’t ever say ‘I can’t.’ Instead, always say you can do it, because you always can do it!” That faith, that belief in herself, that level of confidence that her mother had instilled in her drove Mary to make a decision that would reap remarkable dividends. Using her life savings of $5,000 and enlisting the help of her 20-year-old son, in 1963 Mary open a small store in Dallas, catering to women’s beauty needs.
From that modest beginning, Mary’s business grew into what would become a huge international company with nearly 2 million Independent Beauty Consultants selling the products of Mary Kay Inc. all around the world. She passed away on November 22, 2001.
Mary Kay Ash never forgot the invaluable lesson her mother taught her. One of her favorite sayings was:
“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it, so it goes on flying anyway.”
Like that bumble bee, Mary Kay kept right on flying, and helping countless other women achieve a level of success they might otherwise only have dreamed of. To those at any age, station or condition who seek to climb the ladder of success, she unwaveringly offered these words of encouragement: “Don’t limit yourself. Too many limit themselves to what they can do. I tell you that you can go as far as your mind lets you. Truly, what you believe, you can achieve!”
Can’t is the worst word that’s written or spoken;
Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
On it is many a strong spirit broken,
And with it many a good purpose dies.
It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
And robs us of courage we need through the day;
It rings in our ears like a timely sent warning
And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.
Can’t is the father of feeble endeavor,
The parent of terror and halfhearted work;
It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
It poisons the soul of the one with a vision,
It stifles in infancy many a plan;
It greets honest toiling with open derision
And mocks hopes and dreams of both woman and man.
Can’t is a word none should seek without blushing;
To utter it should be a symbol of shame;
Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;
It blights one’s purpose and shortens one’s aim.
Despise it with all of your hatred of error;
Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;
Arm against it as a creature of terror,
And all that you dream of you someday shall gain.
Can’t is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the one with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that’s deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed ‘twill break woman or man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying “I can.”
– Edgar Guest
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque