Mary Kay Ash Informative Speech Outline
Title: Mary Kay Ash
Purpose: Inform
Specific Purpose: To inform audience of who Mary Kay Ash was and her influence on women in business
Thesis: Mary Kay Ash played a significant role in changing women’s roles in the workplace.
INTRODUCTION
Pictures on overhead: Mary Kay Ash By a show of hands, who here knows who this is? Okay, a few… (presumption) What if I tell you this is Mary Kay? Who knows that name? Yeah… all of you have heard of Mary Kay. (presumption again)
This is Mary Kay Ash, the woman behind the company.
As a class of young people working toward career choices, it is important to understand the change in business culture over the decades, specifically the turbulent times of the 60’s and 70’s, and how women were viewed from a business standpoint. Mary Kay Ash, was more than pink Cadillacs, and make-up. Mary Kay Ash was a significant influence in changing women’s roles in the workplace.
Brief Bio: MK was …show more content…
born into typical family. Working father, stay-at-home mother. This was the way it was supposed to be.
At age seven, MK’s father became an invalid after suffering from Tuberculosis. Her mother had to work 7 days a week, with 12-14 hour days in order to provide an income still lower than that of her husband’s.
At age 19 MK married, and had children. However, 2 years into marriage, her husband left her. Again, she was put in a situation where typical gender roles were challenged, and had to work to support herself and children.
Twenty-five years after being in workforce MK retired. She had worked hard, and trained many men who were promoted over her. In addition she always received less pay than her male counterparts. She hit a glass ceiling, a place where she could see others moving up the ladder above her, but couldn’t follow suit. She decided she wouldn’t put up with it any longer. In retirement, MK decided to write “Hand guide to Women in the workplace”. A book that would help women overcome the pitfalls she had encountered working in a male-dominated world, by offering up what she had learned over the years in her business endeavors.
BODY:
1960’s
It was the 60’s, a time of extremes and rebellion, a time where women were starting to voice their opinions more openly.
According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, it was a time when more women than ever before were entering the workforce - 38% increase to be exact. (US Bureau of Labor and Statistics) It couldn’t have been a more appropriate time for MK to happen upon what she did. While preparing for her hand guide MK made a list and discovered through her preparation an “ideal” company. She used her life savings, recruited nine friends, and started Beauty by Mary Kay on September 13, 1963. The company we now know as Mary Kay, Inc. From the start Mary Kay, Inc. challenged traditional gender roles by simply being a business built of women entrepreneurs. In addition to this, however, she expanded the bar by also offering fair pay and gift incentives for the women at the company. She rewarded top consultants with diamond jewelry, lavish vacations in five-star hotels, and yes, pink Cadillac’s.
Cultural
Impact: By 1973 MK Sales force exceeded 20,000. And by 1983, the company’s wholesale exceeds $300 million. Today, Mary Kay has over 3 million consultants worldwide, and grosses over $3 billion a year in wholesales. Mk has been featured in Fortune Magazine three times since 1983 as one of the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, (100 Best Companies) and once as its Most Admired Corporations in America. (Most Admired Corporations) In 1996, Mary Kay Inc. was featured in the book Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Times (Gross, Danies) Mary Kay Ash was the only woman profiled.
CONCLUSION:
Entrepreneurship has always been considered a male-dominated role. Mary Kay Ash disrupted that concept by developing MK Cosmetics, a company that would be run for women and by women. It is because she challenged America’s view on where women belong by offering fair pay, and generous bonuses that we still see her legacy today. Regarded as one of the Greatest Female Entrepreneurs in American History per an academic study led by Baylor University (Jackson, Cynthia), and with her contributions, MK offered women to pushed ahead of the curve and show that they too, can be successful in business.
As Mrs. Ash would say when asked about her greatest achievement “I think the biggest legacy we are going to leave is a whole community of children who believe they can do anything in this world because they watched their mamas do it.”
Works Cited
Gross, Daniel. "Mary Kay Ash." Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time. 1st ed. Wiley, 1997. Print.
Jackson, Cynthia J. "Greatest Female Entrepreneurs in American History." Baylor University Media Communications. Baylor University, 22 Sept. 2003.
“Most Admired Corporations in America.” Fortune 1995. Print
"The 100 Best Companies to Work For in America." Fortune 1984, 1993, 1998. Print.
United States. Bureau of Labor & Statistics. Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections. A Century of Change; the US Labor Force 1950-2050. By Mitra Toossi. United States Bureau of Labor & Statistics, 2002. Print.
Purpose: Inform
Specific Purpose: To inform audience of who Mary Kay Ash was and her influence on women in business
Thesis: Mary Kay Ash played a significant role in changing women’s roles in the workplace.
INTRODUCTION
Pictures on overhead: Mary Kay Ash By a show of hands, who here knows who this is? Okay, a few… (presumption) What if I tell you this is Mary Kay? Who knows that name? Yeah… all of you have heard of Mary Kay. (presumption again)
This is Mary Kay Ash, the woman behind the company.
As a class of young people working toward career choices, it is important to understand the change in business culture over the decades, specifically the turbulent times of the 60’s and 70’s, and how women were viewed from a business standpoint. Mary Kay Ash, was more than pink Cadillacs, and make-up. Mary Kay Ash was a significant influence in changing women’s roles in the workplace.
Brief Bio: MK was …show more content…
born into typical family. Working father, stay-at-home mother. This was the way it was supposed to be.
At age seven, MK’s father became an invalid after suffering from Tuberculosis. Her mother had to work 7 days a week, with 12-14 hour days in order to provide an income still lower than that of her husband’s.
At age 19 MK married, and had children. However, 2 years into marriage, her husband left her. Again, she was put in a situation where typical gender roles were challenged, and had to work to support herself and children.
Twenty-five years after being in workforce MK retired. She had worked hard, and trained many men who were promoted over her. In addition she always received less pay than her male counterparts. She hit a glass ceiling, a place where she could see others moving up the ladder above her, but couldn’t follow suit. She decided she wouldn’t put up with it any longer. In retirement, MK decided to write “Hand guide to Women in the workplace”. A book that would help women overcome the pitfalls she had encountered working in a male-dominated world, by offering up what she had learned over the years in her business endeavors.
BODY:
1960’s
It was the 60’s, a time of extremes and rebellion, a time where women were starting to voice their opinions more openly.
According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, it was a time when more women than ever before were entering the workforce - 38% increase to be exact. (US Bureau of Labor and Statistics) It couldn’t have been a more appropriate time for MK to happen upon what she did. While preparing for her hand guide MK made a list and discovered through her preparation an “ideal” company. She used her life savings, recruited nine friends, and started Beauty by Mary Kay on September 13, 1963. The company we now know as Mary Kay, Inc. From the start Mary Kay, Inc. challenged traditional gender roles by simply being a business built of women entrepreneurs. In addition to this, however, she expanded the bar by also offering fair pay and gift incentives for the women at the company. She rewarded top consultants with diamond jewelry, lavish vacations in five-star hotels, and yes, pink Cadillac’s.
Cultural
Impact: By 1973 MK Sales force exceeded 20,000. And by 1983, the company’s wholesale exceeds $300 million. Today, Mary Kay has over 3 million consultants worldwide, and grosses over $3 billion a year in wholesales. Mk has been featured in Fortune Magazine three times since 1983 as one of the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, (100 Best Companies) and once as its Most Admired Corporations in America. (Most Admired Corporations) In 1996, Mary Kay Inc. was featured in the book Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Times (Gross, Danies) Mary Kay Ash was the only woman profiled.
CONCLUSION:
Entrepreneurship has always been considered a male-dominated role. Mary Kay Ash disrupted that concept by developing MK Cosmetics, a company that would be run for women and by women. It is because she challenged America’s view on where women belong by offering fair pay, and generous bonuses that we still see her legacy today. Regarded as one of the Greatest Female Entrepreneurs in American History per an academic study led by Baylor University (Jackson, Cynthia), and with her contributions, MK offered women to pushed ahead of the curve and show that they too, can be successful in business.
As Mrs. Ash would say when asked about her greatest achievement “I think the biggest legacy we are going to leave is a whole community of children who believe they can do anything in this world because they watched their mamas do it.”
Works Cited
Gross, Daniel. "Mary Kay Ash." Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time. 1st ed. Wiley, 1997. Print.
Jackson, Cynthia J. "Greatest Female Entrepreneurs in American History." Baylor University Media Communications. Baylor University, 22 Sept. 2003.
“Most Admired Corporations in America.” Fortune 1995. Print
"The 100 Best Companies to Work For in America." Fortune 1984, 1993, 1998. Print.
United States. Bureau of Labor & Statistics. Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections. A Century of Change; the US Labor Force 1950-2050. By Mitra Toossi. United States Bureau of Labor & Statistics, 2002. Print.