Episode 4: Building a Beauty Empire: Insights from Mary Kay Veteran Rachel Bullock

Today's Bestie is Rachael Bullock.

Welcome back to another empowering episode of "Small Business Bestie" – I'm your host, Michelle, and today in episode 4, we're chatting with the incredible Rachael Bullock, a dynamic force in the entrepreneurial world with nearly 27 years of experience with Mary Kay. Rachael's journey of balancing family and her successful career is nothing short of inspiring. With her husband taking on the role of stay-at-home dad, Rachael earned her first pink Cadillac at just 23 and has since become a cheerleader for women's empowerment—epitomizing Mary Kay Ash's pioneering spirit.

In today's episode, Rachael not only shares the practical side of running her own Mary Kay business as an independent contractor, with the backing of a multibillion-dollar brand for product development and support, but she also delves into the personal touch that makes her business thrive. She'll reveal how personal connections, delegation, and utilizing tools like Evernote and ClickUp are critical for small business management.

Rachael holds the Global Leadership Summit close to her heart and underscores the importance of community and global perspective in leadership. She reminds us that impacting just one person can be as powerful as reaching a large audience. Together with Rachael, we'll venture through her advice on being true to oneself, staying organized, and directly dive into her work-from-home life that not only educates her children on business acumen but also supports her family through challenging times.

Stay tuned as we uncover why Mary Kay's relationship-based business model stands the test of time, explore the beauty of sisterhood and mutual support in business, and reflect on the richness of learning from valuable resources such as the "How I Built This" podcast and books like "Miracles Happen" and "Mary Kay on People Management."

So, whether you're seeking inspiration, practical tips, or just a hearty dose of positivity to drive your entrepreneurial spirit, this episode is sure to be your new bestie. Let's dive in!

Connect with Rachael on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachael.m.bullock
Connect with Rachael on IG: https://www.instagram.com/rbpink/
Resources:
Mary Kay Ash Biography, "Miracles Happen" : https://a.co/d/5G3VFlH
Global Leadership Summit: https://globalleadership.org/summit/
ClickUp: www.clickup.com
EverNote: www.evernote.com

Connect with Michelle on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/smallbusinessbesties
Check out the Small Business Bestie Website
Check out Cultivate Accounting

Transcript

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Welcome to the small Business Bestie podcast, where we celebrate the journey of women entrepreneurs in the heart of central Kentucky and beyond. I'm your host, Michelle, and my mission is to create a podcast and community for us each week. Join us as we sit down with a different small business bestie to dive deep into their stories, sharing the highs, the lows, and everything in between. We will meet friends who are brand new in business, veterans in business, and maybe even the occasional dreamer. So grab your favorite coffee or cocktail, get cozy, and let's meet this week's small business bestie, Miss Rachel Bullock. Thank you so much for joining me for our second take of this awesome conversation. Well, first of all, Michelle, we have to talk about where we are sitting. Right now, because on a beach, we're. Imagining that's where we are. But every small business has to start somewhere, right? And every dream has a humble beginning. And I'm excited to get to be a part of your humble beginning of this dream, of this podcast. And so thank you for the honor and invitation to get to have this conversation. And I love that we get to have a second take, right? Because sometimes the first time, things don't always go according to plan. Have you all ever had something that did not go according to plan? Right, right. Especially as a business owner or launching something new and adventure. And so you just get back up, dust yourself off, and we go again. So it's so fun. We're going to look back on this day that, remember that one time, that morning that we were sitting in your bedroom closet recording that first episode of this podcast that is now global, that we got to be at the very beginning of it. And I mean, my favorite thing is seeing people go after their dreams. And getting to be a part of that dream journey, I think is such a blessing and a gift. So thank you for inviting me. So last week, you and I recorded in my office. Yes. Which was a little more professional. It seemed a little more legit that way. But we had some issues. One of our mics, I'm not going to say whose, but there was a lot of me just saying, oh, in that recording. So your mic was not picking up any audio. And it was a total bust. And I waited, honestly, a few days after I got the news, before I could even tell you what had happened, because I was devastated and embarrassed. And I was just all of those emotions feeling like, what the heck am I doing? I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know how to know if a microphone is like I don't think that this is a good idea. And I let those feelings kind of tumble around inside of me for a day or two before. I was like, you know what? If there's any woman in this city that is going to understand and support me, it's Rachel. I need to just tell her what happened and say I'm sorry and ask her to do it again. And so that's what I did. And, of course, you received that news with such grace and humor and helped me through it. So we decided, though, that the office wasn't as acoustically sound. It doesn't have to be fancy. You don't have to wait till you have everything perfect. You start with what you have. That's right. We have a bedroom closet. I am currently wearing my five year. Old daughter's headphones, and they look great on you. Thank you. I thought it was kind of on brand. They're actually the same colors as my logo. Great. But, yeah, I think that that's such a great point, though. Rachel is like, you are never going to feel. Never. No. Ever. No. And the only way to go forward is to just do it even when you're scared. Absolutely. Do it even when you don't feel like you're ready. Like, you got to take the first step. Yeah, take the step. Take that step. And so, yes, here we are. And I can't wait to say, see where this journey leads you. We cannot ever live in the fear of messing up because we'll never do anything. Right. I mean, if you had said, okay, I'm going to wait to leave my house until all the stoplights are going to be green between here and where I want to go. We would laugh at that and say, well, you're never going to leave because, number one, you never know when that's going to happen, and it's not ever going to happen. Right. And so, especially as a business owner, you can't be afraid to fail and afraid to make mistakes. Absolutely. I love to reframe failure as a learning opportunity because I can learn from it. I'm not a failure. This thing might have flopped or not go according to plan, but as long as I learn from it, then I grow. That's a process. And so we're excited here we are. So, yes, but we met, gosh, not that long ago, maybe a year, I would say timing, how long it's been, but we connected through social media and have gotten to build a little bit of a relationship. My story is that I have owned my own business since I was 18 years old, I grew up from a family of entrepreneurs. I am like seven, eight generations deep of entrepreneurs in my family. So I think it is just in my blood, in my bones, to be an entrepreneur. And even as a child, I was very entrepreneurial and just loved that. However, my dream was to be a nurse. And so I went to nursing school after high school, but needed some extra money while I was in school as a student and newly married to my high school sweetheart as well. And so Mary Kay came into my path through a friend's mom who had her own Mary Kay business. And I asked her to do my makeup for my wedding. I didn't wear any makeup. And through that, we talked about the business, and I tried the products, fell in love with them, and needed a discount, number one, as a broke college student, and also just loved what the company stood for. That the company was about empowering and encouraging women, that it was based on God first, family second, and career third, and just offered women unlimited opportunity and choices. And so at that time, I was really looking for some extra finances, but also flexibility because I was so busy in school. And so that's when I started my Mary Kay business at 18 years old, just to save some money and maybe make a little bit of money and down the road, if it ever became something more than that, great. That really wasn't my intention. But what I found is incredible mentors through this company that helped me become a better me, that I learned more about who God made me to be, my gifts, my talents. It was a positive, uplifting place when nursing school could be exhausting and draining, and it really got me through. And I was able to find success very quickly through the company because I was just having so much fun. And I loved it that by the time I finished nursing school, I really had a stronger income through Mary Kay than I would have as a nurse. And so I made the decision to pursue this business full time. Shortly after we found out we were expecting our first daughter. And I was very, very sick during that pregnancy. And there's just no way I could have worked another job because I was just sick all the time. But I was able to because of Mary Kay. You get to promote yourself based on your own efforts, your own advancement. That's not based on what someone else thinks about you. You do the work, you can get the promotion. And so I chose to move into a leadership position within the company before that baby was born. And she's about to turn 25 in a few months. But that was my motivation, is I wanted the flexibility to be home with my kids and also have a career. And for most women, they have to choose one or the other. And I was blessed that Mary gay lets me do both of those things. And so that I've been with the company now almost 27 years. That is incredible. I know just from our interactions, the passion that you have for what you do and for women and for empowering women. And I know that some of that had to have been built because of the environment that you've been in for so many years with the Mary Kay culture that exists. So are there any memories that are like, if I had to pick one or two favorite Mary Kay memories that have just been super impactful or profound in your life? Oh, wow. We could be here a. Okay, great, great. We have all the time in the world. The first one that comes to my mind is the choices that Mary Kay gave us as a family. We, after that first daughter, had three more children pretty quickly. So we had four and four years before I was 24, had twins. That was our number, three and four. And that was a season my business had grown tremendously. We had earned our first pink cadillac, which was really exciting. Before you were 24? Yes. If I was 23 when I earned. That, I mean, I have no idea what the requirements are to get a pink cadillac, but I imagine that it's not easy because I know a lot of women who are in the Mary Kay realm, and I know very few who have a pink cadillac. So the fact that you achieved that in six years with four babies, holy moly, it is. I think there's about 2000 pink cadillacs nationwide. It's pretty amazing room. It is so very fun to get to drive. This is our, gosh, 20 plus years of getting to drive that pink cadillac. That is number ten. I think we're on now. It's really fun. I'm sorry, I totally interrupted your story, but I was just, like, blown away. Wait a minute. By the time you were 24, and that was really the season in the company, there were not a lot of young people in Mary Kay at that time. Obviously, there was no social media. Even just Internet and email were pretty new and starting. And I was really blessed to get to be mentored by women that were older and more mature than me. But I didn't have a lot of people that were my age in the company. Now that looks very different. I would say our largest growing group of people starting Mary Kay business are the 18 to 25 year olds, because of their access to social media and Internet and influence. And they see, maybe their parents worked their whole life for another job, and they don't want that. And they want freedom, independence, and to be a part of a company that's making a positive difference in the world. So for many of those reasons, now there's lots of all ages in Mary Kay. Definitely a lot more young people now than there was then. But we made the decision when we had the twins that my husband became a stay at home dad and Mary Kay became our sole income because it really took both of us at home full time to be there with our family. There are four under four and twins that were born premature and had challenges. Thankfully, they're wonderful today. So at 24 and 25, my husband became we were stay at home parents, and Mary Kay was our income. And I worked from home, and he worked in the home and handled all the kids and the household things. And we got to just work as partners together in that. And Mary Kay gave us that freedom and the choice to do that. And it was hard and it was exhausting. But I'm so grateful. And the memory that comes to my mind when you ask me is there was one day in the midst of the chaos that he looked at me and said, thank you. He said, most dads miss all the first words and all the first steps, and I didn't miss any of them, and I got to be here for them. So thank you for working when it was hard to give us this freedom. And in my moments, I remember know my heart just exploded and thought, I want more dads and moms to have the choice to create that life if they want to. And Mary Kay gave us that freedom. And, yes, it was hard work and there were challenges along the way and lots of times that I fell down and got back up. But being an environment and having mentors that I saw living that life was a huge blessing, because in the culture of this company of Mary Kay, is women empowering one another, encouraging one another. But our founder, Mary Kay Ash, which, side note, I think every woman on the planet should read her autobiography called Mary Kay Ash. So it's called miracles happen by Mary Kayash. Look it up. Every woman should read it, especially in is. I think it's on audible. Actually, I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure it's on audible. I think it's actually on YouTube with someone reading it out loud on YouTube, so you could get it for free. But anywhere that you find a book, you can find that miracles happen by Mary Kay Ash. But her experience was, as a single mom, not by choice in the 1950s and having to work and struggling to balance motherhood and providing for her family, and not being given opportunities to grow or to move into advancement or leadership by all these different companies simply because she was a woman. And she said, I don't think this is right. I don't think this is how God intended for women just to be less than in secondary. And I want to create a place for women to have an open ended opportunity and still maintain their priorities of their faith and their family without having to sacrifice financially. And so after one more time of not getting promoted simply because she was a woman, she left that job at the age of 48 years old. And her first intention at that point was to write a book to help women. She said, I've learned a lot through my years in business and working for companies, and I want to teach other people and give them what I did not have. Give it to me. So she filled many legal paths. This is 1960s of writing. And really felt like she was supposed to start a company. And she said, what if there could be a dream company? If I could have wished the place that I could have worked, and what would I wish that was different? And what did they have? And so she wrote that out, and that place didn't exist. And so she took her life savings, every penny she had to her name,$5,000. Because in that time, she couldn't get a business loan. No woman could be given a loan in the 1960s. There was no option for that. And it's hard for us to fathom debt. My skin, it is. It's crazy. And in that day, she said, women made fifty cents on the dollar for what men made for the same job. And I just didn't think that's how it was supposed to be. And so, at a time that most people would be slowing down and retiring as her kids are raised, she invested every penny she had into a dream. And she was newly married at the time, newly remarried to her husband was a businessman. He was supportive, encouraging of her dream and her idea. And so she invested, decided to choose cosmetics, because, of course, every little girl loves makeup and skincare from a young age. And she bought the formulas. It's a whole nother cool story. You have to read it in autobiographies, I will tell you, but it's really cool. It was September 13, 1963, was the day they set to open their doors of Mary Kay cosmetics in Dallas, Texas. And on August, a month before that, sitting at the kitchen table, her and her husband going over details and plans for the business. He had a heart attack and died. They had been married only a few months at that time. And this woman had a decision to make. Do I give up this dream or do I move forward? And all the smart people, the lawyers, the accountants, all told her, just quit. It doesn't make any sense. There's no way. Exactly. There's no way you're going to be able to make this. You can't afford to give away that much of your percentage of your profit to people. It's never going to make it. And yet her kids came and rallied around her that were young, young, twenty s and said, we support you because you supported us and we're going to help you do this. And so a month after losing her husband, she still opened the doors. Wow. Mary Kay. And I think that the courage that she had and the resiliency of this woman and just how much she believed in women, it blows my mind. And I'm just in. Know what struck me as you were telling that story? I mean, several things. But one of the things was you were talking about her filling many legal paths as she's getting ideas and everything out. And it occurred to me, like Mary Kay Ash was vision boarding before it was, you know. Exactly. Yes. That's exactly what she was like. Okay, this is my dream. This has got to work. That's awesome. We call her the original beauty influencer. Yeah. And really pioneer for women. She was actually voted the greatest female entrepreneur in american history. Wow. Which is amazing. Amazing. I grew up only an hour and a half from Dallas. Really? Yeah. My whole know, there's. I'm sure you've been. Yes. But in Dallas, like the Mary Kay Boulevard or drive or whatever, with the giant headquarters. And the first time I saw that, I was just like, what in the world is that place? It is incredible. It's our global headquarters there in Dallas, Texas. Now, is her storefront still in know. I don't think know. When they first started out, they rented a little tiny space in an office complex where lots of women worked. And so her goal was to have women come in and get a makeover and during their lunch break or before work or after work. And she really built the business to be a direct sales model. From the beginning, it was always a direct sales model. And so it was always empowering people to have their own businesses to share the products. We are in the direct sales industry. However, Mary Kay is not a multi level marketing and mlms. That's just not the structure that she chose for our business. It is that a consultant purchases the products directly from the company at a wholesale price, and then she sells them directly to consultant or to consumers to customers at a retail price. And so there's not different levels of people getting different discounts and different cuts in different wholesale. That's what multilevel means, is different people based on your level make different commissions. She chose from the very beginning, everyone makes the same commission on their products. Yeah. And so it creates this equality between all of us that we're not competing with one another. And you have the freedom to move at your own pace, so you're not under someone that's holding you back. You can fly as fast as you want to, you can move up as quick as you want to. You have mentors that are assigned to mentor you and teach and train, but it's really up to you. So that freedom and independence is really great part of our business plan. And still, here we are. We just celebrated 60 years as a company that is all over the world. I think we're in 35 countries around the world, multibillion dollar company that, by the way, is still privately owned by her family and is completely debt free. And that was important to her, to have a company that was very fiscally responsible. That's amazing. So I'm sure I'm not alone in the ignorance, know, MLM versus direct sales versus anything else. My assumption had always been that if you were going to go into the Mary Kay world, you would go under someone, and then they're getting a percentage of your sales, et cetera, et cetera. So it's really interesting to find out that I had a misconception about that and to know that it's more of an equal field for women, individuals. Absolutely. Rights of tenure in the company. And that was when she first designed the company, multi level marketing. It's not bad. It's just a different design is you can pay this amount and start at this level, or you can pay a higher amount, start a higher level. And so kind of based on how much you have to put it in the beginning kind of buys your position. Right. And so Mary Kay Ash said, I want everyone to start at ground zero. Everyone has to start at the very beginning, because then as you build and are successful, you have authenticity and integrity to turn around and teach other people to do what you did. Yeah. Because someone that bought their position but never had to earn it can't teach. So do you have any idea of how many women you have mentored at this point in your Mary Kay journey? I have no idea. Hundreds, probably thousands. One of the really exciting things I got to do a few years ago was actually help Mary Kay open a new country in the country of Peru, because the company is continually expanding. And so it's a long God story, but I got to be a part of actually take our family. We took my husband and I and our four teenagers at the time and lived in Peru for a month to help Mary Kay open in that country. Wow. And that's a gift. Take your teenagers to live in the third world country for a month. They learn a lot. Yeah, a lot. But because of the flexibility and freedom, we got to do that. And my husband and kids served admissions and worked at a school, but they learned so much and got this global perspective that you get when you're exposed to other cultures and other people. And I learned how blessed we are here in the United States because, yes, there were challenges for women many decades ago, and that's getting better today. But in other parts of the world, women don't have those options and those freedoms. And so I got to see firsthand in this other country that women literally had no choices, and they could make something in their kitchen and try to go sell something on the street, but there were not all these ways that they could create income for their families, and they struggled. And so Mary Kay was able to come in and give women an opportunity that didn't exist. And getting to be a part of that was challenging. I don't speak Spanish. But also incredibly rewarding. And just to see that the heartbeat of women worldwide is the same. We have a heart for our family. We want to make a difference in the world. We want to have someone believe in us. And her story, Mary Cash's story, transcends language generations. And it was just an incredible experience to get to be a part of giving women this gift of an opportunity that could really change their life and their family's life and the futures and generations because they could have the freedom to create that income for their families. So do you have any report for us now? How long ago was that? And do you have any pulse on how is the progress coming? How are the sales? Not, like, in dollar numbers or anything, but how are the women there doing? How is it being received by the culture and all of that? It's continuing to grow and do really well. So that was in 2018 that we went, okay. And I traveled back and forth five or six more times over the next two years until Covid. I was literally there a week before the world shut down, and thankfully, was able to come back here before everything changed, and I didn't get stuck in another country. And that was really challenging. A global pandemic in a third world country that did not have. Most people don't have access to Wi Fi and things like that. And so there were some challenges during that season, and then there's a lot, of course, political unrest there, things like that in the government. But through all of that, Mary Kay in Peru has continued to grow and thrive and is doing very well today as one of those countries. And so it was really, really neat. And I've gotten some great friendships and relationships with people that I get to follow now through social media and cheer them on on their journey of creating that future for their families through this company. That's wonderful. I've always dreamt of going to Peru. I've read a couple of books that were set there, and I was like, oh, my gosh. It sounds beautiful. And then we moved to Lexington, and just down the road from my house was a restaurant. Yes. Yes. We went there several times. Oh, my gosh. It was so delicious, and the family was so sweet. Unfortunately, they didn't make it. Didn't make it. But it was so good. So if you ever have a chance. To try peruvian cuisine, absolutely recommend. How authentic was that? Could be very authentic. It was very authentic. Yes. It felt like it had to have been just by talking with the server, and I don't know how the family structure was, but the woman who had cooked the food came out several times and talked to us while we were eating, and I was like, they're doing the real deal here. They were trying to make it americanized. No, it's like, just act like they eat. This is how it's prepared. That's how it felt to me. Yes. We're foodies. We love to experience food from other cultures and countries. So, yes, it was really fun. We were cheering them on, too. Yeah, it was awesome. Okay, so what else do you think that people may have a misconception about Mary Kay, or is there anything else that you want people to know about the business itself? I, of course, recommend Mary Kay's book miracles happen. But I think the second book she also wrote is called Mary Kay on people management. And it's all about her leadership style and how you lead people and how you encourage people. And she was very famous for saying, the thing that people want most but they just won't ever tell you, is recognition. Praise and recognition. Yeah. From childhood. Right. I mean, we see our kids need that positive encouragement, praise and recognition, you. Mean that's what's happening when my daughter's. Like, mom, look, mom, look, they want that affirmation. They want that praise and recognition, and that could happen in the process. Yes, but it is even as toddlers that are trying to get our attention. She talks about this in her book of really making that a central part of our structure as a company is the positive reinforcement, the praise, and the recognition that anytime you have to have criticism of someone, you layer it between two very thick layers of praise. And this applies to family relationships and dynamics, as well as, of course, people that you work with and employees. She also was very firm in if you have an idea and I have an idea, we each have one. But if I share my idea and you share your idea, we each have two. And so this created this culture of women sharing with one another. I think a lot of times in the business world, it's very cutthroat, and especially, unfortunately, even among women, because there is so little options for women out there, even in today's world, especially in high levels of companies, that women often have to be really work by themselves and keep everything to themselves in order to, quote, succeed and can even pit women against one another. Absolutely. And that was true in the 1960s, is still true today and 2024. But that culture is what I think has been a huge part of what's made Mary Kay successful. She did not set out to start a company to make money. Most people, when they start a company and they start a business, one of their goals is to make money, and that's good, and that's important. That wasn't her focus. Her focus was to give women an opportunity to right a wrong that she saw in the world and create a culture and environment that women could thrive and that they were celebrated rather than tolerated, and that I just don't see anywhere else. And so I believe very firmly every woman should spend some time in Mary Kay because she will grow as a person. She will grow her own self confidence, her self esteem. She will learn about who she is and will be surrounded in a positive environment that uplifts her. And I have a lot of women that have come into the business, and they're here for a while, and they learn and they grow, and then they go on and start their own company or go on and pursue another dream or vision or goal. But they will tell you, my time in Mary Kay shaped who I am today and gave me the confidence and the courage to go start this other business or to go after my dream of being an artist or whatever that looks like. And so I think that Mary Kay is just so unique to all the things out there. I'm pretty passionate about it, as you could tell. And as a very competitive person, I love being able to share that. Mary Kay is the number one in sales for all direct sales beauty companies in the world. Number one. I feel like I want to get like a confetti pothur for you and I don't want to clap into the mic, but that is incredible. We're there. We're there. My little cup says number one. But really, confetti cup. Confetti cup. So that works. That works. Sorry you all can't see it, but it has a cup with confetti. It's pretty. So we'll count it. But really, our business model is relationship based. It's really about, let's sit down together and see what you want help with. When it comes to makeup or skincare, it's not just here, buy this. Let's talk about what would you love to change about your skin? What is frustrating you? We have tools and resources, like an incredible app called our Mary Kay skin analyzer that I can do a 3d analysis of your skin through your phone camera and make suggestions. And you can go pay hundreds of dollars to get one of these done at some specialists. You can get one for free from your Mary Kay consultant and really build that long term relationship of really teaching you how to take care of your skin, how to go through the different life changes and lifestyle changes and weather changes within our skin that affects it. And then really encouraging women to be more confident and really in their own skin. We love to say we want you to love the skin you're in. And so we really work to build those personal relationships with our clients. That's going to be long term. I have women that have been with me for now 20 plus years, and I've seen them get married and have kids and kids go off to college, and we just really have this relationship that is more than just a beauty consultant of purchasing products. And they know that their support directly funds my family's dreams. Yeah, they know what they're giving to. When we purchase a product anywhere. We directly support that company, like it or not, with our purchase. And so do you know what companies do with your money when you spend it with them? You should. And I think especially in this post pandemic world, people are more aware of where they invest and where they spend money and want to support local small businesses so that it goes back into. Their community I think that that's one of the most beautiful things that kind of came as a result of COVID is the awareness that people have. I go back and forth on where is the line with this, but the demand of knowing what's behind the business more than just the label or the name of the business. People want to know who is that business? What are their values? What's their mission? What are they actually doing in our community? What's their goal in our community? And do they have a deeper purpose? Or is it just Joe schmo that runs that business and he wants to become a multi bajillionaire so he can go buy an island? And I think that that's a really beautiful thing. I do think that there are limits on that, though, that because we live in a free country, we should be allowed to have some beliefs that we don't have to make public, in my opinion. But I'm kind of getting off topic a little. I wanted to ask you about the business side of a Mary Kay business because I think that one of the misconceptions, again, I had this, and I know other people must also, is that it's not your own business. You're kind of working for Mary Kay. Well, now we understand that isn't the case, but if you don't mind kind of talking through what does the business side of being a consultant for Mary Kay look like? So our structure is that I am an independent contractor. And so, yes, I am part of the company Mary Kay, but I'm an independent contractor representing Mary Kay. So I'm not an know for taxes and everything. I'm considered self employed. And so to me, it's kind of the best of both worlds because I get to be independent and make my own choices and decisions of what I want to do. However, I have this multibillion dollar company backing me that creates the products, that does the branding, that does advertising, that has my business cards and manages my website for me. And I don't have to pay to do all those things, right. And so that is included. And part of me being a part of the company, I don't have to figure out all the logistics of shipping and packaging and developing new products and all of that. I don't have to be in charge of that. The company does it all for me. I'm going to pause you for a second because I've received some product from you before and there's just like so much personality and cuteness that comes in that. And I know Mary Kay isn't doing all that for you, are they? No, but they're giving us ideas. Okay. And we're sharing ideas with one another. Exactly. This is what I do for my customers. There's a difference between, we joke about, you can buy underwear at Walmart or you can buy underwear at Victoria's Secret. And the difference is they wrap in tissue paper and they put in a fancy bag and they hand it to you or it's in a plastic bag. Might be the exact same pair of underwear, but you feel very different. And that experience of the purchasing experience, right? Absolutely. And you feel valued and feel special and feel important. And that's what we really tried to do in, you know, our founder, Mary Kay Ash, taught us that everyone has that sign around their neck that says, make me feel important and that transcends to everything we do. Everywhere you go, everywhere. Is that making someone feel valued, feel important, feel seen and heard? In today's world of loneliness is so widespread and we're more connected than ever, yet people feel more alone than ever. And so that's something that I really try to do because of Mary Kay training FC people when I'm in the grocery store say someone's name that's checking you out, thank them, appreciate them. It may not ever lead to something in business, but it's just valuing people. And it could lead to a business conversation down the road. But it's just those small little things, and that goes to our customers. I know that you have a lot of places you can buy beauty products. There's a lot of choices that you have of where you want to buy your mascara or buy your face wash. And so I want to appreciate you and reward you for choosing to purchase your products from me and make you feel so special because you are, and that you really would never think about buying mascara anywhere else because you feel so important and valued. And that comes back to that relationship piece of it. So, yes, that is really at the heart of what we do is that personal connection, that personal touch. Mary Kay equips us with tools and resources, like samples that we can give, and they do mailings for us and things like that. So that helps us to be able to stay in contact with our customers and with my team. So there's resources and platforms and things that they create to support us, that we can then use those as tools to continue those relationships and to build our business. But each person is an independent contractor and builds her business as she chooses to, at whatever level she wants. So what tools do you use to help you stay organized on the business side of things. Like I get asked as an accountant all the time, how should I be tracking my expenses? How should I be doing this? How should I be doing that? So are there any tools or processes that you use that help you kind of keep all of the business side organized and ready so that when you do go to file your taxes. Right. Your 1099, everything's in order and everything. Is ready to go. I delegate. Nice. I know my gifts and my strengths and organization and details is not one of them. Okay. And so I think one of the biggest mistakes I see small business owners in Mary Kay, outside of Mary Kay, make is they try to do everything themselves. Yes. And it's almost like a badge of honor. Right. Everything, all the hats. Right. Even as moms. Right. As working moms. And your job and your home and your know, again, Mary Kay Ash taught us this is she know, you can have it all, but you can't do it all. Yeah. And so first, know who you are. Know who God made you to be. What are your strengths? What are your gifts? What comes naturally to you? What are you talented with? And then where are the areas that you're not as strong but are important? Right. Having good books is important to running a successful business, but you can hire that. So being willing to pay for help, for people to do the things that are their gifting, that is not your gifting, is going to help you shine. Yeah. When you spend so much energy and time doing things that are not your natural passion and gifting, it's draining and it's exhausting. Yes. So we got to identify, what do you love to do? Now, let's be clear. There's always things that we don't want to do that we need to know. I mean, you have kids and you change dirty diapers. No one enjoys it. It's not fun. There are some things you can't delegate. There are some things, but as a whole, there are a lot of things that you can take off your plate. And that was important. And again, I come back to our founder. Mary Kay taught that. And then I was taught that by people that she taught of getting help, having someone that helps you in your know, you go work and create some extra income so that you can pay someone to clean your house or pay someone to help do your books for you so that you can really be where it is most productive for you and for your business. Absolutely. Yeah. I'm a huge believer in the key to elevating not only the revenue potential of your business, but also the impact that you can have as a human. The key to that is delegating the. Things that are slowing you down or. That are draining to you emotionally or physically. We've only got so much, right. You only have 24 hours in a day. Right. So figure this out. What are the most important things? And one of the tools I've learned from Mary Kay, which she tells the story in her book, is about creating a six most important things list that the night before you figure out, okay, what are the six, not 76. What are the six most important things that I do tomorrow that I can only do? And I write that down. And then now, when you be your own boss, it's great because no one's telling you what to do, but it's hard because no one's telling you what to do. And so you have to be your own boss and tell your self what to do. And so, ahead of time, then when you walk into your office and you have your work time, these are my most important things, these six things. Now, I'm going to do a lot more than six, but my focus is these six, right. And it feels manageable. It feels doable when as a small business owner, there's always a million things on the list. And very rarely do we get that cleaned out the refrigerator feeling of like, it's completely done, never really done, but we have to learn how to manage that. And so even I use evernote, just an app, and it's my brain, and everything goes in there, all my notes, everything. And so I have what I call like a brain drain, where just every little thing that comes to my mind, I write it down in that app. And so we always have our phone with her. It's easy to do because as long as it gets out of your brain onto paper, you feel more in control or onto written down digitally or on paper. But when you let it just swirl in your mind, it gets exhausting. And so if you can at least put it down, that's your first step of writing it somewhere. And then you can go back and look at that long list. That might be the 76 items, but I can narrow it down to the six most important things that I'm going to do tomorrow. Right. And it gives you focus and direction. And then if I get my six done, great, I can tackle some other things, but there's just that great boost of knocking it off your list. Right. Crossing it off. We talk about sometimes you just write something down so you can cross it off. Right. Get that great feeling. And so creating those systems that are going to benefit you in your business and just in life in general has been really helpful for me. I think that's great. I use ClickUp. Yes. As a task management software, and I. Think it's probably lots of options out there. There's tons of them. Eddie. Yes. One of the things that I love about the digital world that we live in and all of the options that are out there is that it makes it so easy. Right. So I get most of my ideas when I am driving. Yes. Or in the shower. Right. That's when things get to me. And so it's not always ideal to try to type. So you can talk then. Yeah. So I just pull out. I say, I tell the robot, I'm going to say her name because she'll. Turn on, but I tell the robot. To open up my voice memos and I just start talking to myself. Talking. And at least that way it's out. And then when I'm in a place where I can actually process through all of that, I can go back and listen and pull out the important parts and put it into my task management. Software because we can't trust ourselves. I'll remember that later. No, you won't. I will not, especially right now. I think this season for our business is so busy, and I'm talking with. So many different people who have so. Many different things going on. And I tried to just keep it in my head with a few of them, and by the time I got somewhere to write it down, I was like, I have no idea what they needed now. And I had to do that sheepish. Call and be like, so I didn't have anything to write with when we were talking earlier. Can you tell me everything again? So I won't do that anymore? I wanted to ask you about specifically being an entrepreneur from such a young age, like literally your kids entire lives. You talked to us about the way that you and your husband kind of managed things to make sure that the kids were well taken care of and all of that. But what were some of the other ways that it impacted your family? Well, I think it is such a gift when your kids get to be a part of the business. For most of the time when you work outside your home, the kids don't really see a lot of the ins and outs of what you do. But when you run a business from your home, they're very involved, or from your bedroom closet, they donate their headphones to you, but they get to be a part of it. And there are so many life lessons, intangible things that they learn. My kids have watched me set goals, miss goals, set goals again, fall down, get back up. They've seen relationships. They've seen people come and go, people that I've mentored and poured into that then go somewhere else. They've seen firsthand the highs and the lows, and that, I think, really helps prepare them for life and what it can look like. One of my twin boys in kindergarten when they all ask, what do you want to be when you grow up? He wrote on his paper, an entrepreneur. First of all, he knew how to spell it. I still don't know how to spell it. Just to be clear, I have to. Use spell check every time I get it wrong. Challenging one it is. But no one else in his class knew what that meant, right? But he did, and I think he passed it on to him. And so now his name is Malachi. And so when time came for him to graduate from high school, he knew he really didn't feel like he was supposed to go to college. He wants to own a business, and he knew the best way to learn is to go work in the business world. And so now, at age 20, he's the manager of a local coffee shop that just opened. And so he's getting that first hand experience of what it looks like to start a business from scratch and work in it and run it, and it's invaluable. And so I think, though, through that journey, and we've talked about this, we need to remove that stigma that college is the only option when people graduate. It is an option, and yes, it is one that is for some people, but it's not for everyone. There are trade schools that people can go to and more quickly get into the workforce to create an income. And then there are some people that just need to go straight into the workforce and use sweat equity to get their education and to learn, and that being an entrepreneur is a career path that you can choose from a young age to take. I had the good fortune of being able to record a podcast with my business partner and husband, Neil, and that was something that he and I chatted about because my husband has an MBA. So you would think that he would be coming into a business, like owning a business with a huge hand up over someone like me who didn't go to college. I went to massage therapy school. I do have an associate's degree in history. That's very helpful. The idea would be that since he has a master's degree in business, that he would have way more expertise and ability. And what we found, honestly, was, like, he has different strengths than I have, but I'm just as capable as an entrepreneur as my husband, even though I have no formal training. Exactly right. And that's so powerful. And then you guys can come together and have each other's strength. Yes. And work together as a team. That's been great conversation for us and our family, of just us having the freedom to allow our kids to be who God made them to be, not who we think that they should be or become. Again, because of Mary Kay, I've had so much more confidence that I can pass on to my kids. And that is really part of my passion, is helping women, and especially moms, be more confident in who they are, because then their kids can have more confidence. I love that. Then they can have more options and choices. I mean, from a young age, my kids, as soon as they could write, they filled out their own school forms. They filled out all the paperwork. Right. I just signed it when we were old enough, went to the doctor's office, they go up to the desk and check themselves. Like, those are things that I was able to give them that I wouldn't have known to give them if I hadn't had other mentors in Mary Kay that said, it was important for me to give my kids those opportunities and even just getting to know, getting to expose my kids to other countries and giving them the freedom. One of my daughters, Rebecca, last summer, she spent several weeks climbing mountains by herself in Colorado. I think two weeks, three weeks, she. Was by herself in the mountains. I'm not brave enough to do that, but she was. And I have to look back and go because of me being a Mary Kay, surrounding myself with these people that poured into me, I could pour that into my kids. And then it gets to grow, and they get to become who they are and have these adventures and opportunities. And taking them to Peru was, of course, an incredible, pivotal time for them as well. So just so proud of all of my kids, but it's been a part of it. And a strong woman can raise strong women. And so getting to empower my daughters to follow their path and be successful and independent, and then my boys, too, and on the different journeys that they go. My other son is in school, and so he's going that route of college, and it's a great fit for him. Yeah. But all of my kids have a little bit of an entrepreneurial bend in them. And my oldest daughter manages another small business here locally at a coffee shop. Three of them work in coffee shops. We put different coffee shop. Yeah, two of them work at one, and then one works at a different one. But they know the value of supporting a small business in the community, and so they are excited to get to be a part of that. And so that's been really fun. And then they've seen our business grow and, of course, give options and choices. My husband and I have gotten to travel. Mary Kay does do very well with praise and recognition and has gifted us with incredible trips to places all over the world. It has been so much fun to get to take my. And then they pay for me and my husband to go on these amazing five star luxury trips we've gotten to travel to. So one of the things I love most about my business, Michelle, is that I've gotten to work through all different seasons of life. And Mary Kay has been perfect for every season. I was know I began as a college student, then newly married, and then having babies and then toddlers, then kids in school. And actually when my kids went to school, my husband went back to school and got to pursue his dream of becoming a counselor. And so he works for a local nonprofit now as a crisis counselor. And Mary Kay gave us that choice that he could go back to school. And then teenagers, four teenagers, and then kids in college, and now young adults through all those seasons. And I've just actually finished a season as a caregiver for my mom, who was diagnosed with a terminal disease back in 2020. And I got to just be there. I didn't have to ask permission to take off. I could travel with her as we went and did treatments in different places. We got to take incredible trips and make memories and just be there as a caregiver for her. And I had no idea when I started this business 27 years ago that that was in my future. Right. I'm so grateful because I did not have to lose anything. Mary Kay still gave a great income to my family, even though I worked less during those times. But I got to be present with my mom right up until she went. Home to heaven to be with Jesus. And I can look at that season and go, I have no regrets about anything. And again, that is my passion, is to give women this opportunity to create the life that they want to. They can really design their life, they can live their dream and to be able to be present for whatever life is going to throw at them and to be prepared for that and have those options and the choices. Yeah. I mean, what a gift that you got to have that flexibility and the ability to be there for your children as they needed you during their time of need, and then you got to do the same for your mother during her time of need. That is just beautiful. Such a blessing. It's such a, you know, life is life, and life is hard, and there's hard situations and there's unexpected things that come along. And even through my journey of taking care of my mom, so many of the life skills that I learned in Mary Kay of emotional management and organizing my time and resources and delegating what. I need to delegate and all those. Things all came into play. Even being able to have the confidence to help manage her care and coordinate with providers and the detail aspect of things were all things that I learned through this Mary Kay journey. And I wasn't thinking about that when I was 18, what that was going to look like, of course. And really, most importantly was this sisterhood that I had of women that came alongside me, that prayed for our family. I mean, they got cards and gifts that my family did. It is this sisterhood in Mary Kay because of the culture that is just unlike anything else and that people just supported us through every avenue of what life. You know, I can go to any city in the US and find a Mary Kay person in that city and they would help me with whenever I needed. Well, that's it. Friends, before we go, just a little reminder that I'm your host, Michelle, and I'm the proud co owner of Cultivate Accounting, where we help small businesses with accounting. And I hope besties like you go from idea to launch and beyond with personalized small business coaching. No matter what phase of the journey you're in, I'm here to cheer you on every step of the way. Connect with me on Facebook at Michelle Smock. Five 20 new episodes of the Small Business bestie podcast drop each week, so hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Do you want to be a bestie on the show? We'd love to hear from you. Just head over to smallbusinessbestiepod.com to submit your guest request. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep going. And remember, do it even when you're scared. Thanks for hanging out with us.