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Purpose and benefits

Mary Kay Ash overcame adversity to build one of the largest direct-sales cosmetic companies in the world. When she was passed over for promotion because of her sex, Kay started her own cosmetics company where she could give women the work opportunities that she knew they were clamouring for. To finance expansion she parted with a large proportion of her shares. The resulting loss of complete control, combined with an exodus of women to permanent salaried work, caused the company problems in the 1980s. Undaunted, Kay and her son bought back the shares. Under the control of the family once more, the company was successfully turned around, and Kay took a back seat, allowing her son Richard to lead it into the new millennium.