Assignment 27A - Reading Reflection

Assignment 27A-

I chose to read Miracle Happen by Mary Kay Ash because my mom had recently read it as part of her own schooling she is currently doing.

What surprised you the most? - I was honestly shocked when learning about how the Mary Kay brand came to be. When you hear of success stories I feel more often times than not it is specialists from a certain area that eventually grow too big for their role and then make their own brand. However, Mary Kay had years and years of marketing and sales experience that she decided to just pick up something that she really cared about and make an entire business out of it.

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? – The thing I really admired throughout the book about Mary Kay is that she is a textbook self-starter. This to me means, that she is able to push herself through anything in order to succeed. Throughout the book she is able to start a major company and also raise her children as a single-mother, this is because she is a textbook self-starter and knows her limits, motivations, etc.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? – The only time I time I personally hard a difficult time reading the book was the pages in which she put so much focus on how make-up, wigs, and other beauty items would change family dynamics. These pages were hard to read because I understood that she meant that women can gain confidence from these items and that can really pour over into their family lives. However, the wording and tone really threw me off because it made it sound like to Mary Kay that the items and make-overs were almost a necessity for women to feel good about themselves.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? – Another thing I really admired about Mary Kay was her ability to use her struggles and challenges as a way to experience self-growth. This book is chalked full of so many instances of when she had valleys in her life but the way she described these challenges is that they were almost blessings in her life. Mary Kay truly believed that ‘what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,’ and she showed that true growth can come from true lows.

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? – Mary Kay is honestly a remarkable businesswoman but also a remarkable person. She spent so much time developing a brand that she wanted to help women truly empower themselves and take control of their own lives. So on top of her being so hard working and independent, she was a kind-soul who went into her actions thinking about others.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you – The part of the book that was very confusing to me was the sections that talked about how makeup and other beauty items can change lives. Because I understand after reading the entire novel what she meant and she was referring to how women can grow in confidence due to feeling better about themselves, however her wording and tone in these sections kind of blur those lines for me.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? – First, I would ask how was it working with your son being in charge of the finances and more paperwork-orientated sections of the company? I am always very curious to hear about how business people are able to work with their immediate family. Second, if you could go back and change anything about how you started would you? She talked in the book about how hard it was for her to actually start her business and how many choices she needed to make so I am curious to see if she has any regrets.

For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? – The opinion of hard work that Mary Kay shared is one that I really also try to be. Her opinion is that you are your own motivator and you are the only person you are in charge of, so you need to make sure that you are taking care of your business and yourself before you venture out to others. She also made sure that she did everything necessary to support her family in any way possible which is something I really inspire to do.