Having It All
Mary Kay Ash, R.I.P.

By NR Editors
From “The Week,” December 17, 2001, issue, of National Review

hen Mary Kay Ash died at 83, on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas, she left 850,000 sales consultants in 37 countries with both the independence that comes from running their own small business and a philosophy of personal achievement that transforms lives. She founded her cosmetics empire in 1963, after working for 25 years in sales, because she "just couldn't believe that a woman's brain was worth only 50 cents on the dollar." She didn't take to the streets or convene a seminar. Instead, she made an investment of $5,000 and launched a fleet of pink Cadillacs. Mary Kay fervently believed that women could "have it all" if they prioritized their lives with God first, family second, and career third. She is mourned by the hundreds of thousands of women who realized her dream for them.

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