Mary Kay Seminar

Seminar was amazing (not that I expected anything less)

Lisa and I had a blast together!

We went shopping, cowboy style....

I was able to go on a tour of the Mary Kay office building (last year I saw the manufacturing plant--which was really neat) But all of the executive offices are on the 13th floor of this building. Most buildings skip the 13th floor (unlucky). But in Mary Kay, 13 is a very lucky number. In fact, the company opened its doors on Friday the 13th, 1963; because that is the day that the lease on her original store front started.

This is in front of Mary Kay's office. They have kept it just the way she left it. The entire building was amazing, and all of the offices were individual and beautiful. Just what you would expect a multi-billion dollar company to have for offices.

I also got to sit in my future free car! The company has changed the car program, so this is the car that I am going to choose! The Pontiac G6. Isn't it cute?

So, our first night we had our Area Awards Dinner, (which is orchestrated by your National Sales Director.)

This is my National Sales Director, Margaret. Sadly she is retiring this year (you are required to retire from the title of National Sales Director on your 65th birthday. She is such a sweet lady, and I have so enjoyed getting to know her! The really neat thing though is that she wants to rent the cabin on Matinicus next summer! So I'm hoping I'll get to see more of her!

This is Margaret's husband, Jim. Dancing with one of their 13 year old twins after the dinner. It was so cute! You can see the other twin in the right of the picture. (for those of you doing the math with Margaret's age, the twins are technically her grandchildren. Her only daughter died giving birth to them) :( Sad huh? But these girls are so fun, and so cute. They are extremely helpful, passing out awards and helping Margaret stay organized during the dinner. Margaret and Jim are fantastic parents to them!

This is me, Lisa (my director) and Stephanie (Lisa's offspring Director) Lisa likes to joke that she must be heading on the right track because she keeps developing offspring directors who are tall blonde's who like to wear heels. :) *keeping in mind that I am only 5'7"--so not really all THAT tall...but I guess taller than average for a woman* (and look at Stephanie's cute belly! She is due in November) (and no, I'm not a director yet, but I have a solid plan in place that should have me in a director's suit by Christmas)

You would have thought that the theme of this awards dinner was black and white, but it wasn't. We just all happened to wear black and white. From left to right, this is Alexa (my MK Grandma), Lisa, me, Stephanie, and Mary Ann (my MK Great-Grandma) Either Alexa or Mary Ann is going to be our next National Sales Director. We'll see who accomplishes it first!

Then our last night there was the Company Awards night. Where people are winning Diamond rings, Free trips around the world, Cash prizes, diamond crowns--all sorts of amazing things! I did not get to go on the company stage, but next year I will!

Here is the Seminar Stage this year. See the table in the middle of the picture, it is covered with little jewelry (ring) boxes in the shape of thrones. They are so cute. So if you get to go on stage for awards, then you appear at the top of one of those stair cases (they announce your name), and those men help you down the stairs (so you don't fall) and you go to the middle of the stage and get your box, and then down the front stairs and off to the left to go back stage again to collect your prize that you previously chose. Rings, Video cameras, etc. Its a pretty incredible system, and they get through probably 100 people every 15 minutes. They just rush right through it. They have to, otherwise we'd never get to bed!

So not only is it an awards night, but it is also the ultimate in entertainment. It is like watching a Broadway production. Below are a few clips of some of the things we saw. Unfortunately because I don't have an actual video camera, these are short clips. But the entire Broadway portion of the production probably lasted about 15-20 minutes. They would feature one song from the current popular Broadway shows.

The people performing are called the "Friends of Tyme" and they are the official dance and song troupe of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Click Here to see a clip from Wicked - The girl playing Glinda is actually a consultant who won a singing contest from this past year. I entered it, but obviously didn't win :(

Click Here to see a clip from Mary Poppins (and the beginning of the Lion King)

Click Here to see the rest of the Lion King

Click Here to see a clip from Hairspray

Also, Mary Kay is the official Beauty Sponsor of the Country Music Awards this year, which is really exciting. So we got a mini country music show too! Click Here to see a clip of it. If you want to see more about Mary Kay's involvement, AND win a chance to go to the show in November, Click Here.

Here is a look at 1/2 of the area where I was sitting. There are probably about 5,000 people sitting in the arena, and then another 1,000 sitting in a place called "Hall A", watching this on the big screen. (Obviously the place to be is in the arena, and you have to earn your seat in it)

After the awards (it was about 1am) I wanted a picture in front of the NEW Pink Cadillac Escalade that is being offered now! Amazing huh? How fun would it be to drive a pink escalade?

Overall, the trip was amazing. And I learned so very much. Its funny because you don't really ever assume that you know everything there is to know-but you also can't imagine what else there is to learn until you learn it. My MK Grandma (Alexa) likes to say, "you don't know what you don't know" I love that saying, its so true. I have a lot more in depth product information about the Timewise products, especially Cellu-Shape--which if you haven't tried, YOU NEED TO! Its amazing stuff.

Another thing I learned, is never to room with someone that you don't already know. :) Now, I have roomed many many times with strangers and have never had a problem, but I don't think I'll ever do it again. I roomed with a relatively nice lady. I mean, she was nice, had a bit of an edge to her though. But the real problem was that SHE SNORED! It was unreal. I'm a heavy sleeper...but I couldn't sleep through this. I finally had to put my IPOD in my ears, and even that didn't work! (And I have really good Bose ear pieces) So, because she didn't seem to be willing to move out of the room, and because I didn't want to fight about it. Alexa and Lisa told me to come sleep in their room the remaining nights, which I gladly did. Alexa said the fact that I could talk to her about it, without making her mad at me is what is going to make me a great director. :) I sure hope so, because I held my tongue quite a bit with this lady. I just thought it was rude that she didn't offer to move someplace else. Oh well, not every is as accommodating as me :) But other than that, the whole experience was amazing.

If you are curious about what a Mary Kay opportunity can offer you, click here, to read a little more about it. You will never know what it can do in your life until you try. I truly believe that this is one of the best opportunities out there!