Shane Parrish

She chose it because it was the only path that gave her control over her own schedule.

The economics were brutal.

She earned $10 to $12 for each home party she hosted.

To make ends meet, she'd need to host three parties every single day.

Not three a week, three a day.

But first, she had to learn how to actually make money at this.

When she first started, it was catastrophically discouraging.

The first three weeks, she averaged exactly $2 of income per show.

She was working herself to exhaustion for poverty wages.

Most people would have quit, and Mary Kay nearly did too.

But then she heard about the company's annual convention in Dallas.

It cost $12 to attend, $12 she absolutely did not have.

So she borrowed the money, leaving her children with a neighbor, and took a bus to Dallas.

Several hundred Stanley dealers filled the convention hall, and Mary Kay sat in the back watching everything with an eye for detail.

The company president, F. Stanley Beaveridge, took the stage to crown the queen of sales.

The winner walked up to thunderous applause, and then Beaveridge presented her prize, an alligator handbag, a status symbol that announced to the world, I am successful.

After the ceremony, Mary Kay walked up to Stanley and introduced herself.

Then she looked him in the eye and told him she would be the queen of sales next year.

He paused and steadied her face for a moment, and then he said five words.

Somehow, I think you will.