Shane Parrish

The initial inventory was her entire investment.

So by 1963, she had remarried and her second husband, George, would handle the administrative side.

He would do the bookkeeping, the inventory, the ordering, and Mary Kay would handle marketing and sales.

They set an opening date for Friday, September 13, 1963, and they spent weeks preparing.

And one month before the opening, early in August, they were reviewing the final balance sheet when George clutched his chest.

He had had a heart attack, and he was dead before the ambulance arrived.

Mary Kay called it the darkest day of her life.

Her business attorney's advice was clear.

Abandon this foolish dream.

The venture couldn't succeed now.

Her accountant said the exact same thing.

In fact, everyone in her life told her she was crazy.

But stopping wasn't an option.

She'd invested her entire life savings.

She had no job to go back to, no husband to support her.

Stopping meant financial ruin.

And somewhere deep inside her psychology, she could still hear her mother's voice.

You can do it, Mary Kay.

So she turned to her children.

Her youngest son, Richard, was 20 years old.