Shane Parrish

She established competitions with prizes, not cash.

Cash tended to disappear into household budgets, but prizes were visible, permanent, constant reminders of achievement.

They were status symbols.

The very thing that she was after when she wanted that alligator bag and she won her trophy instead.

So she made sure that recognition happened in front of your peers.

At company meetings, she'd call consultants to the stage one by one and celebrate their accomplishments in detail.

For major achievements, the prizes got bigger and bigger.

Diamond rings, fur coats, and eventually the famous pink Cadillacs.

Mary Kay started with nine beauty consultants.

They were all personal friends.

They weren't experienced saleswomen.

They were housewives, secretaries, mothers who needed flexible work and extra income.

After one year, the company had grown to 200 people.

And Mary Kay set her sights even higher.

At their first annual convention in September 1964, she stood before those 200 women and declared that by next year's convention, they'd have 3,000 people in their sales force.

3,000.

That is a 15-fold increase in one year.

And the audience applauded politely, of course.

But you can imagine what some of them were thinking.

Mary Kay has lost her mind.