By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-978668.mp3
Dallas, TX – Mary Kay "pink" is once again blooming in downtown Dallas. The cosmetic company's annual seminar is underway through August 6th at the Dallas Convention Center. Company officials say the sales force this year is about ten percent larger, and "teachers" are part of the reason why. KERA's BJ Austin reports.
Several thousand Mary Kay "beauty consultants" wearing purple and red blazers crammed into a convention center auditorium decorated in a pink butterfly motif. They are here to network and hear inspirational speakers. The top sellers for the year will receive six million dollars worth of prizes, including the coveted Mary Kay Pink Cadillac.
Mary Kay Vice President Yvette Franco says continuing layoffs and a sluggish U.S. job market are boosting the ranks of Mary Kay.
Franco: I mean this is truly about starting a small business, but a small business that can obviously grow depending on what you want to put into it. I think we're at a place right now we're at a time right now where people really want options. And people are seeking control.
As a teacher Meagan Ray wanted an option. Her plans to teach elementary school after college graduation spun out of control as school districts began cutting budgets and trimming teacher ranks. She couldn't get a full time teaching job.
Ray: Three years of substitute teaching and working at day cares and just trying to get my face out there. Then I came to Mary Kay and it was just one of those things that gave me hope: helped me see light at the end of the tunnel.
Ray, from Aubrey in Denton County, is new to Mary Kay. She's part of the cosmetic company's ten percent increase in the sales force. Ray says her Mary Kay money has helped her get a start on repaying student loans. And, she's finally landed her first teaching job. Next month, she'll introduce herself to a fourth grade class at Mary Immaculate Catholic School in Farmers Branch. But she says she is NOT giving up Mary Kay. It's her "Plan B."
Ray: I mean I have so many opportunities and goals that I want to strive for: the pink Cadillac. Just having that extra income to help support the future family I would love to have one day.
Becoming a single mom to her four year old son helped propel elementary school teacher Natasha Childs into her Mary Kay business.
Childs: It's hard to struggle and live paycheck to paycheck.
Childs says job security for teachers is a big issue these days. Her school in Cedar Hill has had layoffs. She says some of her Mary Kay money goes into her classroom.
Childs: You know, a lot of times we have to provide things for our students on our own. Because when you run out of supplies and sometimes it's hard to get parents to get those extra supplies for you, you have to pay for that yourself. And anything in the classroom as far as decorations and things like that, that comes out of your pocket, not the school's. So that extra income helps.
Childs says without her Mary Kay income, she would not have been able to take her son to Disney World for his fourth birthday, or put a down payment on a car.
Both teachers say having their own part-time businesses gives them confidence they'll weather tough economic times.
A total of 30 thousand conventioneers will attend five, identical back-to-back Mary Kay seminars over the next three weeks: more delegates than last year. The annual "seminar" has a 71 million dollar impact on the Dallas economy.