ABSTRACT
Mary Kay Ash was born in 1918 in Hot Wells, Texas, to a family of modest income. As a young girl, she helped care for her father, who had tuberculosis, while her mother worked. She was a good student, but the family could not aff ord to send her to college. She married at 17, eventually had three children, and began working in direct sales for Stanley Home Products in Houston, Texas. She possessed tremendous energy and learned quickly, while conducting demonstration “parties” for homemakers where she sold Stanley’s cleaning and personal care items. She eventually became a unit manager and held this position from 1938 until changing companies in 1952.
