27A: Reading Reflection No. 3

Assignment 27A: Reading Reflection No. 3

I read about Mary Kay and her empire in Mary Kay Ash's Miracles Happen:

• What surprised you the most?
• What surprised me the most about this entrepreneur was that it all started with a dream as she was simply sitting down thinking about her life and everything that she had accomplished.  She then realized that her dream job could be something other than a dream- it could be reality.  And this is what inspired Mary Kay Ash to begin her climb to the top.  She mimicked the personality of young girls who use their imagination to play and instead turned this playing into her own reality.  I never thought that I would hear an entrepreneur so successful as she was say that imagination will make our "possibilities limitless."  
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I most admired that Mary Kay Ash was able to create such an enormous empire despite all of the adversity she experienced throughout her life.   She spent a lot of time taking care of her father who was sick, her husband died one month before she start her company, and yet, she continued to pursue her dream.  Subsequently, her dedication to her work continued to grow, her brand and name continued to live on as her innovation and work never failed to increasingly gain popularity.  Mary Kay Ash used her ambition and ability to dream to create a name for herself and to utilize her entrepreneurial abilities.   
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• I found it difficult to find a trait about Mary Kay Ash that I did not admire because I feel as if her determination to make a happy life for herself is something that outweighs everything else.  She never let anyone walk all over her which is demonstrated as she quit her job after men who she had trained herself had been promoted over her after she had been working at the company for over ten years.  I think it is really hard to not admire a woman with such stamina and determination to make a dream come true not only for herself but for women everywhere.  
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Mary Kay Ash started her business with just her life savings: $5,000.  After her husband. who was also her business partner, died of a heart attack nearly days before she was starting her business, Ash had to buckle up and make the most of those five thousand dollars.  From this adversity she learned to be efficient with her money in order to start up her company and to keep it on its feet.  As a woman in the twentieth century, Mary Kay Ash was not handed anything.  She worked extremely hard to build her name and company because it was something that she wanted and dreamed of having.  She used the adversity she experienced to challenge herself to be the best and to actually reach her goals, however big they may have been.  
• What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
• I think the greatest skills that Mary Kay Ash exhibited was her ability to use her dreaming as a means of being an entrepreneur.  I find it incredible that she uses her past failures and defeats to ignite a future for herself by using what she learned to become better.  I truly think that this is one of the most important attributes of an entrepreneur as they must keep pushing to refine themselves or their company/ products to be the best. Determination is definitely one of the greatest competencies that Mary Kay Ash exhibits because she never backs down in the face of adversity or defeat, but rather uses it to fuel her goals and dreams. 
• Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
• As I read through this book, I was confused about the information that was discussed about Mary Kay Ash's organization talents.  This specific chapter discusses how she ended every day with a list of six things that she wanted to accomplish the next day.  And if something does not get finished, it goes onto the list for the next day and so on.  However, at some point, a $35,000 list is mentioned as this technique become worthy to banker Charles Schwab who sent Ivy Lee $35,0000 for explaining Ash's six things list technique.  However, if I had not researched where the $35,000 came from, I would still be seriously confused.  
• If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
• I would ask the entrepreneur how she was able to make something that was just a dream to become reality.  It seems nearly impossible for me right now to simply sit at my desk, think of what I want to do in my life, and just do it.  I would ask her how she ignored all of the noise of people saying that it's not possible and she can't do it and instead made an empire for herself. 
• I would also ask the entrepreneur what it took for her to keep on building her business even after her husband died and after all of the adversity that she faced.  I think that after an event like that, it would be extremely hard to continue pursuing a dream without someone who was there when you started that dream.  I find it extremely admirable that she was able to have enough determination to make a new life for herself and to achieve her wildest dreams and goals in her life.  
• For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
• I think that Mary Kay Ash's opinion of hard work was completing a task that you loved to complete and seeing it through until it reached success.  According to Mary Kay Ash, the point of living is to do something that you love and enjoy; otherwise, what was the point of completing it? Mary Kay Ash was a determined and powerful woman who did not stop until she was living her dream.  I agree with her opinion of hard work as I believe that if you love the work that you are doing, then it will never feel like work.