Dear reader,
Today I wandered through the Mary Kay Museum. I didn’t expect a cosmetics founder and company to get me thinking so deeply about legacy and what imagination is capable of.
Isn’t it magical how the greatest frustrations of your life can turn you into the kind of person who can make the greatest, most generous contribution of your life? Mary Kay Ash sure did.
In my birth year, she left her earthly life. She said: “you see, life to me is no brief candle. It’s a splendid torch, and I want to burn it brightly before I pass it on to future generations.” She started the company at an age when most people act like “it’s all downhill from here.” Even her home refused to go out quietly in its statement pink paint.
She believed the greatest gift wasn't a paycheck. It was the ability to create one. She created environments for countless women to become entrepreneurs, financially independent, exceptional at their work — for themselves, their families, their communities. Her women's wins were her wins. For her, building a business was one of the most effective ways to enact change. That profit becomes most meaningful when it's used as a channel for service at scale.
She practiced servant leadership. Hospitality as the heartbeat of her organization. Storytelling in her branding. She wasn't trying to be the only remarkable one. If your success doesn't multiply someone else’s success, I'm pretty sure you're dealing in greed.
The bumblebee is a recurring symbol at Mary Kay. Super achievers earn a diamond bumblebee pin. Engineers once concluded that bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly — their bodies too heavy for their wings. The bumblebee doesn't know what the engineers think. And so they go on flying anyway. Whether or not the story is scientifically accurate almost misses the point.
The symbols we choose to internalize become the stories we rehearse.
Do you truly believe that your life is a brightly shining torch, that you possess the power to create what can outlive you, an impact you can pass on?
Or do you believe that your life is a brief candle, dwindling, burning down, until one day you’re blown out and that’s the end?
You choose what you believe. And belief doesn't guarantee the outcome, but it does change what you're willing to attempt. Mary Kay believed. The bumblebee became the reminder. Look what followed.
Yes, Mary Kay started with makeup.
But first she made up a future that didn’t yet exist.
Reality simply caught up with her imagination.
Your imagination and audacity are some of your greatest assets.
Make it up. Make it all up. Make it multiply.
With much love & to going beyond the surface,
Anjali