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This chapter explores the attributes that made Mary Kay Ash a global success – attributes that helped her build a global cosmetics empire at a time when strong, successful female entrepreneurs were almost unheard of. Mary Kay’s can-do spirit led her to create a company that enriched – and continues to enrich – millions of women’s lives around the globe. Her example, her teachings, her legacy live on today, and that legacy has inspired countless entrepreneurs, leaders, and business students. The qualities she exhibited remain an important part of Mary Kay’s legacy: imagination, passion, determination, integrity, courage, and compassion. Although those qualities were innate in Mary Kay, they resonate today as guidelines for others to follow in shaping their own careers – or their own empires. Mary Kay’s path was never easy, but she met every challenge she faced with grit and determination. Because she shaped her own path against all odds in a way that was uniquely her own, those who study her methods today can benefit from the examples she set, and her footsteps can lead others on their way to a rich, rewarding future.

Direct selling was founded on the philosophy of coaching people on how to successfully build a business from the ground up, and women comprise a large percentage of these direct selling entrepreneurs. In this chapter, we highlight the empowering benefits of direct selling. First, we focus on women micro-entrepreneurs who want to build their own small businesses, but on a limited scale while maintaining flexible schedules and work-life satisfaction. These women can benefit from the direct selling opportunity in terms of capitalization, formal structures, mentoring, income, self-efficacy, social capital, and life skills. Second, we profile women entrepreneurs who are building their own product organizations and have chosen direct selling as a go-to-market strategy for access to consumers. Three consistent attributes observed across these women are authenticity, affective commitment, and passion.