wow winter 2016

the words and how they are used in life
especially when you have a goal that you
are pursuing. It’s also a very colorful book
meaning it has different nationalities as
well as affirmations in it. The bible says
that “death and life are in the power of
the tongue and they that love it will eat
the fruit thereof…(Prov 18:21),” and I
think that we as adults need to teach our
children how to speak over their own lives.
Speaking to themselves about how great
they are and what they want to do when
they grow up. We know that, depending
on what household they’re in, there can be
a lot of negatives spoken over them. So this
book really encourages children to think
positively. I have children at my ministry
and when I see them I tell them, “you’re
brilliant, you’re smart.” And with the girls I
don’t just say you’re pretty, because pretty is
a dime a dozen. I want them to know yes,
you are beautiful, but it’s also important
that you know you’re intelligent. And they
have come back to me and said “First Lady,
I looked in the mirror today and said I’m
beautiful and I’m smart”, and I say that’s
right you are…because you never know
what type of negative environment they
may be in at home or school. Sometimes
their parents don’t know simply because of
the way that they were raised. You know, if
you were raised in a negative environment
that’s the way you’re gonna raise your kids.
So I know that when I get older I’m gonna
get a lot of free services because they are
gonna be doctors and lawyers and so forth.
So yes, I am very passionate about that!
“I know I’ve
been called to
motivate, to inspire,
to encourage and
teach people.”
DD: So very true, we must be that
positive encouragement that they may
not be getting at home. Sounds like an
awesome book. So tell me about Mary
Kay. I understand that you are the first,
youngest African American National
Sales Director for the state of Michigan!
How did you become interested in
becoming a representative?
CE: Well, I am a graduate of Michigan
State University, and I got hired straight
out of college at Ford Motor Company.
My goal was to be a corporate woman and
kinda move up the corporate ladder, you
know? So that’s really what I was pursuing.
Well about a year and a half after I started
working at Ford I got married, and about
2 years after that I got pregnant and had
my first child. I was still working and
my mother was watching her for me but
I started having the mommy blues and
started wishing I could stay at home; yet
I still had the desire to continue to work.
Then two years later I got pregnant with my
son. So now I’m feeling even more like it
would be so nice if I could stay home with
my children, but I kept working. Then I
found out that I was pregnant again! And
this was kinda that “oops” type of thing.
Well I had a few complications with this
pregnancy so I ended up taking a maternity
leave and while I was on leave a very good
friend of mine, who also worked at Ford,
told me about her experience with Mary
Kay. She had just been introduced to it
herself and was just in love with it. So she
called me up and began to tell me about it.
When I found out that this was her bright
idea…I mean I couldn’t see myself
selling Mary Kay. I mean I had
a college degree, and what
would people think! So she
kept talking and finally
convinced me to let
her director come and
talk to me. I agreed
and she came to my
house and talked
to me, and what I
heard was, this is
something that I
could do and still be
at home with my kids.
I just felt like it would
be a good way for me to
have a little money in my
pocket and still be able to
stay home with my kids. Well,
I was impressed with what she
was saying and I decided to join. I started
doing my parties and began doing very
well. I can remember my husband coming
home and I would go and show him how
much money I made, and it would go from
like $50 to $100 to $200 (an hour)! So
it started getting so good that I thought
about asking some other people who might
be interested in doing it, and that’s really
how the journey started. It started with me
just wanting to make a little extra money
and they rest as they say is history.
DD: Did you experience any setbacks
or obstacles during that time?
CE: Oh absolutely! I guess one of the
major setbacks was after I had my third
child (a daughter). She was born with
a rare skin disease which no one in my
family or my husband’s family had ever
heard of. So at some point I was forced to
make a decision, you know. Do you pursue
your career or do you quit, but I look at
things like this…to the Christian, life is
gonna happen. It’s not always pretty and
sometimes it’s very challenging. There are
gonna be times in your life when you say
“we walk by faith” and you’re gonna have to
put up or shut up. Now, some people may
have shut it down and said my daughter has
this disease and I’m not gonna be able to do
this. But for me it was the total opposite
because faith says you operate in your life
as though things are totally normal. That’s
my faith and I believe that “all things are
working together for the good …Rom
8:28” and I would not change my life based
on circumstances. I really believe that
because of that God really, really blessed
my business. My daughter passed away a
couple of weeks before she turned one year
old and that was definitely a trying time in
our lives, but God showed Himself to be
faithful even during that time. So I would
say that was probably the most challenging
time…pursuing a career with Mary Kay
and still standing on my faith and trusting
God with this disease that ended up being
fatal for her.
DD: So now that you’ve become quite
successful, how do you stay motivated to
keep going?
CE: What motivates me is knowing
at the end of the day that I’ve fulfilled
my purpose in the earth. I want to do
everything that I believe God has called
me to do. So if someone were to ask me
what keeps me up at night, I would say
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WOW! MAGAZINE | WINTER 2016 | 11