I was grading papers on a South Florida beach when one of my then roommates, Libby, tripped across the sand in her heels to share her enthusiasm - she had just experienced Mary Kay's oil control line of products and she had been selected to become a beauty consultant! I thought she had, once and for all, lost it. I vowed to pursue the pushy sales lady who instigated this and promised to get Libby her money back. Libby was, however, ecstatic about her new skin and her new part-time opportunity. Unwilling to hostess a class (or even try the product), I became her greatest source of rejection and discouragement and mocked her publicly and privately.      After countless invitations to attend glamour, fashion, and success events, Candy (my other roommate) and I agreed to support Libby by joining her for Quarterly Awards! She was a Ruby Star! Although I thought it was extremely hoakie, we had no other plans that Friday night in April of 1986. Pleasantly surprised, it was a fun night and before I knew it, I had agreed to an interview with Libby's Director - but only because she offered to buy my dinner. Besides, I told her up front that I would never do this. I left that appointment an Independent Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. It clearly was a great opportunity, and I could see that if effort was expended, money could be made. I needed money! I was in debt to miscellaneous credit card companies $16,000, but I loved my English/Dance teaching position and knew I was no sales person, so I never really planned to do anything with my kit. I did find a way, however, to invest in optional inventory in case a customer found her way to me and requested product! My room was now full of boxes and I continued daily to ponder this question, "What have I done?"      The school year ended and my summertime check quickly disappeared. Broke again, I went to conduct my first skin care class with an unopened showcase and boxed product in the trunk of my car, but only after my hostess, a Drill Team Mom, had called to book me three times. She put everything together for me, filled the trays - she even read the flip chart! Filled with fear and low confidence, I quickly recovered on my drive home as I mentally counted the dollars - over $400!      When I returned to the classroom in the fall of my fifth year, my appetite to remain in a positive environment with flexible hours, to associate with goal-oriented, happy people had been whet. This proved to be my final year working for someone else. I "went to school" on Mary Kay Cosmetics and committed to learning and refining all skills necessary for success and financial stability. (I am still learning today!) I became an Independent Sales Director working part time hours and finished out my final year of teaching in the public school system.      I invested five years in my college preparation and 5 more teaching in my field. Although great experience, those ten years left me disillusioned, financially and spiritually depleted. The past thirteen years invested in Mary Kay have provided my family, which now includes my husband, Jerry (a marketing major formerly with Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear) and Thomas, my 7 year old son, with a quality of life that most people only dream of and some never even think of! We continue to travel the world with Mary Kay; we continue to appreciate the luxury of a six figure income; we continue to drive Pink Cadillacs; we continue to deeply apply the opportunity to live a balanced, centered life and have the platform to teach and train others to discover their own purpose, live their values, and design their lives. I am so grateful to have broken old bad habits that did not serve me well - to have created new habits of making good, healthy choices, and I am committed to supporting others in discovering their unknown talents, to developing incredible levels of success as together, we Dream Big!