Mary Kay Gets A Makeover

D Magazine:

Shortly after 8 a.m. on a hot and muggy morning in late July, thousands of women jammed the foyer outside Hall A of the Dallas Convention Center. They were there for the Mary Kay Emerald Seminar, one of five consecutive three-day conventions the company holds each summer in Dallas.

Inside the arena, rock music blared, a fog machine was pumping, and two dozen dancers filled the stage. Women in business attire began screaming like preteen girls at a Jonas Brothers concert. But they weren’t just excited about the song-and-dance on stage; they were on fire for Mary Kay.

The audience was nearing church revival-pitch when Mary Kay president and CEO David Holl stepped up to the podium and announced his goal to hit $5 billion in annual revenue by the Addison-based company’s 50th anniversary—just three years away. It’s double the $2.5 billion the company generated in 2009, but Holl is a true believer. “I know to never underestimate the power of a woman, a passionate woman on a mission,” Holl said. “Never underestimate the power of a passionate company on a mission.”

When he’s not igniting evangelistic fervor among the Mary Kay faithful, Holl maintains a low profile, despite having been at the helm of the multibillion-dollar company since 2006. When asked, many Dallas executives have a hard time recalling the name of Mary Kay’s CEO, incorrectly assuming the person at the top is Richard Rogers, son of the company’s late founder Mary Kay Ash. (Rogers serves as executive chairman.) More often, they assume the top officer is a woman.

It is likely that Ash, who died in 2001, would have approved of Holl’s promotion to the CEO post. Rhonda Shasteen, former chief marketing officer at Mary Kay, says Ash “would never put a woman in that position just because she was a woman. In Mary Kay’s personal life, men were put into positions just because they were men, not because they were best person for job. She set about to have a company that wouldn’t do things that way. David is the CEO because, at that moment in time, when that decision needed to be made, [he was] the best person for the job.”

Logo from Mary Kay