The only woman in Forbes’ Greatest Business Stories of All Time and the first woman to chair a company on the New York Stock Exchange, this is the first biography of Mary Kay Wagner.
Enthralling ... Gavenas is a stylish writer with a knack for spotting telling details. The bewigged and bejeweled Mary Kay, forever spouting aphorisms,...is a vivid presence in these pages, even if her inner life can be difficult to fathom ... While the author acknowledges the distinction between the accounts of a few high-flying sellers and the reality of what most consultants earn, her generous account prefers to see the story of Mary Kay through pink-colored glasses.
Gavenas, a onetime beauty editor who wrote Color Stories, takes her time unspooling Mary Kay’s tale, with a great deal of evident research ... Be warned: Readers must really enjoy both this woman and this world to take pleasure in Selling Opportunity ... Instead of so much time in the pink fantasia of Mary Kay, it would have been nice for a few detours showing how infrequently the opportunities the company sold were truly realized.
Gavenas occasionally veers from hagiography, usually in the form of small, critical quips, but does not linger on the uncertainty of Mary Kay’s sale numbers. She instead enumerates the accoutrements and evidence of a feminine empire ... The fantasy the company offers has been sustained well past its founder’s death, in 2001.
