Mary Kay Cosmetics is an international company that sells beauty products .
玫琳凱化妝品公司是一家銷售美容產品的跨國公司。
One woman started the business in the 1960s with an investment of $5,000 .
一位女性在1960年代以5000美元的投資創辦了這家公司。
Mary Kathlyn Wagner was born in the state of Texas in 1918 .
瑪麗·凱瑟琳·瓦格納1918年出生於德州。
For much of her childhood , she cared for her sick father while her mother worked long hours at a restaurant .
童年的大部分時間裡，她都在照顧生病的父親，而母親則在一家餐廳長時間工作。
Mary Kay married Ben Rogers when she was 17 years old .
瑪麗·凱17歲時嫁給了班·羅傑斯。
They had three children before he left home to serve in World War Two .
在他離家參加第二次世界大戰之前，他們生了三個孩子。
When he returned , their marriage ended .
他回來後，他們的婚姻就結束了。
Mary Kay looked for a job so she could support her children .
瑪麗·凱開始找工作，好養活孩子們。
She began selling different kinds of products .
她開始銷售各式各樣的產品。
One night , Mary Kay was showing products at the home of Ova Heath Spoonemore .
一天晚上，瑪麗·凱在奧瓦·希斯·斯普恩莫爾家裡展示產品。
Ms . Spoonemore began giving her guests some homemade skin care products .
斯普恩莫爾女士開始把一些自製的保養品送給她的客人。
The products were developed by her father , J.W .
這些產品是由她的父親J.W.
Heath , in Arkansas .
希斯在阿肯色州研發的。
Mary Kay tried the skin care products and liked them .
瑪麗·凱試用了這些保養品，很喜歡。
She bought the rights to Heath's skin care products and started her own company .
她買下了希斯保養品的權利，創辦了自己的公司。
She paid $500 for the legal rights to the products .
她花了500美元取得這些產品的合法權利。
And in 1963 , The Mary Kay Cosmetics company began operating in Dallas , Texas .
1963年，玫琳凱化妝品公司在德州達拉斯開始營業。
The idea was to sell skin care products through demonstrations in homes and offices .
其理念是透過在家庭和辦公室裡現場示範來銷售保養品。
Independent sales representatives bought beauty products from the company and sold them at higher prices .
獨立銷售代表從公司購入美容產品，再以更高的價格賣出。
Mary Kay decided that each representative who brought other saleswomen into the company would receive part of the new person's earnings .
瑪麗·凱規定，每位介紹其他女銷售員加入公司的代表，都可以從新人的收入中分得一部分。
That way , experienced sales representatives would be willing to train new ones .
這樣一來，有經驗的銷售代表就會願意培訓新人。
Mary Kay Cosmetics became one of the most successful direct sellers of skin care products in America .
玫琳凱化妝品公司成為美國最成功的保養品直銷企業之一。
It continues to have sales offices and representatives in many different countries .
該公司至今仍在許多國家設有銷售據點和代表。
Mary Kay aimed to grow sales based on the idea that it is best to compete against yourself .
瑪麗·凱希望基於「最好和自己競爭」的理念來提高銷售額。
That means every individual is trying to beat their own sales records .
也就是說，每個人都努力打破自己的銷售紀錄。
Prizes for high sales marks included special paid holidays and jewelry .
銷售業績突出的獎勵包括公費特別假期和珠寶。
Until a few years ago , a pink Cadillac was a top prize .
直到幾年前，一輛粉紅色凱迪拉克還是最高獎品。
After her third husband , Mel Ash , died of cancer in 1980 , she wanted to help find a cure for the disease .
她的第三任丈夫梅爾·艾許於1980年死於癌症後，她希望幫助找到治癒這種疾病的方法。
At first , she helped organizations raise money for research .
起初，她幫助一些機構為研究募款。
Later , she started the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation , a nonprofit group that provides money to support research on cancers affecting women .
後來，她創辦了瑪麗·凱·艾許慈善基金會，這是一個資助女性癌症研究的非營利組織。
In 2001 , the company and foundation expanded their goals to help prevent violence against women .
2001年，公司和基金會將目標擴大到幫助防止針對女性的暴力。
Mary Kay Ash also wrote three books .
瑪麗·凱·艾許還寫了三本書。
She worked in her business until she suffered a stroke in 1996 .
她一直在公司工作，直到1996年中風。
She died in 2001 .
她於2001年去世。
Sales representatives say Mary Kay developed a way for women to earn money and still spend time with their families .
銷售代表們說，瑪麗·凱為女性開創了一種既能賺錢又能陪伴家人的方式。