Mary Kay Cosmetics is an international company that sells beauty products .
玫琳凯化妆品公司是一家销售美容产品的跨国公司。
One woman started the business in the 1960s with an investment of $5,000 .
一位女性在20世纪60年代以5000美元的投资创办了这家公司。
Mary Kathlyn Wagner was born in the state of Texas in 1918 .
玛丽·凯瑟琳·瓦格纳1918年出生于得克萨斯州。
For much of her childhood , she cared for her sick father while her mother worked long hours at a restaurant .
童年的大部分时间里，她都在照顾生病的父亲，而母亲则在一家餐馆长时间工作。
Mary Kay married Ben Rogers when she was 17 years old .
玛丽·凯17岁时嫁给了本·罗杰斯。
They had three children before he left home to serve in World War Two .
在他离家参加第二次世界大战之前，他们生了三个孩子。
When he returned , their marriage ended .
他回来后，他们的婚姻就结束了。
Mary Kay looked for a job so she could support her children .
玛丽·凯开始找工作，好养活孩子们。
She began selling different kinds of products .
她开始销售各种各样的产品。
One night , Mary Kay was showing products at the home of Ova Heath Spoonemore .
一天晚上，玛丽·凯在奥瓦·希思·斯普恩莫尔家里展示产品。
Ms . Spoonemore began giving her guests some homemade skin care products .
斯普恩莫尔女士开始把一些自制的护肤品送给她的客人。
The products were developed by her father , J.W .
这些产品是由她的父亲J.W.
Heath , in Arkansas .
希思在阿肯色州研制的。
Mary Kay tried the skin care products and liked them .
玛丽·凯试用了这些护肤品，很喜欢。
She bought the rights to Heath's skin care products and started her own company .
她买下了希思护肤品的权利，创办了自己的公司。
She paid $500 for the legal rights to the products .
她花了500美元获得这些产品的合法权利。
And in 1963 , The Mary Kay Cosmetics company began operating in Dallas , Texas .
1963年，玫琳凯化妆品公司在得克萨斯州达拉斯开始营业。
The idea was to sell skin care products through demonstrations in homes and offices .
其理念是通过在家庭和办公室里现场演示来销售护肤品。
Independent sales representatives bought beauty products from the company and sold them at higher prices .
独立销售代表从公司购入美容产品，再以更高的价格卖出。
Mary Kay decided that each representative who brought other saleswomen into the company would receive part of the new person's earnings .
玛丽·凯规定，每位介绍其他女销售员加入公司的代表，都可以从新人的收入中分得一部分。
That way , experienced sales representatives would be willing to train new ones .
这样一来，有经验的销售代表就会愿意培训新人。
Mary Kay Cosmetics became one of the most successful direct sellers of skin care products in America .
玫琳凯化妆品公司成为美国最成功的护肤品直销企业之一。
It continues to have sales offices and representatives in many different countries .
该公司至今仍在许多国家设有销售办事处和代表。
Mary Kay aimed to grow sales based on the idea that it is best to compete against yourself .
玛丽·凯希望基于“最好和自己竞争”的理念来提高销售额。
That means every individual is trying to beat their own sales records .
也就是说，每个人都努力打破自己的销售纪录。
Prizes for high sales marks included special paid holidays and jewelry .
销售业绩突出的奖励包括公费特别假期和珠宝。
Until a few years ago , a pink Cadillac was a top prize .
直到几年前，一辆粉色凯迪拉克还是最高奖品。
After her third husband , Mel Ash , died of cancer in 1980 , she wanted to help find a cure for the disease .
她的第三任丈夫梅尔·阿什于1980年死于癌症后，她希望帮助找到治愈这种疾病的方法。
At first , she helped organizations raise money for research .
起初，她帮助一些机构为研究筹款。
Later , she started the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation , a nonprofit group that provides money to support research on cancers affecting women .
后来，她创办了玛丽·凯·阿什慈善基金会，这是一个资助女性癌症研究的非营利组织。
In 2001 , the company and foundation expanded their goals to help prevent violence against women .
2001年，公司和基金会将目标扩大到帮助防止针对女性的暴力。
Mary Kay Ash also wrote three books .
玛丽·凯·阿什还写了三本书。
She worked in her business until she suffered a stroke in 1996 .
她一直在公司工作，直到1996年中风。
She died in 2001 .
她于2001年去世。
Sales representatives say Mary Kay developed a way for women to earn money and still spend time with their families .
销售代表们说，玛丽·凯为女性开创了一种既能赚钱又能陪伴家人的方式。