13A Miracles Happen: Mary Kay Ash

Miracles Happen: The life and timeless principles of the founder of Mark Kay, Inc. by Mary Kay Ash

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

That it was only a $4,500 investment initially that got her business up and running. In these times, money is always the first thing that comes to mind when starting any sort of small business ad to see this woman start with so little, especially after the loss of her husband, is nothing short of astounding.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

Her family connections and priority to keep them at the utmost top. She believed fully with her heart that this was meant to be her path and explained this to her children as well. Enough so that even her son said, “I think you could do anything in the world you wanted to.” Following it up with “Here’s my savings. If it will help you in any way, I want you to have it.” (pg.5-6) She was very upfront about her ideals and her goals, and aimed this book initially as a type of self-help book, that ended up helping herself into building her own company.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

The focus on appearance from a woman working in business.Understandably so due to her business line being in cosmetics and makeup, but still. She herself said that she limited those who she works with in the book based on appearance. She even turned down a woman who had her PhD, which I thought was absolutely absurd considering you’d think she would be able to relate to a woman doing what it takes to be successful. 

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

The loss of her husband whom she had married at 17 was the biggest shining moment that pushed her to continue in my opinion. Outside of, earlier on in the story, being surpassed by a man that she trained regarding a promotion she felt she deserved. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

She had a fight-or-flight mentality, often mentioning her incentive to not fail was to simply not work under someone. I think there were opportunities that could’ve become better had she taken a little more time researching and investing, but that’s also the difference between the 80s and 2020.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I wouldn’t say it was as much as one part, but understanding the time that this book was written. We have made leaps and bounds in equality throughout the decades, but to see some of the main focuses be on appearance instead of other avenues really confused the heck out of me.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

If you could go back and invest in women that were fighting the same fight, but with education, would you? 

Why: Because I want to see if she has the ability to see past someone’s outside look before judging if she would work with them or not.

Here in 2020, Mary Kay’s has slowly been surpassed by other cosmetic lines. Is there anything you would add or get rid of sooner to ensure the company can succeed for a longer amount of time?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

She has a very strong mindset that working just as hard as men was hard work. She has the I can do anything as long as I pour my heart into it mindset, that ultimately could’ve led to her demise. Luckily it didn’t, but truthfully it sounds like hard work, a great support system and good luck was the keys to her success.Understanding the timeliness of these observations. Currently, agree with this day and age? No.

14A Tenaciousness

For this exercise, I'd like you reflect on the past two months. In your post for this exercise, pretend that you're talking to a student from next semester's course. What would you tell them?

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

I’ve developed a new sense of proactiveness and patience with people, for sure. I’m already not a people person (hence why I take an all online course) and to top that off with the workload from this class… You’ve got to be on your toes for the entire time. Even last week, I thought I’d hit the declare button for my peer reviews and I didn’t so that, with the quiz meant I lost three points and that took a hard hit.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

The interviews have definitely made my socializing skills a little less stressful. There are a lot of opportunities to learn and grow from other people that I initially wasn’t planning on thinking twice about. I’m very passionate about my research because it’s something I’m currently acting on now, but interviewing people who didn’t see the importance of adding another youth program definitely took a hit at my pride and slowed me down during this process. As the semester goes on, so does my patience with seeing that not everyone will see this elite swim team as a priority to youth athletes and that’s probably been the best lesson. Because, now I’m persuading and learning the correct terminology to develop and produce the correct product to the city, city council and ultimately, the mayor.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. Have a calender, planner, alarm in your phone for ALL assignments. You’ll lose track of some and this will help you stay on your game.
2. Watch the lectures. The quizzes are the lectures. They’re tedious, but the professor does a great job pulling you in and truly making you understand the awkward aspects of where your project can go.
3. Take the interviews seriously. You’ll learn so much from people and from yourself. There were so many additional perspectives that helped challenge and change the marketing perspective of my project, and the comments from other students helped clarify that even though I may know what I’m talking about, not everyone does. 

For this post, please include at least one image.

This was probably one of my “reviving” moments for why I am trying to make this elite team happen. In this photo (because it’s not specified what kind of photo), my college senior swam her last mile race and had a best time she’d been trying to achieve for over six years. This is the more “emotional” and “passion” side of the sport that you can’t market to certain degrees. You tell people they’ll make memories that last a lifetime, but it’s rare to capture the memories in the making. 

12A

1) Pick a segment. In class, we have discussed how you might intuit the existence of segments that might exist in your venture's market. For this exercise, you must pick one segment. 

For this portion of the project we will be focusing on Demographics; age groups, gender, life cycle and income. There will not be inclusion of race/religion due to the “all-inclusion” goal for the company.

2) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. These interviews, if conducted properly, should take about 10-15 minutes. Any less, and you won't be able to obtain adequate information.

Swim parent: Single- Middle Class

Student Athlete: Age 18- upper class family income

Student athlete And Parent (for parental consent to use their words in an interview): Age 14 - Middle class family income

3) Begin with need awareness. In earlier exercises, you have identified an unmet need and developed a solution. If the person you are talking to does not have the same unmet, then you need to move on. You may not include this as one of your three interviews. If the person you are talking to does have the problem, then you're on the right track! For need awareness, we need to figure out at what times, situations, places, contexts, etc., their need becomes the most salient. The questions you ask should be related to determining exactly when, how, and where their need awareness occurs.

All are included in the interview portion below.

4) Move to information search. When the person you are interviewing becomes aware of their need, what is the very first thing they do to find a solution to their problem? What sources of information do they look for? When they search in Google, what are their search terms? Do they talk to friends and family.

Single parent- Middle Class: Once prompted, the first series of questions were the cost, the exact location, if we would be participating with USA Swimming, or a separate entity altogether, the times and what the websites name would be. I informed them that a good research tool when searching for our new team would be to include the terminology “Elite” to shorten their listings. When questioned once more about the use from this particular family for the option of a new swim team it became apparent that there was a focus on their particular situation and how the team could benefit them specifically. We told them the times would be alternating between the school year to better suit the parents needs during work hours, allowing an opportunity for this parent to have the ability to pick up their child during lunch breaks, which was a concern initially. Because this particular parent is single, the need became obvious that working around a schedule would become more problematic for these situations.

Student Athlete (Age 18): Introduced to the program, and primary focus was the location. This athlete travels 45 minutes to a team for a program that has more of a coach to athlete ratio. When told the location of this new club, the interest in the team peaked. The first things that were asked was when the club would be established, the costs of the club, the costs of private lessons and the technology behind the club. As a younger generation member, the interest in apps for videos to be viewed was more of a concern, after the location and cost. Due to the athlete being older and the program being introduced after his graduating year, he was more so concerned with the ability to train individually. When prompted if he would be interested in bringing any of his friends to the club he listed a few people that would be interested in the younger age group program with a group swimming.

Student athlete and parent: Age 14 - Middle class family income: Being the youngest age group, the parent was concerned with the amount of kids in the program and the growth expansions that are expected. She, and the student athlete, were concerned with the amount of kids their age given the closeness of the Davidson College. There was a major concern for ensuring with the status “Elite” that there would be the younger generation available to compete with. The next standards would be the amount of traveling that would partake. With the club fees being addressed last. When asked what they would use to look up the program they informed us that they would attempt to look through USA swimming, and brought up that there would be a need for those registrations due to the championship series being all qualifiers.

5) Report the findings of your research. Simply summarize what you learned in the interviews.

The main focus of location and cost are the biggest concerns throughout the multiple demographics. The age groups coming in second as the next concern, which was something we were not aware that should be advertised as much.

6) Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of need awareness and information search?

Regarding information search, I think it would be in the company’s best interest to partner with USA swimming and become recognized through that program. The amount of users and athletes familiar with this program will ultimately look into competitions sanctioned by them, as well as clubs qualified and accredited through their program. Next concern would be address that there is a strict difference between college athletes and age group athletes, given the proximity to Davidson College. Addressing the parents concerns about costs seemed to be the less of the focus, as much as the location was. Ensuring the proper age group is brought in to the program and highlighting the location seem to be the utmost concern to the guidance and future accomplishments of the company.

11A

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am currently the University of North Florida’s assistant swim coach. I have been coaching for 11 years this year, working with multiple age groups between 10 to 24 years old. Currently I am hoping to advance in my coaching career into the Big 10, SECs, ACC conferences. My ultimate goal would be to start up a club team chain in multiple states to engage a more family like community in our already close-knit swim culture. Starting this new swim opportunity would allow me to make differences in multiple athlete’s lives and act as a mentor. I believe that there is a great fulfillment in life making a difference in our younger generation.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).
I am offering an elite swim program that would allow the traveling distance between two already successful clubs to be cut in half. By providing this opportunity to athletes, we will be offering an advanced program that will cater directly to these athlete’s need by the use of video playback, infinity pool video feedback, 1 to 15 coaching ratio, as well and multiple meet opportunities to observe how athletes perform under pressure.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?
This product will be offered to the ages 10 to 18, with the option for private group lessons up to the age of 25. We are reaching out to parents within any class, but primarily middle ad upper class whom have children between these ages. These customers will all have sport specific persons under their umbrella who are either wanting to cut down travel times, wanting to have a smaller coach to athlete ratio, or wanting an elite performance coach to observe and correct technique.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.
Those who will be impacted and find this program valuable are those who are aware of the limited options. The customers will be given the option for shorter travel time, which is the ultimate advantage we must draw people in. The next major advantage is the position of elite staff to bring a higher level of training to various ages. Those invested in the sport will see the purpose of these upgrades to the program.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?
Our location is a primary focus. By being between the two clubs which are 45 minutes away from each other, we will be able to offer services to those closer to Davidson College. Our second advantage will be the Elite staff members. We will have myself, a double digit coach who has coached at the Division I championship level, as well as being previous champions for Southern Zones, All-Stars, Florida Senior Champs, having multiple Olympic trial qualifiers, and multiple athletes that are spread throughout the SEC, ACC, and other conferences. Alongside me will be an elite coach whom is currently working alongside 50+ Olympians, who has coached multiple gold, silver and bronze medal Olympians, whom holds all the same titles as myself for his location in North Carolina, as well as his current achievements with LA Current, the International Professional Swimming League.

Elevator Pitch 10 A

9A New Hypo

Person 1 & 2: Elderly Couple:

Who: This couple lives in the area, but has access to a YMCA that is more geared towards their needs for senior living (65+) where they take their grandchildren some times to play. 

What: The need for a new facility isn’t particularly present for this couple. When prompted how having an elite team in the area the most they could say was, “It would seem to be a great opportunity for my grandchildren, but if it’s an elite program and since they’ve never swam before.. I don’t think that would help our family out as much.”

Why: As mentioned above, they stated that the only “why they would use it” would be more geared as another outside activity. An alternative could be the inclusivity of elderly people in a master’s program, but would still be limited to those who have the ability to perform unsupervised. 

Person 3 & 4: Son in band and track, and mother of son.

Who: The son and mother are familiar with the need for athletics and elite teams to limit the athlete from being held back. When prompted about the need for a pool, the question was met with the need for a track team to have a similar option.

What: As prompted, based on their focus for the equivalent for a track team as we are trying to offer for a swim team we are met with who is going to fund this. The funding became an issue of concern as we were dependent on grants and private funding. The mom highlighted the fact that there are multiple pools that could be rented, but not enough space for band and track teams to have their own private space. 

Why: The conversation, although was attempted to stay focused on how the pool could be used in various ways, was met with minor frustration if the city were to fund one program, but not another. The mother and son brought up a good point that a track field being built over a pool being built could provide more use to the public; as the area inside the track field and the track itself could be used at the same time. Whereas the pool can only be used by one organization at a time.

Person 5: Student at Davidson College

Who: This person is a 21 year old college student. This student has a pool at their school already offered to the student body for wellness and recreational use.

What: When asked his opinion about having another pool facility being offered near the campus, but geared towards age group and senior level athletes, he seemed nonchalant. He pointed out that there were times that children were having club practice at Davidson’s facility and he’d like it to be less crowded.

Why: Although he states he does not use the facility a lot, he believes it could open up new employment opportunities as well as eliminate the influx of children at the college using the recreational facility. His needs are different because he has outgrown the age group that is being recruited, but sees a point of it by eliminating that age group from his college’s pool.

Summary:

All in all, what seems to be the biggest concern is the use of the facility. The elderly couple, the son and mom, and lastly the college student all seemed to return back to the use of the facility being more so open than elite. By only making the new facility usage elite, instead of more welcoming and open, the concern for the pool is well outside of these people’s boundaries. We could open the facility to a wider age range and programs by renting out to different groups possibly? Such as a master’s program or a age group focused on 5-10 years old. That would draw these people into the boundary lines we’ve set for ourselves.

6A

1) Four opportunities

Economic Trends:

1. Online Gaming/E-Gaming
1. My fiance currently is an online gamer attempting to obtain some form of sponsorship to allow him to travel more and compete.
2. This opportunity exists due to the sponsors realizing there is a profiting opportunity by allowing these e-gamers to advertise for them while traveling.
3. The e-gamers would be the one to obtain this opportunity, most likely between the ages of 14- to mid twenties, possibly even older. This opportunity would be better suited for those in the middle or lower class, due to the upper class not needing these types of sponsorships to travel.
4. I believe the system can be monopolized if not regulated correctly, but due to the gaming culture and audience, I don’t believe it could be exploited easily.

I saw the online gaming community as an opportunity investment due to the rise of online gaming. When the game Fortnight came out, most people didn’t think much of it until a child won a tournament and became a millionaire overnight. After that, people started participating in online gaming events in hopes of earning extra income. 

2. “Smart” everything. Houses, phones, lights, etc.
1. Currently advertisements to upgrade to smart items are everywhere. Stores, social media platforms, and by word of mouth.
2. The opportunity to sell more smart items exists due to the increase of technology throughout the world and ability to manipulate and recreate these items for a reasonable price.
3. The customer targets would be middle and upper class, and people between the ages of 24 to roughly mid 40s. Most people past these ages aren’t particularly interested in the advancement of technology and believe in the conspiracy theories regarding too much technology in a home.
4. I do believe the systems can be exploited. Items can be made with cheaper manufacturing fees, thus lowering the quality of the items being sold. With the quality being reduced, there are advantages to those who are wanting to hack or manipulate these electronic programs in an illegal manner.

I notice with the increase of local advertisement for all “smart” homes and devices that there could be a great investment option in either technology, coding, malware, protection, social media platform partnerships and marketing. In all reality, with the rise of these options, there are plenty of opportunities with these devices alone.

Regulatory Changes:

1. Name and Likeness with the NCAA
1. Currently, the NCAA name and likeness information has been the highlight of any collegiate program. I was introduced to this in my first year of coaching Division I. 
2. The opportunity exists due to the athletes stepping forward and making accusations of income opportunities that are taken away by NCAA regulations.
3. The customer with the most opportunity would first be the athletes between the ages 18-22, possibly even into their late 20s. Next would be the athletic departments with the most recognizable programs such as University of Florida, Auburn, Alabama, etc. with high revenue sports.
4. Unfortunately, the system will be very easy to exploit. Currently, there are multiple conversations regarding the regulation of income to certain athletes for name and likeness, but seem to be struggling with the “fairness” between competitions. The extra income could be seen as a recruiting advantage to bigger colleges, and could be the main point of exploitation.

I think the investment option would be more primarily on giving back to the athletes. They are investing their entire college career into the sports the NCAA makes profit off of, so in turn we could also partner with said athletes to make both parties happy. By doing this we could even create more charity events and begin to push these athletes to make guest appearances to help promote in exchange for their time. 

(3) Why? This opportunity was brought forward by a gymnast from California when proving that due to the regulations in place by the NCAA, even though she went viral on social media platforms, she is unable to earn any revenue from her performances. Multiple athletes are stepping forward to explain how the NCAA is exploiting and using athletes to continuously fund their multi-billion dollar industry. The opportunity to create a new system for these athletes ultimately performing for the public would allow those who dedicate their time to their passions an opportunity to focus simply on the sport and school, instead of attempting to balance work, school and rigorous practices.

2. Professional Opportunities with the Expansion of the International Swimming League vs FINA’s operations
1. I discovered this opportunity while watching the ISL US tournament and off swimswam.com that showed that younger athletes would have to choose between going to college and swimming for the ISL.
2. An opportunity exist for younger athletes who are wanting to use the ISL funds to help pay their expenses for school
3. I think the customers are going to strictly be those between the ages of 14-18, or those still in high school.
4. Unfortunately, it isn’t very easy to exploit this time due to FINA’s regulations that rival the NCAA’s here in the US to defer athletes from being paid before going to college.

I see the investment in ensuring younger athletes are able to compete at a professional level as an opportunity for Team USA and olympic hopefuls. By promoting the option to compete at this level, you’ll have thousands of athletes pushing themselves even more so than before, which will ultimately turn into profit for club teams, high school sports programs and private sports organizations. This is something I work with on a daily basis, so this is almost constantly in the back of my head.

8A

The current solution I have for the potential issue of the city denying my plan to create a new team in the city of Davidson, North Carolina is to use a current facility close to the area I initially planned on building a pool. I would be using a facility that has less pool space, thus creating less room for swimmers. But, I would be creating a club team that would be limited on abilities and those able to complete certain performances in swimming. I will create a budget plan, a SWOT analysis, and a marketing scheme for the city, as well as layout a full explanation for the program to come and how I can prove that it will be successful.

7A

1) Davidson, North Carolina has two main club swim teams that are an hour apart from each other. There is currently no elite club teams and some athletes are forced to choose driving time to swim vs other activities. Due to a current monopoly that has been enforced on the city by the two teams, it has been difficult for new options to become available for athletes.

2) 

• The who: The city of Davidson, North Carolina as well as athletes and parents located between the two clubs.
• The what: Not enough swim programs in the city to cut the driving time for athletes pursuing athletic competition in swim.
• The why: The current teams have monopolized the area, reducing the opportunity to have other teams expand or begin in the city.

3) This is your 'hypothesis' about the opportunity. It is a statement of your belief related to an opportunity. I'd like you to test the boundaries of the hypothesis by pushing and prodding each of the three elements. That means:

Person 1: Parent of an 11 year old athlete

• Testing the who: “Currently, I hate driving my son 45 minutes to the club team we’ve been a part of. His current coach is one of the only ones that recognizes more fine tuned details. I’d love to have more options similar to that.” 
• Testing the what: “Unfortunately, because there are only two clubs, I feel as if my son is losing time with his coaches. I’m being selfish, I know, but how many students can one coach see at the same time? We are limiting ourselves to this one option because the other club team is set up with even less coaches and the same amount of kids.”
• Testing the why: “Why do you think that this is an issue?” 
• “With so few options for people to coach at, I think it could be the inability to get along with the boss or head coaches, so more people walk away. I know there has been talk of creating a seperate location, but no one wants to take the risk of kids choosing to stay with their current team.”

Person 2: 17 Year old male athlete

• Testing the who: “My mom made me choose between basketball camp and swim practice because we were always running late to swim. My coaches kept getting mad at me, even though they told me they understood. I’m really good at both sports so it sucks to have to decide.”
• Testing the what: “If there were a team in the middle of the other two clubs, I’d go there just so I can play basketball too. I chose swimming because it’s awesome and my coaches are nicer to me, but I’d really like to keep my friends from basketball too.”
• Testing the why: “Why do you think that this is an issue?” 
• “Well, I overheard my coach say one day that our team can’t afford to open and build a new pool. Davidson College has one, but I think they charge to have another team out there. Maybe because my coaches don’t want to work at two pools. Who knows.”

Person 3: 16 year old Athlete

• Testing the who: “As someone who is new to driving, I hate using my gas to drive over thirty minutes to practice. I live in the middle of the two club teams here so it doesn’t matter which one I go to. I picked the cheapest one to help my mom and dad.”
• Testing the what: “In reality, I’d be saving money if I were to go to a club that was closer to me. I’m not really fast, but I think that I could be better if I could go to practice every day, which sometimes I can’t because I don’t have enough gas money.”
• Testing the why: “Why do you think that this is an issue?”
• “I’m not sure. I think the other clubs don’t want more competition. They both have really fast athletes and are town rivals. I don’t think they would like that very much.”

Person 4: 42 Year old City Council Member

• Testing the who: Providing more options for children to do as after school activities would be greatly beneficial to any city. We have two wonderfully productive teams in the area, as well as many after school options for students to choose any sport they’d like. I’m sure for parents whose child has chosen a water based sport such as swimming, synchronized swimming, or water polo, they would appreciate more options in the city for their child.
• Testing the what: “In order to properly examine the need for a new facility, one would have to go through the city. I’ve heard of cities introducing the idea only to realize the need isn’t going to be met in the way it was initially introduced. But, bringing this forward to the city makes them aware that there is room for improvement and could lead to an even better outcome.”
• Testing the why: “Why do you think that this is an issue that would be brought up to the city?”
• “This could be an opinionated concern by coaches wanting new opportunities, this could be parent’s dissatisfaction with how the current clubs are being run, this could be student-athletes just not getting along with their teammates. There are a number of reasons that could all be personal. If it is brought forward from a coach that is wanting expansion for a new product, well, that’s a different story. But it would have to be cleared through multiple people before any planning can begin, which is typically what stops these programs from beginning.

Person 5: 36 year old coach

• Testing the who: “I know there is so much talent in these kids, and so much passion from the parents that would be a great fit into a new program. Even us coaches wouldn’t mind a mix up of things here in Davidson. There's only so many swim meets you go to before you know exactly who you’re competing against and with whom. These parents and kids want a mix up. They want excitement and new options.”
• Testing the what: “I think there are multiple rooms for improvement. I’d love to create a new team atmosphere that would create another form of competition. With a new team we would qualify for grant opportunities that would help build the team. With the ongoing complaints of limited teams, I think this would drastically allow student athletes and parents alike more viable options in the city.
• Testing the why: “Why do you think that this is an issue?”
• “I think that the city is too scared to invest into a new program and have it fail. Why invest in a system that isn’t particularly broken? They have two great, successful clubs with people who are happily employed by them. Why invest into a new pool not knowing the outcome will only benefit the city, instead of wasting their limited budget." 

5) What do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before? 

I’ve come to realize through the interviews that the children and parents are more impacted than I thought they would be by the decisions of the city. The coach of one of the club teams made a very good point about not wasting budgets, which isn’t something that was even considered in the initial idea of creating a club. Fortunately, there does still seem to be a need for a club to be located between the other two locations due to the children’s and parent’s needs.