Finding the perfect balance. “I wish everyone could have five minutes with Mary Kay Ash! I admired her so much,” says Independent National Sales Director Emeritus Cathy Littlejohn, recalling the difference the Mary Kay opportunity made in her life. It was a life that was out of balance when she worked long hours, six days a week in retail management.

With the birth of her first son, Cathy happily said goodbye to the corporate world, but soon found she missed friends and “me time.” So, when a college friend invited Cathy to a Mary Kay guest event, she accepted. Cathy says, “The women were so nice, and Mary Kay’s priorities were mine. I realized the immediate potential and I signed my Independent Beauty Consultant Agreement that night!”

However, Cathy couldn’t seem to find her first team member and began having doubts. “I give Independent Executive National Sales Director Emeritus Cheryl Warfield all the credit for me staying with this fabulous opportunity. Cheryl was a real leader who always told me I could be a National Sales Director!”

“With the Mary Kay opportunity, I really appreciated that my ethics were never compromised, and I was thrilled that I could build anywhere.” Cathy loves to travel and feels her sons bonded with their dad while she was growing her Mary Kay business. At the same time, that flexibility allowed her to be present for all her sons’ school activities and to help her parents. Cathy and her husband, Jay, and sons, Kevin and Garrett, always have been a family who enjoys time on the water, as well as snow skiing. The family is still close as their sons have grown, and the family has expanded.

In sharing with new team members, Cathy encouraged them to be consistent with a Power Start each month and to always work with integrity. It’s a philosophy that Cathy follows for her own life, a life now in perfect balance.

Now, as an NSD Emeritus, Cathy encourages all to “enjoy and live in the present; it is a gift from God. Give each person you meet a smile, a word of encouragement and help them look at life with a positive attitude.” The leadership skills and life-balancing ethics she carries with her still remain, such as: “Everything in life can be accomplished with a positive attitude; keep your priorities of God, your family and career in that order – always giving everything your best and don’t quit!”