A laughing matter. Independent National Sales Director Emeritus Diane Underwood just laughed when her sister-in-law, Jill, told her she'd be great at selling Mary Kay® products. “She offered me a facial in 1975. I was shy, didn't own a dress and worked the 3 – 11 p.m. shift as a nurse. I'd been fired from the only sales job I'd ever had after only a week – as a 16-year-old trying to sell magazines!” says Diane.

Despite Diane’s absolute certainty that a business in sales wasn't in her future, she loved the results from that first facial. She bought the complete set and, with gentle persuasion from her sister-in-law, found herself at a Mary Kay guest event. “What I learned at that meeting couldn't help but point out to me what was missing in my profession. Not only did the Mary Kay opportunity offer a better financial potential, there was this wonderful positivism and professionalism that made me feel great. I walked into the meeting as a person who simply enjoyed using Mary Kay® products. I walked out as a confirmed and enthusiastic Independent Beauty Consultant.”

For the next three years, Diane worked as a nurse and sold Mary Kay® products part time. She and her husband, Scott, moved twice during that time and were facing yet another move. “I was pregnant with our first child and wanted to be the best mom I could possibly be.”

Diane quit nursing and turned to her Mary Kay business full time. She says, “It offered me flexibility, independence and freedom. I could stay at home with our daughter and yet earn more in commissions than I earned working full time as a nurse. And I didn't have to be away every other weekend and every other holiday.”

What’s next is not certain. “I only know it will be high. I only know it will be great! The biggest skill Mary Kay taught me was to have a positive attitude,” Diane says. She plans to carry her positive attitude and “You Can Do It” philosophy into everything she does and asks of us what Mary Kay asked of her: “Just Pass It On.”