Setting the pace. For Independent Executive National Sales Director Emeritus Cheryl Warfield, her Mary Kay business got off to a slow start.. However, in nine short years, she reached the pinnacle of success. "I realized that fear was my main obstacle, and the easiest way to overcome it was to get busy," Cheryl says.

That was after she resisted becoming an Independent Beauty Consultant and dragged her feet for several months, once she got started. "I kept attending meetings and educational classes, but I wouldn’t book my first skin care classes because I was scared," Cheryl, who was a part-time fashion model at a department store, recalls. "I used the excuse that I needed more education."

But Seminar lit a fire under her, and she immediately picked up the pace. "I saw people who were selling like crazy and they were reaching their goals," Cheryl says. "I knew I could succeed, too, and I became totally committed to making my Mary Kay business work. My unit began growing by leaps and bounds, and we earned the use of a Career Car. Then, there was no stopping us."

The Mary Kay opportunity offered Cheryl the ultimate business opportunity, as it does for all women. As she steps into the role of NSD Emeritus, Cheryl and her husband, Rob, plan to travel back to the places around the world that they have visited. She also wants to write, retelling stories and lessons learned from women who spent time with Mary Kay Ash, ensuring that her legacy lives on and providing perspective for those who never had the chance to meet Mary Kay.