Power lifter. For Independent National Sales Director Elaine Williams, power lifting was a former sport and hobby. Now, it’s a way of life in the way she works with people in her Mary Kay business. Her National Area, “Elaine’s Elite” was built on helping women lift themselves to become self-sufficient in healthy ways. Elaine loves being the center of that world for the women in her sphere of influence. “It’s a safe place. I don’t compete for the spotlight and don’t have to be in it,” Elaine explains. It’s one thing to succeed to the best of your ability, but it’s more about honoring and championing people who are succeeding right along with you… and Elaine believes it’s a great way to live.

It was first her husband, Mike, who encouraged Elaine, then a dedicated educator, to pursue a Mary Kay business. “He was a football coach at the University of Southern Mississippi and wanted me to pursue the opportunity after he’d heard all about it from the head coach’s wife, now Independent Executive Senior Sales Director Debbie Bower,’” Elaine recalls. “I fell in love with the product, but was not interested in the business at all! I set out to prove to my husband and others that there was nothing to this business. In other words, it wouldn’t work for me…” and the rest is history in the making.

Growing up in a family of five children, Elaine remembers a fun-filled childhood, where she learned the importance of hard work from her parents. Elaine credits her mom and dad with teaching her to be a woman of her word, even if it inconveniences her. Her drive and loyalty for people and for taking her Mary Kay business seriously come from her upbringing in Alabama. “My Mary Kay business has taught me patience and how to be happier. I guess I’m more social than I was…I love my Mary Kay family. It’s such a positive environment,” Elaine explains. “I am focused, but caring. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from my Mary Kay journey, so far, is to listen to other people… really listen. It’s also taught me patience,” Elaine reflects.

Her mentor is Independent Elite Executive National Sales Director Kathy Helou, with whom Elaine identifies and finds very easy to respect and look to, because of Kathy’s strong work ethic. “She has an amazing work ethic and I admire her desire to work with Sales Directors and Independent Beauty Consultants, alike. She’s very real and very driven,” Elaine emphasizes.

Elaine’s first goal, as an Independent National Sales Director is to change her title to “Senior”. That’s because it’s very important to her, as a leader, to help other leaders rise. “I’ve got to show women it can be done,” Elaine explains. “I want to make a difference by encouraging them to be self-sufficient and always have a ‘Plan B’ ready. I never refer to a person as a number, but numbers can make a difference in this business. When you are secure in number, you can always allow people to play where they want to play.”

Elaine finds her life’s work to be her Mary Kay business because encouraging women to be all they can be is her gift as well as her strength. Learning how to communicate with various personality types so they connect and relate is “the stuff that dreams are made of.” She loves being the leader who connects and finds a way to create a tie that binds.