From Foundation to Female Empowerment

In 1977, Pam Klickna-Powell was on track to have everything she thought she'd ever want.  She had a husband, an 8-month-old son, a new house in the suburbs and a job as a teacher.

But it wasn't enough.

She was tired, she missed seeing her child and she wasn't making enough money to afford the furniture set she was dying to get to decorate her new home. 

"Here we were, a two-income family. I had a teaching position, and my husband had a nice professional job. And we could hardly meet the bills at the end of the month," recalled Klickna-Powell. "There wasn't any money left over to decorate, and that's the reason I joined Mary Kay."

Sitting in her home studio, in the house in North Potomac she bought with money made solely from Mary Kay Cosmetics, she recalls how her low self-esteem almost kept her from trying it out.

"All the women in the room seemed so beautiful to me and seemed so put together, and I just didn't see myself selling anything," Klickna-Powell said. "I just didn't think I could be successful, and I didn't think I had time."

Now, 30 years later, Klickna-Powell is a Mary Kay national director overseeing 2,500 people, and she recently gave a speech in front of 10,000 women. She has earned more than $2 million from sales of Mary Kay products, she said. She has not one but two pink Cadillacs — which she calls her Barbie cars — and has been on several international vacations, all courtesy of Mary Kay.

But Klickna-Powell says Mary Kay is more than just lipstick and Cadillacs. It's about empowering women. And now that's what she really concentrates her time on.

Having reached the level of national director, her main role now is mentoring other leaders around the country. She invites them to her house to share advice and to learn from each other's challenges and mistakes.

"My main focus nowadays is to help leaders, to inspire them, to motivate them, to teach them how to mentor their group and to empower them how to have a successful business like I did," Klickna-Powell said. "I'm kind of a leader of leaders."

Kathy Hush, sales director for Mary Kay, said she would not have had the confidence to advance to that level without Klickna-Powell's encouragement.

"I never realized how much I had accomplished," said Hush in an email. "Pam made me go back to my childhood and [look at] every major shift and pinnacle moment that required I go in [the] direction least traveled. When I started thinking of all of the things that were significant and how it affected so many other lives because of that direction, I realized that I was worthy of leading others."

Kathlyn Tylka, a Mary Kay senior sales director, said Klickna-Powell supports her directors not only professionally but also through challenges in their private lives.

When Tylka and her husband had three parents pass away in short succession, Klickna-Powell helped her to find the strength to lead her family through a difficult time, Tylka said.

"I knew I could be strong and be the woman of excellence she trained me to be, 'directing' my family through their grieving," Tylka said in an email.

Klickna-Powell drove the four hours to Pennsylvania to attend each funeral.

As a national sales director, a position that only 200 women hold around the country, Klickna-Powell continues to spread the message of opportunity for the company that is now in more than 30 other countries. Her next stop could be India, to recruit and train women on how to build a Mary Kay business in their own communities.

Locally, Klickna-Powell is working to empower women leaders outside the company as well.

Over the years, she has met many female leaders and entrepreneurs, and she wanted a way to help them connect, too. So she created a portfolio of pictures of all the women business owners she has given beauty consultations to and now invites them all to her house for a network event every two to three months.

"They'll be able to bring their business card, introduce themselves to one another so that we can as women empower each other," Klickna-Powell said. "I realized I know a lot of women who own their own businesses, and why can't we help each other?"

While some critics argue makeup and female empowerment are contradictory, Klickna-Powell disagrees. In fact, she said, she finds putting on her makeup to be her most centering and most creative time of her day. She has a pad and paper next to her makeup table and has come up with some of her best business ideas at that spot.

Even though her business no longer relies on selling products, Klickna-Powell said she still loves doing consultations in her basement studio. She recently did the makeup and hair for her son's bride and the entire bridal party at their wedding, and she plans to do her daughter's makeup at her upcoming wedding as well.

"I love watching women look in the mirror and really like what they see," Klickna-Powell said. "It makes them perk up and get excited, and it makes me feel good and have a great sense of accomplishments."

Klickna-Powell invites any women who are interested to learn more about Mary Kay to visit her studio for a complimentary facial and consultation. Contact Klickna-Powell at pklickna@marykay.com or visit her website.