Look Good Feel Better (LGFB) has a special and treasured place in Mary Kay Cosmetics history. One of Mary Kay’s top sales directors, the late Sharon Coburn – who passed away in 2012 after a long and courageous battle with cancer – was part of the original team that brought LGFB to Canada.
Supporting women and philanthropic efforts has always been part of Mary Kay Cosmetics’ DNA. When Mary Kay Ash founded her beauty company in 1963, she had three goals in mind: offering rewarding opportunities for women, manufacturing irresistible products, and making the world a better place. One of the first to break the proverbial glass ceiling, Ash succeeded on all fronts.
Today, supporting LGFB is still near and dear to the Mary Kay team’s hearts. The company’s independent beauty consultants make up a large proportion of the LGFB volunteer team, demonstrating the unwavering support of one of Mary Kay’s overall philanthropic goals: to help women affected by cancer.
Getting inspired to become an ambassador
Christine Ransom, Senior Sales Director at Mary Kay Cosmetics, has been working with Mary Kay Cosmetics for 29 years and has been involved with its LGFB partnership for over a decade.
Ransom was originally introduced to LGFB at a Mary Kay leadership conference, where she met Coburn. “When I had the opportunity to meet Sharon, who I know was pivotal to the roots of LGFB in Canada, I had the feeling that I was meeting somebody who had something very important to share with me,” recalls Ransom. Inspired by Coburn’s conviction and dedication to LGFB, Ransom was inspired to take up the cause, too.
She takes her role as a LGFB volunteer seriously. “Being part of an organization that supports LGFB is what keeps me so impassioned and in love with Mary Kay Cosmetics,” she says. “I love that through LGFB, we’re making a difference in the lives of women with cancer.”
Support women in being seen
“There are so many beautiful analogies between the culture at Mary Kay and what happens in a LGFB workshop,” says Ransom. “Mary Kay would always say that when you first meet a woman, she's like this tight little rose bud. Wherever she is – maybe it’s a LGFB workshop or her first Mary Kay meeting – she might be reserved, shy, and feeling unequipped. But when she comes into that arena of support and encouragement, she blossoms. Mary Kay used to say, ‘Just give her some time.’ She believed that everyone wears an invisible sign around their neck that says, ‘Make me feel special. See me.’ And that's what I love about the concept of LGFB. It’s the same support and encouragement to women to have peace and kindness to themselves, and to be seen, that we believe in here at Mary Kay Cosmetics.”
The strength of a community of women
When she dove into the world of LGFB, then, Ransom didn’t even think of going alone – she immediately looked forward to giving her clients an opportunity to support and participate. “It takes a village,” she says.
Mary Kay Cosmetics and its team and clients all rally together to raise awareness and funds. “We dress in pink and walk and run in our MK5Ks,” says Ransom. “People love to support what they helped to create. And so, when clients can donate their time, their talents, their homemade shortbread, their crafts, and their passion for woodworking, they’re more connected and pumped. They become ambassadors.”
From its origins story to today, Mary Kay Cosmetics continues to make the world a better place, one woman at a time.
