I love it. I use it. Does that mean I can sell it? Not necessarily. A friend of mine was selling Mary Kay®. The money was hand-over-fist. Oh, yeah! If she needed extra money for Christmas presents, she just called up all her clients and had a pajama party at which they all lined up to buy loads of skin care products and make-up. So, sure, I signed up. I had just turned 40 and I was going to make it my year of "pretty" and "girl parties."

So now, here I am, a "Mary Kay® Beauty Consultant." Do I make money from it? Occasionally. Do other women make money from it? Oh, yes, gobs and gobs of it! But, I suspect that there are (many) thousands of women like me across the country… women who dabble. Women who think, "Great! I can work from home with the kids." But reality was not involved in the dream process when they signed up.

Reality number one: My kids are not into me working from home. They are much more into me playing at home… with them. One of the reasons I am a stay-at-home mom is that I want to be with them. Getting out to "girl parties" is GREAT in theory, but getting away to be able to do it on a regular basis is a fictional scenario in my life.

Reality number two: My husband, though loving, supportive, and kind, is not receptive to me being away in the evenings giving parties (I am already away enough with PTA meetings and other kid related events). There are also Mary Kay® meetings held by local directors as often as once a week. I've been to a few, enough to know that if I wanted to do well in the business, I would have to go more often for product knowledge, etc. Again, a no-go with hubby, children and my own time-management issues.

Reality number three: This is a job. You might be working from home, but it requires work. The big earners at Mary Kay® are not "doing it on the side." They are full time saleswomen devoted to their products. They attend and hold meetings. They study the new products. They spend a lot of time on the phone setting up parties, following leads, and signing up new sales people. They tell everyone they meet that they sell Mary Kay®. Every encounter is a possible sale.

All of that said, I do make some money from it. I have a few regular clients that I call about 4 times a year to place an order. I usually have just enough, with my own order added in, to place a minimum wholesale order. My last big sale was a fundraiser for my son's preschool and I gave them all of the proceeds. My little Mary Kay table made more for the school than any other table there. I was proud of that. All of the tables were made up of home run businesses like Tupperware®, Discovery Toys®, The Pampered Chef® and more.

I can see how I could make Mary Kay® work as a money making venture if I were to throw myself into it. The women, especially the directors, put time and effort into their businesses and they are making it work big in some cases. The tools are in place for someone who wants to make a go of it. There are training cd's, motivational e-mails, and lots of support in many ways.

Can you make big money by selling Mary Kay®? Yes you can. The big question is, "will you?" It is 100% up to you.