(We invite you to listen to the complete conversation between Crystal Thornton and Gloria Mayfield Banks in the Podcast Below)
When people are in a room with Gloria Mayfield Banks, they can't help but get excited! She achieved the highest position in Mary Kay becoming an Inner Circle National within her first year and debuted six national sales directors within 18 months. She broke company records by becoming the fastest to achieve Elite Executive National Sales Director, and is the only woman in the United States holding that record today.
A Harvard University MBA graduate. Gloria left her role as Assistant Director of admissions at Harvard Business School to build a business with Mary Kay, Incorporated. Over her 34 years, she maintained powerful Pink Cadillac status. In 2021, she broke another record as the number one earner globally in Mary Kay and still holds that record. She led her "MAGIC B-3-5-1 Unit" to 25 years in the million dollar and $2 million Circle of Excellence as part of her $35 million dollar organization.
As a keynote speaker, her impact extends beyond Mary Kay. She has been featured in national magazines like Working Woman, Glamour and Ebony, and has appeared on Good Morning America and CNN. Harvard Business School has even created a case study around her success which is taught to university students around the nation.
Gloria is deeply committed to empowering women globally. She has trained internationally across Canada, China, Russia, and more. Having traveled to 62 countries, her broad vision impacts entrepreneurs worldwide. She received an honorary doctorate degree in public service from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and published two books, "Quantum Leaps" and "The Force of Friendship."
Crystal: I know that you believe in positive affirmations and we just have to start this interview with your world famous affirmation that every Mary Kay Independent beauty consultant knows to this day, including me. Are you ready?
Gloria: "Living, caring, giving, sharing. Boy oh boy. I love to work with The Daring. A magic million, can you imagine such? Of course you can, we've got to touch. I'm small in stature only, but I'm heavy in belief. I'm leading by example, so you can count on me as I flash this million dollars smile, the world will know it's all worthwhile, because I'm banking on the magic, banking on success, banking on some people who simply want the best. I'm proud to be before you. I'm so proud to be top rank. I'm Elite Executive National Sales Director Emeritus. My name is Gloria Mayfield Banks."
Crystal: And the crowd goes wild. Yes they do. And even though you have retired from Mary Kay, they still ask you to come back. Yes?
Gloria: "I come back a lot. Okay, so first I'm going to tell you I changed the term for myself and it's graduated. I graduated from that career and moved on to doing some other things that are impactful and influential to other people and other women leaders. But it was a 35-year career that was very, very passionate, very, very fun, and I am very, very grateful that I made that professional choice when I did. But yes, I have graduated."
Crystal: Why is an affirmation so important, Gloria?
Gloria: "An affirmation to me has so many different components. Number one, it is a self-starter to yourself. When you describe yourself to yourself, you start believing the things that you say, because the mind really doesn't know the difference between reality and not. It depends on what you tell it. We spend an enormous amount of time thinking about the things that we don't have. So an affirmation will remind you of the things that you do have. After I've said that affirmation for so many years, Crystal, when I took that apart line by line about three years ago, I realized everything had I said in that affirmation really came true. And when I created it, that was not the case. So I think that it also establishes a brand. I believe that my affirmation helped me establish a personal brand about myself, but it let everyone else know who I was through my eyes, not through their judgment, but through what I wanted them to see about me."
Crystal: You're still sharing your gift of empowering women and men. What is the single most important tip to accomplishing one's goals and dreams and is it the same in this chapter of your life?
Gloria: "I'm going to tell you it's really between two things. I think part of it is motivation and the other part of it is passion. Motivation, although we all know that it doesn't last forever, I think people don't understand the value of getting started. It's the motivation that gets you started. It's the motivation that puts you over the hump. It's the motivation that will stop you from telling yourself that you can't do something to telling yourself that it's worth everything you've ever gotten inside of you to try. To me, motivation is more important than discipline. Discipline shows up after you've started. However, passion is required if you want to be creative. Passion is required if you don't want to give up on yourself. Passion is required in order to tune-out the noise. Passion is required to reduce distractions. Passion is required if you want to have a quantum growth. If you want that type of reality to enter into your life, you're going to need passion because passion is what gets you up out of the bed and passion is what makes you stay at your desk when everyone in your home is telling you to come to bed. That's what passion does."
Crystal: People most often see your destination to success, but less often do they know the journey it took to succeed. How has your faith played a part in your success and do you mind sharing your story with our K Love readers?
Gloria: "I know that my faith, number one, has been completely instrumental, and number two, has grown tremendously because of the journey, and because of the challenges, and because of the exposure. So, I always tell people that number one, I believe in order to become successful, the first thing you need is your faith. The second thing you need is your integrity, and the third thing that you need is your confidence. All of those things are built over time. All of those things take a conscious effort to pour into each one of them. My situation is one where I grew up in an amazing family in Detroit, Michigan. Both my parents were phenomenal at building our self-esteem. I'm the third of four girls. They were married 62 years before my dad passed, so there was a lot of foundation that was laid there that I'm so grateful for. I found out in the seventh grade that I was dyslexic. And it was interesting because both my parents were educators at the time and they missed it. It just wasn't the same type of available support that you have today that was not available at that time. First, the truth be told, I was in the seventh grade and I did my book report and I used the book that was our textbook. The teacher called my mother and said 'wait a minute now, she used the textbook to do her book report. That's a major issue. You need to come in and talk to me.' So at that point, my teacher told my mom, 'She's very smart, but there's something that's a disconnect,' and it truly was a disconnect. Taking tests is always very difficult for me. Reading out loud is one of the most painful experiences for other people to hear.
However, I graduated from high school, went on to Howard University in Washington, D.C., studied business while I was there, left there, moved to Boston after I graduated and worked for Polaroid Corporation. After two years there, I decided I wanted more, and that's when I applied to Harvard Business School. My sister had also attended Howard and Harvard Business School. We're the only two African-American sisters who have graduated from Harvard Business School. That was a beautiful thing. I left Harvard after that degree and I went back and worked for IBM, worked for Stratus Computers. Then I went back and started working for Harvard Business School. It was at that time of going back to work for Harvard Business School in admissions that I went to a girlfriend's house to a skincare class. Jackie lived two doors down from me. I decided I wanted to make some extra money because I knew I was getting ready to go through a divorce. I had endured 10 years of domestic violence.
"My very first day at Harvard Business School was with a black eye."
In fact, Crystal, my very first day at Harvard Business School was with a black eye, and a lot of people didn't know that, of course. That was the first time I started wearing makeup to cover up the black eye. It's so amazing that I would end up in the skincare and glamor field, but that's what happened. Just because I had a very small dream Crystal, I never ever doubt someone who has a small dream because it was $200 extra a week that I wanted to make, which made me start. That was the motivation for me to start entrepreneurship because entrepreneurship was not on my radar. I worked extremely hard to get to the C-suites. I was going to the top of the food chain in the corporate world, until I found out the glass ceiling was in fact brick and entrepreneurship was really calling my name. Not only did I become a beast in entrepreneurship, my calling was to help a lot of other people build large organizations. That was the beginning of my journey and that's where it has carried me to today."
Crystal: Did you ever meet Mary Kay personally?
Gloria: "Yes, I met Mary Kay Ash herself. I went to her house, talked to her in her bedroom, talked to her in her living room, traveled to London, England. Back then, we didn't wear pants or gym shoes and she walked out, on a vacation wearing some pants and gym shoes and we all thought, 'There's Mary Kay in some jeans?' She was funny. She was gifted. She was a visionary. She was a hard worker. She set high standards.
"There is no comfort in the comfort zone."
I honestly believe Crystal that one of the reasons that I was able to break so many records in such a large organization is because I learned the art of setting standards for other people to live up to. I think too many times we lower standards to make other people comfortable, but there is no comfort in the comfort zone. I truly believe that it's only when you step out of where you're most comfortable that you will experience your highest growth."
Crystal: Mary Kay Ash, put God first, family, second, career third. Do you know that you've been called Mary Kay 2.0?
Gloria: "No. and I'm excited to put God first, family, second and career third, I'm excited to have an opportunity to carry on her legacy and pass that legacy on."
Crystal: You have said a lot of people who are ambitious get stuck by leaders who want to control them and therefore they don't move. Why is that and how do you overcome it?
Gloria: "Well, there's two places there that you talked about. It's the leader and the person who's following the leader. The leader herself needs to know that if she wants the most control, it requires the least containment. So if you want to let smart, ambitious, hungry, willing people give you their best, you've got to provide an environment where they are inspired to take their own personal gifts and thrive in that environment, not require them to have certain gifts. So the requirement is the standard. The requirement is what is required, but how one gets to that destination is going to be determined by the gifts that God gave them, not by the gifts that you require them to have.
On the other hand, if you're following someone who is choking you because they're not allowing you to be your best self, you've got to number one, recognize it and you can't let your self-doubt make you think that it's okay for someone to constrain your oxygen. Because I was in a domestic violence situation, I'm speaking from a journey of having done that myself, letting someone squeeze the oxygen out of my life, letting someone strip me of the gifts that were given to me, almost to the point where they were erased, but God left just enough light, just enough light to seep through, that I could see that there was more in me, so I could grab my 1-year-old and my 2-year-old that were 13-months apart and I could step out there, a very scary place to step out.
"Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear."
I teach a class called "Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear" and you know what Crystal? That question is a direct relationship to fear. Fear of a leader who controls and fear of a follower who's afraid to get the leader upset and step out on their own."
Crystal: I heard you had someone read to you every day to get your MBA at Harvard. Is that right?
Gloria: "Correct? In fact, my girlfriend, Juliana, who my daughter is named after, read to me every case study and it was a lot of work and it was a lot of reading. After she read to me, I explained the content to us and it was a great group dynamic and we got through it. Whatever I didn't have, she was gifted with and whatever she didn't have, I was gifted with. So a partnership was formed in that environment.
"Your best makes my best better, my best makes your best better."
That's why I teach competition so much, because we were competing on a bell curve at Harvard Business School. However, I learned this in Mary Kay. 'Your best makes my best better, my best makes your best better.' That's why one of my favorite verses is "Iron sharpens iron." I sharpened her, she sharpened me, and together we both succeeded."
Crystal: What is a day in the life of Gloria Mayfield Banks today and has it changed since you've graduated?
Gloria: "I love that question. I get that question and what comes to my mind first is that number one, it's not boring. Number two, it's ever changing. Number three, it is in fact different. For instance, we have time for dinner in the evening all the time, where before, I traveled a lot more and I worked in the evening a lot because I was leading many women from very successful corporate positions where they were highly paid to entrepreneurial positions and the transition was not one where they could quit their job and start their entrepreneurship. It was a gradual movement. So we did a lot of work in the evening. So that was a big deal.
"I've always done what I wanted to do."
Crystal, another question I get asked a lot that I want to reflect upon is, 'Gloria, now that you've graduated, are you excited that you get to do what you want to do?' My answer is, I've always done what I wanted to do. I worked hard because I wanted to work in the evening. I wanted to travel sometimes 90 to 100 days a year because I wanted to. I'm excited that I've seen the world and that I know there's a lot more world to see, but my days are really different every day and that's what I love about it. I do my best to stick in some workout, either yoga or weights working out in some form or fashion. Do I hit it every day? I do not, but do I try? Absolutely. My day is still mentoring and talking to women. I teach a lot online and I still travel a lot. Last year I was in 13 countries, so it's a lot of travel, but it's a lot of training, and I love impacting women. I love influencing women, and I really love increasing their income."
Crystal: You have always been a giver, but who pours into you?
Gloria: "Well, I can honestly say I've been married for 28 years to an amazing man, and I'm fortunate enough that he is a major contributor to my energy level. My mom is the reason that I have the type of energy that I have, and my father's encouragement is all over my footprint in every way. My faith is a big part of that energy because I know I was gifted with this energy, and I know it's my responsibility to give this energy. I'm just fortunate to be around a lot of women who are extremely capable, that are extremely powerful and that are extremely giving in their ability to fuse me with the energy that I need, so that I can impact more people."
Crystal: In 2023, you launched the podcast "Banking on the Banks." What is that about?
Gloria: "Well, so many people were asking us what's it like to have a successful marriage? What's it like the second time around? How do you sustain it? What is it like to be with a powerful man? What's it like to be with a powerful woman? My husband is an entrepreneur in his own right, very successful on an international basis, and he's a hard worker. Then we raised four grown adults together. So we blended a family and now we have five grandkids. So absolutely "Banking On The Banks," is a realistic inside view into what we believe makes relationships work."
Crystal: One of the things that I always heard you say is "You become like the people that you hang around." Why is that important to success?
Gloria: "It's so true and it's such an important thing to manage, because who was in your circle 10-years ago, may not fit tomorrow and who needs to be in your circle three years from now? You might need to make room for them. So you have to manage the circle. It's not easy because it's emotional. Because of my journey, I had to understand how to manage my emotions and how to teach other people how to manage their emotions, because emotions can be very expensive. When you go through life and you don't understand that you are in control of your emotions, that control will determine so many of your decisions and so many of your realities. I teach it a lot because I lost three children before I had the two that I have now. It doesn't matter when you lost them. The fact that you lost them allows you to know that the things that are most precious to you can be lost and when you see things differently, it helps you control your emotions."
Crystal: What is next for Ms. Gloria Mayfield Banks?
Gloria: "The world girl. The world. Let me tell you something, Crystal. People say to me, 'What motivates you so much?' This one statistic gets me up morning, noon and night. Ninety-two percent of women working, make less than $100,000 a year. Ninety-two percent of women working whose families, whose communities, whose decisions, whose future, whose outlook, whose security, whose organic food or not organic food, the way they're going to take care of their parents or cannot take care of their parents, their health choices, all of these things. It is not about the material things. Those are the things I used to talk about for many, many years. However, I did not know that I was building that foundation. I didn't know that I was so passionate about it until I heard that statistic. I don't care what it looks like on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. I don't care what it looks like. The truth of it is women need to increase in many areas. We need to stop avoiding the conversation about increasing our income because it truly bleeds into so many things that we deal with both positively and negatively in our decisions."
Crystal: Gloria, is there anything else you'd like to share with our K-LOVE readers before we let you go?
Gloria: "I just want everyone to know that your ability to have an incredible future is based on your positive attitude today and that a positive attitude is something that you work on. A positive attitude is something that you have to pay attention to, because if you pay attention, you'll be able to pay yourself. I love that people can follow me along my journey, because I tell them all the time, I don't do it right all the time. It's just that my attempt to do it right takes me further than most. So, I think a positive attitude is important and working hard keeps you young." And I certainly want all the K-LOVE listeners to know that I always love new friends, I always love new girlfriends, and I'd love for them to follow me, and I'd love for them to communicate with me because I want to communicate back with them."
You can follow Gloria on her social media @gloriamayfieldbanks.com as she moves you from ordinary to extraordinary.