Mary Kay retired from her management job in a direct-sales company after a male trainee had been promoted over her and had received twice her salary. To keep herself from becoming bored and depressed, she sat down at her kitchen table and made a list of how a successful business should operate. Suddenly, she realized that she had a business plan for a dream company. "Mary Kay," she said, "instead of just talking or writing about it--why don't you do it?" This is the story of how Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc., did just that.