MERRILLVILLE | Shari Kirschner is in the pink — a pink 2013 Cadillac SRX, to be specific — and couldn't be more tickled.
Kirschner, of Chesterton, on Thursday happily accepted her 10th pink Caddy and 12th Mary Kay vehicle since 1990 for achieving sales in excess of $200,000 during a six-month period. She earned $250,000.
Jason Bloom, sales manager for Schepel Cadillac, Merrillville, did the honors, unveiling Kirschner's latest sweet ride.
Gleefully checking out the state-of-the-art computer dashboard, then popping up through the sunroof, Kirschner said such perks are all part of Mary Kay's "fairy tale" treatment.
Besides cars, Kirschner, as a top director, has earned diamond rings and bracelets and dream trips to Vienna, the Cayman Islands and more.
"If you truly have a servant part, everything comes back tenfold, like it says in the Bible," Kirschner said.
While she said she earns in the "six figures," Kirschner said many others earn as much, but are unhappy in their jobs.
"Yes, the money's wonderful ... but you're impacting generations. You change a woman, you change her family," Kirschner said.
A mechanical engineer with an MBA who worked as program manager for Hercules Aerospace, Kirschner oversees her Starlight Express Unit made up of 166 Mary Kay consultants in 22 states.
One of them is Diana Gore who at 63 joined Mary Kay three years ago after 28 years as a correctional officer followed by a decade with a domestic violence facility in Michigan City.
"What attracted me to Mary Kay is I could be girlie girl," Gore said. After years working with "broken women. "They tell you to have fun."
Kirschner still spends about eight hours weekly as a consultant. "I love it. It's not work. It's relaxing, girlfriend time. ... I'm a professional chitchatter," she said.
This year, her unit, named for the Broadway musical she and husband Steve saw, will be recognized in Mary Kay's $800,000 Unit Club.
Steve Kirschner urged his former college buddy at Georgia Tech to try Mary Kay. "I knew she had the good heart. It's more about helping others than pushing product," he said.
Kirschner's website is sharikirschner.com and the company's is www.marykay.com.
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