Texan by Nature is excited to recognize Mary Kay as a 2024 TxN 20 honoree for their leadership in conservation and sustainability. Mary Kay’s commitment to conservation, their projects, programs, best practices, and lessons learned are an example and inspiration for us all.

Honoree Name: Mary Kay

Honoree Industry and Size: Retail, Enterprise  

Company Overview:
One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich women’s lives. That dream has blossomed into a global company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. For over 60 years, the Mary Kay opportunity has empowered women to define their own futures through education, mentorship, advocacy, and innovation. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in preserving our planet for future generations, protecting women impacted by cancer and domestic abuse, and encouraging youth to follow their dreams. 

Mary Kay’s global headquarters in Addison, Texas.

Mary Kay is a Texas-based company. 

On September 13, 1963, Mary Kay Ash began in a 500-square-foot storefront in Dallas. Since the beginning, Mary Kay has manufactured its products in Texas. 

Today our global headquarters is located in Addison, our global Richard R. Rogers global Manufacturing / Research & Development facility, also known as “R3” is in Lewisville, and we also have two distribution centers in the Dallas area. 

• Built on 26 acres of land, R3 is a $100+ million investment and is a 453,000-square-foot building which features state-of-the-art R&D laboratories and cutting-edge manufacturing technology.
• 57% of products manufactured at R3 are exported to Mary Kay’s international markets. 
• R3 production capacity is up to 1.1. million products per day. The facility boasts 20 product-packaging lines and 21 processing vessels and mixing tanks.

The R3 Manufacturing & R&D facility is led by dedicated STEM professionals committed to science-based innovation and product safety. Sixty-three percent of our R&D team are women. 

R3 has allowed us to innovate and increase production capacity and efficiency to better serve Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants in the U.S. and worldwide. R3 is also a testimony to the faith we have in the continued success of Mary Kay’s dream and our commitment to local, Texas manufacturing.

Richard R. Rogers global Manufacturing / Research & Development facility, also known as “R3” broke ground in 2018.

Mary Kay Historic storefront opened in Dallas, in 1963.

What is Mary Kay’s conservation and sustainability mission and why is it important to your culture?
Mary Kay’s mission of enriching women’s lives as well as its approach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility exemplify what positive impact means for Mary Kay, Independent Beauty Consultants, their customers, and the planet. Sustainability, in its broadest sense—encompassing environmental, social, and economic aspects—has deep roots in the Mary Kay story and has been integral to our company culture from the beginning. Our sustainability journey started with Mary Kay Ash: “I feel very strongly that we must do everything in our power to save our planet. Let me emphasize that Mary Kay Cosmetics is an environmental leader because we strongly feel it is the right thing to do.”  At the heart of Mary Kay’s sustainability efforts are three pillars: environmental, social, and economic sustainability. We recognize that sustainability is about creating a business model that values and uplifts every individual, especially women, fosters social well-being, and ensures economic growth that benefits everyone. Mary Kay is a member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). Our company initiatives and external programs and partnerships are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What steps is Mary Kay taking to address global natural resource challenges, and how are these efforts integrated into your overall business strategy?
Water Stewardship
For 36 years, Mary Kay has partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to tackle land, wetland and ocean conservation the world over through supporting over 100 conservation projects. More recently we have focused our support on ocean health and coral reef awareness. Nearly 50% of the Earth’s coral reefs have been lost. Mary Kay supports TNC’s work to actively identify, protect, and grow a global network of resilient reef systems called “super reefs” that can survive in a warming ocean. The Super Reefs team brings together reef governments and communities with experts in ocean science, conservation, and management from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Stanford University, and The Nature Conservancy, along with private sector support from Mary Kay. Several areas of interest have been identified including Hawaii, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Belize.

Mary Kay supports The Nature Conservancy’s work to protect and grow “super reefs” that can survive warming oceans.

Mary Kay also supports conservation efforts around the world and in our own backyard in Texas.

Through its partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Mary Kay also supports wetland protection and restoration along the Gulf of Mexico. Texas has lost more than half of its coastal wetlands in the past 200 years to habitat conversion, overgrazing and development. Coastal wetlands provide the trifecta of climate wins: carbon capture, adaptation to sea-level rise, and increased resiliency to storms and flooding, all while supporting local and national economies.
Mary Kay supported a program assessing the feasibility of blue carbon markets to support long-term wetland management needs in Texas.

Mary Kay supports The Nature Conservancy’s wetland protection and restoration along the Gulf of Mexico

As a global sustainability advocate, the company is committed to reducing water utilization at its global manufacturing facilities in Lewisville, Texas and Hangzhou, China. 

• ~100,000 gallons SAVED MONTHLY

• ~572,000 gallons SAVED ANNUALLY

Mary Kay has a commitment to monitor our water usage and to work cross-functionally to continually improve our comprehensive water dashboard to automate the collection of water usage data at our manufacturing site. Our goal is to improve accuracy and identify other advancements while being a responsible water steward in our local community.

Mary Kay is a signatory to two crucial causes addressing global water challenges through corporate water stewardship: the CEO Water Mandate and the United Nations Global Compact’s Sustainable Ocean Principles.

Resource Conservation
Since 2008, Mary Kay has partnered with The Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) to support reforestation efforts around the world. To date, Mary Kay has completed more than thirty reforestation projects across nine countries, planting more than 1.4 million trees in partnership with ADF.  In 2023, Mary Kay celebrated International Day of Forests by highlighting its certification from the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®). The certification applies to Mary Kay’s Print and Digital Imaging Center in North Texas. (FSC® C181627). Mary Kay has a commitment to supporting responsible forestry by using certified sustainable paper sources for paper inserts, distribution cases, and shipping boxes.

30%: Current rate of post-consumer recycled paper content for product paper inserts printed at the Mary Kay Print Center.

Product Stewardship
Mary Kay is committed to product stewardship and gives special consideration to the environmental impact of a product over its entire lifecycle.

Mary Kay is a member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which promotes the growth and use of sustainable palm oil. Since 2014, we have either used certified sustainable palm oil or purchased credits to support the production of sustainable palm oil for 100% of Mary Kay’s palm oil use. To support our commitment to this effort, we require our suppliers to use all reasonable efforts to comply with appropriate sourcing regulations and best practices to ensure the integrity of the world’s resources. We also track certified palm oil, palm kernel oil, and palm derivative use.  Our credit purchases have covered 100% of Mary Kay’s non-certified palm oil use from the beginning.

Goal: to increase our use of certified palm, with a progress goal of 90% by 2030.

In 2023, Mary Kay joined the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) to support initiatives aimed at enhancing the economic well-being of Shea collectors and processors while restoring degraded parklands in West Africa. Together with the GSA, Mary Kay hopes to help establish new industry standards for social and environmental responsibility for the 16 million women and their families who depend on Shea every day.

Goal: Mary Kay’s priority is on assessing traceability and gaining a better understanding of how our suppliers engage with GSA.

Who in Mary Kay is leading your conservation and sustainability efforts and what are some examples of employee engagement in conservation and sustainability at your company?
Our CEO, Ryan Rodgers as well as Mary Kay’s Executive team are shaping our sustainability strategy in alignment with Mary Kay’s business priorities.

• Deborah Gibbins, our Chief Operating Officer has broad responsibility for Mary Kay’s product strategy, research and development, supply chain, financial operations, and information technology. She has been an executive champion for sustainability at Mary Kay especially as it relates to environmental topics such as responsible manufacturing and product stewardship. 
• Our Chief Legal Officer, Allison Levy, and Chief People Officer, Melinda Foster Sellers, oversee other areas of sustainability, beyond environmental. 
• Mary Kay’ Sustainability task force identifies our goals, key performance indicators (KPIs), areas for improvement and roadmaps to goals. Our sustainability task force is cross functional and includes Mary Kay’s key subject matter experts. 
• Finally, our employees and teams, as well as our millions of Independent Beauty Consultants in Texas and around the world act as advocates and champions of the company’s sustainability efforts. 

Mary Kay employees are on the front lines leading and implementing our sustainability program. Throughout our 60-year history, and most recently, we’ve had a lot of momentum around sustainability at Mary Kay and that would not have been possible without employees spearheading environmental efforts around responsible manufacturing and product stewardship.

Our dedicated employees ensure continuation of Mary Kay’s existing sustainability programs, such as:

• Mary Kay’s commitment to source sustainably through our membership at the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and at the Global Shea Alliance (GSA). 
• Mary Kay continued to use 100% biodegradable packing peanuts.
• Mary Kay’s global manufacturing and R&D facility, as well as other Texas-based facilities, continues to be powered by 100% renewable energy.
• Mary Kay’s global manufacturing facilities continue to implement its recycling programs for materials such as cardboard.

“Sustainability has deep roots in the Mary Kay story. We like to say we did it before it was ‘cool.’ Our iconic founder, Mary Kay Ash, was passionate about not only changing the world, but protecting it. This year’s recognition by Texan By Nature underscores that commitment.”

– DEBORAH GIBBINS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, MARY KAY INC.

What conservation and sustainability programs and projects does Mary Kay lead and participate in?

Infrastructure Investment: 

• Mary Kay’s R3 state-of-the-art Manufacturing/Research & Development Center (Lewisville, TX) has received a LEED Building and Construction Silver Certification (LEED BD+C).  The 453,000-square-foot building features R&D laboratories, cutting-edge manufacturing technology, and an astute focus on sustainable, environmentally friendly construction. R3 is the second Mary Kay project to earn the coveted LEED status. In 2018, Mary Kay China was awarded LEED v4 Gold certification for its corporate headquarters building located in Shanghai, China.  

Collaboration in support of water stewardship efforts: 

• External stakeholder engagement has included reaching out to the public sector, NGOs, and other private sector entities to learn more about water issues affecting our local community, develop technical expertise to apply best practices at Mary Kay, and exchange of information. 
• Throughout 2022 and 2023, Mary Kay has engaged with the City of Lewisville, the University of North Texas Advanced Environmental Research Institute, the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS), CEO Water Mandate, Arbor Day Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, and Texan By Nature on environmental and water issues with the goal of building greater community engagement on issues related to our local watershed.
• In May 2023, Mary Kay representatives attended the Global Water Stewardship Forum powered by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) in Edinburgh, Scotland, and in October, the ESG Sustainability Conference hosted by the Advanced Environmental Research Institute of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.
• Our teams also follow key water policy developments and participate in forums related to conservation and conscious development of North Texas through the North Texas Municipal Water District and the Greater Dallas Planning Commission.

Supplier assessment: Partnership with EcoVadis 

• Mary Kay continues its partnership with EcoVadis, a third-party supplier ESG desktop assessment, that evaluates supplier actions in four main ESG areas using validated evidence: Ethics, Environment, Labor & Human Rights, and Sustainable Procurement. EcoVadis is a globally trusted platform for sustainable business ratings. 

Advocacy for Women Leaders in Conservation 

• The panel “Putting Coral Reef Restoration at the Heart of Ocean Conservation Action” held during the Economist Impact’s 10th World Ocean Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, allowed Mary Kay to highlight women’s crucial role in ocean conservation and to showcase our partnership with The Nature Conservancy as a best practice of private sector engagement. 

Mary Kay Portugal’s General Manager, Sandra Silva, at the 10th World Ocean Summit in Lisbon.

What strategies does Mary Kay use to educate and raise awareness among employees, customers, and stakeholders about the importance of conservation and sustainability?
Mary Kay engages employees and stakeholders in sustainable initiatives year-round. Key highlights from our 2023 employee engagement calendar:  

APRIL: Earth Day presentation at Mary Kay’s R3 Manufacturing/Research & Development Center

The Monthly Employee Floor Safety Meeting celebrated Mary Kay’s CSR and sustainability pride points. We made it interactive with MK Earth Day trivia and prizes, which included potted flowers and an Arbor Day Foundation gardening set.

JULY: Employee Focus group with Arbor Day Foundation

Mary Kay hosted our partner the Arbor Day Foundation during their visit to DFW. We coordinated a special presentation to a cross-functional employee focus group. It was an opportunity to collaborate, learn, discuss, and ideate on our 15-year partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and how we can move our partnership forward in creative ways that engage our Independent Sales Force and employees. 

JULY-AUGUST: During the Mary Kay 60th Anniversary Seminar held at the Dallas Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, 20,000 Mary Kay independent sales force members were exposed to messaging about Mary Kay’s sustainability commitments and partnerships and invited to stop by our CSR booth and invited to champion the company’s sustainability efforts when engaging with their teams and customers.

OCTOBER: “Lunch & Learn” with Katherine Hayhoe from The Nature Conservancy at the Mary Kay Headquarters in Addison (hybrid meeting) with a focus on Texas. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change on people and the planet. She is the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy where she leads and coordinates the organization’s scientific efforts.

NOVEMBER: Aaron Adu, Managing Director, and Olawunmi Osholake, Deputy Managing Director of the Global Shea Alliance visited Mary Kay’s manufacturing facility, the Richard R. Rogers (R3) Manufacturing / R&D Center in Lewisville, Texas. Team discussions were focused on exploring synergies and engagement opportunities to create awareness around the sustainable sourcing of Shea and the importance of reserving and sustainably managing Shea parklands in the 21 countries of the “Shea belt” of West Africa impacting the livelihood of the 16 million women who are the backbone of the Shea industry. 

In 2023, Mary Kay Inc., a global advocate for corporate sustainability and stewardship, released its ‘Special Report on Sustainability 2023’ marking the company’s 60th anniversary and detailing the company’s unwavering commitment to enriching women’s lives and ensuring a sustainable future for all.

Mary Kay’s 2023 Special Report on Sustainability

Can you share specific examples of successful partnerships or innovative collaborations Mary Kay has formed with other organizations to enhance sustainability and conservation outcomes?
Reforestation and Biodiversity Conservation
In 2023, Mary Kay celebrated a 15-year partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. Mary Kay and ADF’s partnership began in 2008 with Mary Kay independent beauty consultants engaging in a recycling program where a tree was planted in a forest of need for every old compact recycled. Thanks to a national recycling effort by independent beauty consultants and their customers, as well as the company’s employees, Mary Kay exceeded the collection goal of 200,000 old compacts.

Mary Kay and the Arbor Day Foundation – Our Partners in Pink

Impact since 2008: Mary Kay and the Arbor Day Foundation have planted 1.3 million trees in partnership so far and continue to work toward future impact. In 2023, Mary Kay planted 100,000 trees in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation in the U.S. and worldwide.

Projects in the United States included: 

United States (Georgia and California) 

• Planted 80,000 trees to support rare habitat restoration and biodiversity in multiple Georgia counties. 
• Longleaf pine was once the dominant tree species in the south, covering more than 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas. Today, longleaf pine covers less than 3% of its original range. That loss of the ecosystem has been devastating to the nearly 600 animal and plant species that depend on it. Through a partnership with ADF and The Nature Conservancy, longleaf and shortleaf pines were planted across private and public lands in Georgia. As the trees grow, they will reduce forest fragmentation and support endangered and threatened wildlife like the red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern indigo snake, and gopher tortoise.

12,000 trees planted to support wildfire recovery in the Lassen National Forest in California. 

• The Dixie fire ripped through northern California for three seemingly endless months in 2021. Raging from July to October, the devastating wildfire resulted in a burn scar of more than 963,000 acres. Forests damaged by wildfires can take generations to return to their former glory—if they recover at all. This project focused efforts on the health of the Lassen National Forest, home to hundreds of wildlife species and vital to the landscape’s health and nearby Lake Almanor. newly planted trees in this area will help to reestablish habitats disrupted by the fire including homes of cougars, chipmunks, black bears, and long-toed salamanders. As the trees take root and grow into mature stands, root systems will prevent erosion while improving the water quality in Lake Almanor.

Mexico

4,000 trees planted to support sustainable forestry, watershed restoration, and biodiversity in Mexico’s Cerro Pelon butterfly sanctuary. 

• While the storied migration and nesting of the monarch butterfly are emblematic of Mexico, this species is now facing some of the challenges most symbolic of our time. native oyamel fir trees, where monarchs often nest, are being pushed to higher altitudes and cooler temperatures due to climate change. This, in addition to logging and clearing of land for profitable avocado trees, reduces the monarch’s nesting area and threatens the species’ shot at long-term survival. This project aimed to help reestablish oyamel fir cover in these areas while benefiting the local community.

How does Mary Kay quantify investment and return on conservation and sustainability?

Air Pollution

• Mary Kay’s global manufacturing facility, R3, was shown to have overall low emissions and operates with the use of the “Permit by Rule” (PBR) option, a registration that is reviewed and authorized by the State of Texas. 

Responsible Manufacturing
At Mary Kay, we believe that environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing is the right thing to do, and it also makes good business sense. 

• Mary Kay continued to use 100% biodegradable packing peanuts in the U.S.
• Mary Kay’s global manufacturing and R&D facility, as well as other Texas-based facilities, continues to be powered by 100% renewable energy.
• Mary Kay’s global manufacturing facilities continue to implement its recycling programs for materials such as cardboard.
• Mary Kay continues to identify opportunities to become better stewards of shared resources such as water. 

Company’s renewable energy consumption 

• Mary Kay’s global headquarters and U.S.-based R&D / manufacturing facility (as well as other Texas-based facilities) are 100% powered by renewable energy. The percentage of renewable energy used is more than half and is calculated using information from our globally owned facilities. 56.4% is calculated based on the conversion to carbon emissions and is based on U.S. and China-based owned facilities (it does not include leased facilities). 2022 result, 2023 pending. 
• Mary Kay’s global manufacturing facility, the Richard R. Rogers (R3) Manufacturing / R&D Center, has been awarded LEED Silver Certification for New Construction. The 453,000-square-foot building, opened in November 2018, features state-of-the-art R&D laboratories, cutting-edge manufacturing technology, and an astute focus on sustainable, environmentally friendly construction.

Water savings 

As a global sustainability advocate, the company is committed to reducing water utilization at its global Richard R. Rogers (R3) manufacturing facilities in Lewisville, Texas and Hangzhou, China. 

• ~100,000 gallons saved monthly –  In August 2023, Mary Kay implemented an improvement (shutting off sample ports) that is projected to save approximately 100,000 gallons per month in our R3 site. 
• ~572,000 gallons saved annually – Between 2021 and 2023, Mary Kay optimized several manufacturing cleaning processes which resulted in saving a projected 572,000 gallons of water each year based on production forecast in our R3 site. 

Methodology: These projected water savings are calculated by monitoring the data pulled from our flow meters installed and brought online in 2023 and forecasting the annual projections based on daily and weekly averages. We will continue to monitor water usage and forecast savings as projections are subject to change based on external factors such as demand.

Mary Kay has a commitment to monitor our water usage as we work cross-functionally to continually improve our comprehensive water dashboard to automate the collection of water usage data at our manufacturing site with the goals of improving accuracy, identifying other improvements, and being a good water steward in our local community.

2023 Production efforts: 

• The water data gathering dashboard was built. 
• 5 additional flow meters were installed and brought online.

Waste Management 

Mary Kay is committed to reducing our operational waste and the amount of end-of-life plastic packaging from our products by embedding sustainable practices in our business through product development, design, responsible sourcing, and mitigation of plastic pollution. 

Wildlife positively impact, and/or other (total # of species impact):

100,000 trees planted in the ground in 2023 in partnership with Arbor Day Foundation. 

Carbon footprint analysis 

Mary Kay’s sustainability efforts are tracked, measured, and informed by its carbon footprint analysis:

• Mary Kay calculates a carbon footprint for its global Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) GHG emissions from facilities and activities under its ownership as well as Scope 3 (indirect) GHG emissions for all categories material to the Company. 
• The calculation is based on a broad range of data, including company spend data collected from auditable accounting records, transactional data from its manufacturing and transportation operations, industry assumptions, and emission factors from databases such as Ecoinvent 3.8, DEFRA 2021, USEEIO v1.1 (2017), IEA 2021, Green-e 2021, and WALDB 3.5.  
• Assumptions and emission factors are periodically reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant.

How do you see the future of conservation and sustainability evolving, and what role will Mary Kay play in that progress?
Mary Kay views sustainability as the natural path for the future. Sustainability is a key strategy for our business, enabling us to drive responsible growth and create new opportunities for shared success. We are convinced that our approach to sustainability, built on the three areas of sustainability – environmental, social, and economic encompassing, provides the deep foundations we need to support our business strategy and exemplify a world-class organization. We are proud to say that being a positive influence on society has been Mary Kay’s promise for 60 years. 

Memberships and Affiliations: 

• We align our goals with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring our efforts contribute to global priorities. Our approach is collaborative, involving key stakeholders to ensure our goals are ambitious yet achievable, reflecting our commitment to making a meaningful—and realistic—difference.
• Mary Kay supports the Women’s Empowerment Principles. established and managed jointly by UN Women and UN Global Compact. 
• Mary Kay Inc. is also a signatory to two crucial causes in protecting our world’s waterways: the CEO Water Mandate and the United Nations Global Compact’s Sustainable Ocean Principles.

In a time of constant change, keeping sustainability as the consistent bedrock of our approach to doing business is not only right for society and the preservation of the planet but it is also critically important to our success, which will help us navigate through all the changes to come.

What is the one lesson that Mary Kay has learned from your conservation and sustainability efforts that others can take back and think about applying within their own space?
Sustainability strategies must be embedded in the corporate fabric and be aligned with the company’s values and business priorities.
Sustainability is the business of everyone, it must be championed by every stakeholder, internally and externally. True sustainability can’t be limited to its environmental component: it must encompass the environmental, social, and economic areas.
Sustainability is a journey of continuous improvement guided by the commitment to do the right thing in business and for the people and the planet.
Sustainable return on investment requires multiple forms of investment: beyond financials, collaboration, advocacy, education, and culture must be part of the equation.

Why is Texas an important home or base of operations for Mary Kay?

• Texan-born and raised, Mary Kay Ash started her dream company in Dallas, Texas in 1963. 
• Today Mary Kay operates in more than 35 markets and has nearly 4,000 employees. 1,579 of them are based in the U.S. and 1,521 of those are based in Texas.
• Mary Kay’s Global Headquarters is in Addison, Texas, our R&D & Manufacturing facility in Lewisville, Texas, and our distribution centers are in Dallas, Texas, and out of state, in the U.S. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share that makes Mary Kay’s strategy and approach to conservation and environmental sustainability unique?
At Mary Kay, we look at our conservation efforts also through a woman’s lens. 

Our 2023 special sustainability report was a tribute to Mary Kay’s mission of enriching women’s lives. The report celebrated the multi-faceted and immensely valuable contributions of women to sustainability in our home state of Texas, but also all around the world. We can proudly say that women are present at the crossroads of all our sustainability efforts.  

From our collaboration with the Global Shea Alliance supporting the Shea parklands in West Africa and the 16 million women who collect and process Shea, to our commitment to create opportunities for women scientists, and our work in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, we are committed to highlight the critical role of women in conservation. Fueled by our mission, our investment in sustainability is woman-centric. 

Local Business Leader Processing Shea in West Africa. Source: Global Shea AllianceMary Kay advocates for women leaders in conservation in the Asia Pacific

Find out more about Mary Kay’s conservation and sustainability efforts here.

Glossary

LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design