Sylvia McNiel with Mary Kay

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Trisha Stetzel here, bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. Today, I have an amazing human being with me that I met many years ago through BNI Business Network International. If you’re not familiar, you might want to take a look because it does create long lasting relationships. I’d love to introduce you to Sylvia McNiel, also known as Super Sensational Sylvia. She’s a top Mary Kay consultant in San Antonio and Houston. Now she’s built a beautiful team and she’s driven by passion, helping people. That has fueled her A 29 year career in beauty and wellness. She brings honesty, integrity and hard work to each consultation, always mixed with a splash of fun. Sylvia, welcome to the show.

Sylvia McNiel: Thank you. Thank you. Trisha. What a what. A huge, uh, intro to live up to. It’s it’s. Thank you, I appreciate that. Um, but, yes, I created it myself. You know, calling myself super sensational Sylvia. And a lot of times my my husband will, you know, when I’m not in the when I’m not super sensational, he will tell me that you’re not being very sensational right now. And I’m like mhm mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: Well we’re just going to call you triple S today. Okay. All right. Triple s. Well and we, we do have um I asked you to come on the show because you’re such a beautiful story to tell that I think people need to hear. But before we get there, I have a few questions for you. So the first question I want to put out there is I know that you’ve built a really strong reputation in Mary Kay, and it has been 29 years. It’s a long time to be in this business. So tell me, what initially inspired you to get into the beauty industry, and how has that motivation evolved over the last 29 years?

Sylvia McNiel: So I started my business 29 years ago when my I have three children. Um, and we, um, they were all under the age of five. My husband had just graduated from AMP, uh, school. He had an associate’s degree in in mechanical. He’s he’s a mechanical guy. Okay. Um, and he he picked up a Reader’s Digest book and was reading it, and there was an article about Mary Kay and my mother had. Has sold Mary Kay. She was selling Mary Kay at the time, and he would watch her leave, like around Christmas. He’d leave in the morning and she’d come back with cash, and then she’d leave again in the morning with some more baskets and come home with cash. And he was he was putting it all together. And he said, I really think you need to look into this business. I think it’d be great for you. Um, at the time, I, we had chosen to remain a single income family. And, um, so I wasn’t getting out of the house very often. I, you know, my wardrobe was was a mom wardrobe, sweatpants, t shirts, ponytail, hairstyle. Um, I did not wear makeup. And, um, you know, so I, I, you know, I opened my mind to it at the, in the beginning, I was like, I don’t want to do what my mom does, you know? We all go through that. And so I was like, okay, I’ll listen. And when I went to my mom, the home of my mom’s director, this beautiful woman, and, um, she just glided along and, you know, just diamond dripping in diamonds. Had a pink Cadillac, beautiful house. And I thought, what is going on here? Because everybody in that room was gorgeous.

Sylvia McNiel: Everybody had beautiful skin. Everybody was just happy. Everybody was happy. And, you know, it was just a different environment. And so when I heard about the opportunity, what really grabbed my attention was the fact that Mary Kay, um, the values God first, family second, and career third. Um, and the idea that you build your business with the golden rule in mind, and you’re always thinking of others, not yourself. And so it was a very servant type of, of business. Um, and then when I read Mary Kay’s autobiography, I realized she didn’t create the company to have awesome cosmetics and skincare. She built the company for women. And so I didn’t finish college. So my self-esteem was really below sea level. And so I was I was really, um, you know, trying to determine, do I go back to school? Do I, you know, what am I going to do? I can’t go back to school until the kids are older. And, um, this was an opportunity for anyone with a college degree. Without a college degree with a high school diploma, all you needed was your desire to reach a goal that was given to you in your heart. And so I was just like amazed. And I thought, what? And then I heard everybody’s stories and I just, I thought I could probably, I could do this. I could learn this. I’m not dumb. Um, I could read a book and follow things. And back then, you know, everything’s digital. Back then we had cassettes and we had videos. Tapes we had, um, had to.

Trisha Stetzel: Write everything down.

Sylvia McNiel: We had to write everything down and use a calculator. Um, it was so, so, you know, caveman style. But but I did. And so I learned. I learned the business. But, you know, I signed my agreement in two weeks later, we moved away to a town where I had no support. I didn’t have my family, I didn’t have I didn’t know anybody. All I had were the Mary Kay ladies there. And so they helped me. Um, Learn the business, and I learned fairly quickly. Um, because I always tell myself, you are a smart woman. Um, I learned fairly quickly that you hang around the women that have $1,000 sale every week. You hang around the people that have are growing, that are moving. They’re, you know, they’re having parties. They’re having, you know, so I that’s what I did. I just asked if I could be their assistant. And they were so happy. And I was like, okay. Um, and so that’s, you know, and in the 29 years, I will say it hasn’t all been, um, you know, it’s been a struggle. It was a struggle for the first probably four years because we moved. We moved every like 2 or 3 years. We had to move because my husband’s job. So I had to start all over every time we moved. And. But every time I got better, you know? I got better every move.

Sylvia McNiel: I got better and I, you know. And by the time we reached Indianapolis, um, my husband was working for United Airlines at the time, they they built a hub there, and. And I’m a midwest girl. I was born in Michigan, so I was like, yay, let’s go to the Midwest. Um, so by the time I got there, I, I had it down. I knew who my market was. I knew who I needed to be around. I knew how to, you know, make friends right away. Um, by then, the kids were teenagers. And that’s when I won my first Mary Kay car. And I built a team. Back then, you had you had to have 30 or 35 people on your team to be a unit. I had like 26. I had 24. I had a really, really, really strong business. And um, and then life happens. And the best thing about this business is you can pull back whenever you need to and you don’t have to get out. Mary Kay doesn’t kick you out. You’re an independent contractor. You own your own business. So life hit us and there were some challenges with my girls. Um, and, you know, and and that kind of fog. Um, I was young, and I began to listen to outside people, and they started saying things like, well, maybe you should start getting a real job.

Sylvia McNiel: Um, maybe you should look at going back to school. So and I listened and I thought, okay, I’ll get a, I’ll get a I got a real job. Um, and, and I went into the insurance industry for about ten years, and it was the worst mistake of my life, but it taught me many, many, many lessons. Many lessons. And, um, I realized I had a real job. Um, but, you know, I pulled back and I stayed in Mary Kay and I still went to the meetings, and my business kept me in business for ten years because I wasn’t doing any, any work that, you know, we call income producing activities for us. I wasn’t doing parties or facials and recruiting and keeping a team, and I wasn’t doing all that. But I still had a lot of people ordering from me. And, um, and I think a lot of that had to do with me because they trusted me and they they trusted my advice. They knew I knew every single product that I had on my shelf. And so at that time we moved from there to San Antonio. And, um, Mary Kay, that was the year Mary Kay introduced websites for all the consultants. So I just taught all my customers how to order off the website. Like, this is easy technology.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah.

Sylvia McNiel: And that was yeah, that was back in 2011, 2012. And um, and I stayed, you know, in the commercial insurance industry for a while and did that, um, got the kids through, through, you know, high school and college and, um, all their dramas and everything going on. Um, and then we moved to San Antonio, which we knew we would do after the kids graduated, because that’s where our family, that’s everybody was there, and our family, everybody was aging and we knew we were going to come back. Um, yeah. And so I, we lived in San Antonio for probably six years, and then my husband got transferred to Houston, and and that’s when I moved to Houston and I was like, okay, this is the last move, um, that I would like to do. And at that time, I left my job. My job was getting very stressful. It was, um, my husband knew I was unhappy for a long time. And although I was making a good income and we were very, very, very comfortable, he he said, you know, you need to stop. This is not you. This is not who you are. You need to find something you would love to do. And I was at a networking event for, for the commercial for as a commercial insurance person, and I was getting ready to tell them that I was leaving my job. It was right around Thanksgiving, too, and I, um, I remember the president of that group standing up and saying, we’re going to have a membership drive next Thursday. Everybody invites somebody within, you know, your contact sphere, la la la la. And by the way, does anybody know Mary Kay lady? And I was just like.

Trisha Stetzel: It’s a sign.

Sylvia McNiel: I was like, what are you doing to me? So I fought it. I fought it for a couple of months. I was like, I’m not doing that anymore. No, I’m not doing it. Finally, I told her, I said, look, you know, I’m I’m leaving my job, but I’ll be your Mary Kay lady. I thought, well, why not? You know, I don’t have another job to go to. And and man, as soon as I said yes, all the doors opened up. Everybody needed a facial. I had probably close to 200 customers within a year. Wow. Just skincare. Just in skincare customers. Um, and I was back on target for a car, and I was like, what in the heck? And then we moved to Houston. And so I’ve been through a life of like, really, you know, challenges all the time. And I, um, I think it set me up for for what ended up happening, you know, and, um, so that’s that’s my story. And I landed in Houston. I kept my team in San Antonio. I still go back. Um, I’m building a team here of professional women who want a business and, um, who are teachable and trainable like I was because I didn’t know anything. And, um, and that’s that’s where we are today, you know, and now I’m, I’m, I’m in this position today.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And, you know, so many of us do the job and try and be an entrepreneur. And it’s so hard to find that balance. And it’s so what a beautiful story that you’re able to hold on to that entrepreneurial spirit. Although suppressed for a few years while you had the job. Right, or the 9 to 5, uh, but you were able to pull that back out. And what an amazing business model for you to be able to do that as as a working mom. Right. And getting through that and being able to come back to it. And I know that honesty and integrity are such a core part of who you are, and that comes out in the story that you’ve told. And you’ve also mentioned, um, that you love to have fun. And that was even in your bio that I read. So, um, fun and business and this business that you’re in, how do you balance the professionalism of being a skincare consultant with also a sense of fun when you go in and work with your clients?

Sylvia McNiel: I, you know, if it’s not fun, if it, you know, and I heard this lyric from Pitbull at by the way, and he said, if you’re not having if you, if they’re not laughing, you’re not making money. And I thought he’s he’s absolutely right. Because, you know, women are just so stressed out and they are so busy. And for them, you know, for, for first of all, for somebody to host a party, it’s a lot of work, especially if you have kids and you have a big family and, you know, it’s a lot of work. But I do make it worth their while. And I always tell them, you know, I help them, I’m your partner. I’m going to help you. Um, so to get the you get women coming and they, they’re just there to help their sister or their sister in law. And they come like this.

Trisha Stetzel: Um, cross arms. Yeah, completely.

Sylvia McNiel: And they sit back and they and they tell me right up front, I am. You’re not taking anything off my face. And I said, oh, you’re absolutely right. I’m not. And I just leave them alone. I’m just like, mhm. And but you know, I make it so fun. Um, I’m never mean and I’m never, um, you know, I, I’ll tell them. Oh okay. Yeah I understand. No problem no problem. You know what. But here’s what I do. This is my here’s a secret. You can’t tell anybody else. I say, here’s a pen and paper, and you’re going to sit over here because all of us are going to. We’re taking our makeup off and we’re going to put it back on. But since you don’t want it, you know, you can take notes because I’m going to give you some secrets that you probably haven’t even heard before. And they’re like, okay, in the beginning, about halfway through that party, they’re like, okay, okay, I’ll all right, I’ll do it.

Trisha Stetzel: Give me one of those. I want to do that too.

Sylvia McNiel: And you know what ends up happening. A lot of them buy everything or they join me. They join my team. Yes. Yeah. And they’re like, I want to join. I want to I want to know more about what you do. And so, um, you know it. You’ve got to make it fun for people, even a facial. You know, the transformation. I talk about the transformation of a woman in a facial setting. Because a woman who has a facial, she wants that for her. That’s her thing. Okay, that’s. She doesn’t want to share it, you know, with anybody yet? She wants to she wants to experience it. And the transformation, you see from a woman who doesn’t wear any makeup and is learning how to take care of her skin. And then at the end of the appointment, they look at their face and they’re just like, you know, you can’t take the mirror away from them. They’re they’re transformed and they realize how beautiful they are. Mhm. You know, And that is it’s like, that’s the payday. I mean, for me, because that woman sees herself in a different light and, and all of a sudden now the, the relationship between that woman and I, it’s a friendship. Because I took the time to make sure she uses everything correctly, talk about her skin, understand what her concerns are. I never try to push anything. And then I come back and I teach her how to make herself look cute, you know? And then she gets all excited. I mean, I just did an appointment on Tuesday and and it was it was just unbelievable the transformation. And, um, and I, you know, I told her I this is my motto.

Sylvia McNiel: Now, I am here to serve women just like Mary Kay built this company for women. I am here to serve women and to show them they can be professional businesswomen speak professional business lingo, just like a professional who got their MBA. Because our training is so top notch. You know, it’s just incredible the training we get and you can still have fun. You can still be the band mom. You can still be the karate mom and and the the, you know, the comic con mom who took the kids all over Indiana, you know, because nobody else wanted to. And, you know, you can still do all of those things. Nothing in my life was ever, um, a question, you know, that there was nothing in it. There was nothing that made my business go south, that I didn’t do intentionally or did unintentionally and didn’t know I was doing it. It was not the kids. And when I asked my kids who are adults now, when I asked my son one time, you know, when I won the car and and I won that car, do you remember that? And he said, yeah. And I said, did you ever feel like I was never around? He goes, mom, I didn’t even know you had a job. Like, he was like, he goes, you were here in the morning when I left and you were here after school, and you were only gone a couple hours on the weekend. I never knew you had a job. And so I was like, okay, I’m going to record you one day, and you’re going to. You’re gonna have to give me that testimony. Mom of the year award.

Trisha Stetzel: Mom of the year award.

Sylvia McNiel: Yes. But, you know, you can have you really can have it all and and really create a business around your life. Yeah. Not let the business run your life. Yeah. And, um. Yeah. And so I learned a lot of that. Um, And mainly this year mainly. Yeah. So let’s.

Trisha Stetzel: Talk about that because.

Sylvia McNiel: Came to fruition.

Trisha Stetzel: Story. So as we um, you know are rounding out our conversation today, I really want to tackle this because I think it’s so important for people to hear. Silvia, you were in line for a diamond ring this year, right?

Sylvia McNiel: Yeah, I was in line, um, this year to win my first Mary Kay diamond ring. I had set the goal last year. You know, I was I was ready, I was working through and I was on target to earn a car. And so, you know, we were we were working, working, working. And on April 8th of this year, which is the day of the eclipse, um, my husband has had a motorcycle for seven years, and, um, we went on a motorcycle ride, which is what we do a lot of times, you know, we go with a group and we always ride with a large group. And, um, we decided to go to the to Bandera. I knew we were where we were going, and I knew that that was not a very safe area for motorcycles. And I told my husband, if it rains because it was supposed to rain that day, um, I did not want I wasn’t I was going to drive and meet everybody at the restaurant. Well, it was sunny that morning and the sun came out and everything was dry and and in Kerrville, we were in Kerrville. And so we went on our ride. And I remember I was thinking about this this morning, Trisha. I remember that morning when I woke up, I did not I always have my cross.

Sylvia McNiel: I’m a very faithful woman. And, um, I didn’t have my cross on and I didn’t, so I, I didn’t have. So I just woke up early, walked around the bike, and I just prayed over it. I just prayed, I prayed on the seat. I prayed on the handlebars, the tires, everything. I just prayed. And, um, there was a guy that was walking out of the hotel and he said, I said, hey, have a good day. And he goes, you too. And you be sure you come back. And I was like, I go, I will. I said, of course. And so we got on the bike and we took off. Well we’re, we’re winding around those, those hill country roads and it’s, it’s zig zag. And on that last turn we were almost to the restaurant and, um, my husband took the turn and it was just a little bit too wide. And at 30 miles an hour he hit the edge of the of the road, the gravel and the took the bike one way, and it flew through us another way. The direction that I went, or that my husband and I went was the direction of the edge of a hill. So we, you know, my husband was I sat a little higher than him. So he he immediately was thrown into a bush.

Sylvia McNiel: But I went through two trees and I hit the third, and the third tree is what saved me from going over the edge, because there was nothing else left, and I didn’t know that. So, um, anyway, so I’m in the tree. I never passed out, by the way. And and I literally was hanging in the tree, um, from my waist. And I had my helmet on. I had full armor, you know, gloves, everything jacket, full helmet. And I could hear my husband calling me so I couldn’t breathe. I had knocked the wind out of myself. And, um. And then I, you know, my, I, I pushed myself, you know, I was trying to push myself up and I could hear my husband say, don’t move. And I was like, I was trying to look, but I couldn’t see from the helmet. And I said, why, what’s what is it? And I said, I think I can get out. And he’s like, don’t look, don’t turn around. If you want to stand up, you can stand up, but come around. And so I came up to the top of the road and I did not know there was nothing behind me. I just thought I was in the grass. And so I was like, okay, I’m on the ground. Um, I walked around, cleaned up my mess, and the adrenaline was pumping.

Sylvia McNiel: Me and my husband are walking around. We’re, you know. But long story short, I ended up having internal bleeding, and I, um, um, was life flighted to San Antonio. Um, the the injuries that we sustained were, um, were mine were pretty extensive. My husband literally had a hole in his knee, but we never we didn’t break any bones, which is a miracle like that’s a miracle. Um, and the bleeding that I had was due to to my skin. Just kind of like separating, so. Okay. I was like, okay, I can deal with that. It’s all right. I, you know, a little surgery. It’s okay, I get it. But I didn’t realize the that the impact of, you know, like, I, I thought, okay, that’s fine. That’s good. Okay. I’m going to be home, you know, by the weekend. Da da da da da da da da. And I even gave myself four weeks to recover. I was like. Four weeks. I told the doctor when I came back to Houston, I said, I got it four weeks down in my calendar and and, uh, to recover or are we on. Are we good? Are we on, you know. And she had to have a come to Jesus moment because the impact was what was the trauma? I didn’t realize the trauma that I had gone through.

Sylvia McNiel: And so my body was still in trauma mode even two months after I was bruising, I was I couldn’t walk, but, um, I, you know, a month after the accident, a month into towards the end of April, I was thinking, okay, you know, I couldn’t walk, I could hardly walk, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t sleep. It just it was it was just crazy. But I was happy and I was grateful because I was like, thank God, you know? And I give God all the glory. He was there with me that day. Somebody was there with me that day because I didn’t have any broken bones. I had surgery, but it wasn’t real major. I didn’t I didn’t bruise any organs. I didn’t puncture a lung, I didn’t, um, my face was. And that’s really the moneymakers. What I was thinking about. God. You know, if I didn’t have my face, you know. But thank God I had a good helmet, you know. Otherwise, it would have been really bad. And I was thinking, man, you know, I’m okay. But then towards three weeks after I started realizing all my goals that I had set for myself and I was challenged and I was, um, you know, um, it was I was just sitting around. Anyway.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I, I get it, it felt. It felt insurmountable, I’m sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Sylvia McNiel: Oh, my gosh. You know, I make goals and I, I’m trying to make this goal and and this happens. So, so I thought okay, fine. You know we’ll it’s it’s two months to the deadline, you know. All right. You know I guess I’ll just try again next year. And then Mary Kay sent me an email I literally like a week later And they said they didn’t know about my accident. They just sent out an email and said, hey, just want to remind you that you’re on target for the ring, the diamond ring that you’re going to get at the end in July. Um, and we need your ring size, and we need you to choose your ring. And I’m like, what? Wow. I thought, okay, I’m not out of it. I can do it. I was like, okay. But I had people surrounding me that believed in me. And, um, you know, immediately I had a friend of mine, Sarah, and she was she was just came over. We worked the numbers. She’s like, can we do this? I said, I think so, I don’t know how, but we’ll do it. Um, and I had a girl that comes over once a week to help, you know, with, with stuff. And so she became my driver.

Trisha Stetzel: You couldn’t even drive, you couldn’t walk, you couldn’t drive, drive.

Sylvia McNiel: I couldn’t I mean, it was crazy. So I couldn’t drive and I just. And we did it at 14,000 retail in sales in two months. And I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t even dress myself like I had a cane. I refused to use the walker unless I was in the house. But I was like, I’m not. I’m not giving up. If I can get to if I can get there, I can sell this product. And I did. And a week before the deadline we finished, um, I don’t know how I prayed a lot. I prayed every day. But you have to, like I said, my entire life prepared me for that time. Um, and for now, because I’ve had to get really, really creative and doing my business because I can’t, um, you know, before the accident, I was a runner. I was actually training for a half marathon in May. And, um, I was I was a runner. I was up at 4 a.m., I would work out, I would do my business, and I would do stuff outside. And, I mean, I was everywhere, and I, I, I struggle, I still struggle even this week was was a struggle because if I overdo things, my body tells me and and then I have to listen to my body. So I know now that things. They’re just things, you know, what really matters is you, your health, your family, and. And I forgive you. No, I don’t forgive myself. I tell myself it’s good things are still going to come If you don’t. If you didn’t make it this time, did you do your best? Yes. Did you? You know. Did you color it? Yes. Are you ready for the next week? Yes. Okay. You’re okay? Yeah. Okay. And so that that’s just, you know, uh, lessons that I’ve learned this year that I’ve, that I’ve, as I was telling you just now that I’m, like, all of this came together like, this year, and, and it’s like a masterclass of everything that I’ve gone through in the 29 years of being.

Trisha Stetzel: Is everything that you’ve talked about today has been resiliency after resiliency, after resiliency, and where you’re picking yourself up and you’re just taking one step at a time, one step at a time. And I think what’s really special about your story, Sylvia, is that you surrounded yourself with people who are going to support you. Your family supports you. All of the ladies on your team supports you. Your clients support you. The people in your network support you.

Sylvia McNiel: I had I had people that order on my website that I’ve never even met, and they were ordering the nominal amounts of product and I’m just like, I don’t even know these women. But they saw my videos and they were watching my videos and, and I had people that I thought were my competitors, and they were calling me to see how close I was. And, you know, it’s just amazing the when you I always tell people, God’s not going to help you till you make a decision. And when you make that decision, you need to rely on him to help you get through it because he he already knows what’s going to happen. And that’s what happened because I was like, like a little kid. I’d just wake up and I would get dressed and I would, you know, hobble into my office and, you know, and.

Trisha Stetzel: I get the help that you needed. So the beginning of this story is you got to walk across the stage, you got your ring, which I.

Sylvia McNiel: Forgot to wear it. I was going to wear it.

Trisha Stetzel: Dang. Yeah. I’m so excited for you. And congratulations. So, Sylvia, if people want to connect with you, they want to learn more. They want to, um, maybe schedule a skincare class with you. How do they get in touch with you?

Sylvia McNiel: Um, you know, you can go to my my website is Mary kay.com forward, slash or forward or backslash. My initials S Sylvia McNeill and McNeill is mc n I e l. Or you can find me on Instagram at McNeill. Sylvia and I have videos and stuff there, but you can contact me either. Either of those ways is the best. Yeah, and.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, I’ll put all of that in the show notes. And by the way, guys, if you can’t find her, come find me and I will be happy to connect you with my beautiful friend Sylvia. Thank you for coming on today. I appreciate your vulnerability. I think, as I’ve been telling you over the last couple of weeks, I think this story needs to be heard because there are so many of us women out there who may feel like we should just give up because it’s hard. And you have proven over and over again that it’s just about putting one foot in front of the other and having a really great support system. So thank you for sharing your story with me today.

Sylvia McNiel: You’re welcome. Thank you for having me, Trisha. I appreciate you.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. That’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.