Dallas native Jennifer Bickel Cook, 70, began working for Mary Kay in 1971 when she was still in college earning her bachelor’s degree in English. She worked part-time during the school year and full-time during the summers.
When she first joined, she started as a clerk but was soon promoted to executive secretary to company founder Mary Kay Ash after graduating from college. Ash soon needed more help to manage her hectic schedule and Cook became the manager of Ash’s personal staff.
Cook worked directly with Ash for 25 years.
After Ash had a stroke in 1996, Cook became director of the Mary Kay Museum in Addison, which opened in 1993, and director of The Mary Kay Foundation, which focuses on finding a cure for cancers that affect women and ending domestic violence.
After Ash died in 2001, Cook stayed at the museum until 2017 when she retired. She then began mentoring young women and realized that “everything I learned, I learned from Mary Kay,” she said. Cook felt Ash’s wisdom was worth passing down.
“Her message was women were wonderful and we needed to run our businesses with kindness,” she said. “I want women to see that you can be successful and also kind and honest.”
Cook decided to bundle up Ash’s wisdom into a book called Pass It On that took her about two years to write and came out on Oct. 5.
“I wrote a book at 70 to impart her wisdom and to show that just because you’re a mature woman doesn’t mean God is finished with you and can’t use you to step out of your comfort zone and do something else with your life,” Cook said.
But about a week before the book came out, excitement about its launch was tainted by a negative reaction from her beloved company, Mary Kay Inc.
The cosmetic company used a law firm to send a letter to Cook’s publisher, Brown Books Publishing Group in Dallas, asking for a delay in publication so it could review the book.
When asked about the law firm’s letter, Cook instead wanted to focus on the positive aspects of Ash and her book.
“I spent 45 years working with Mary Kay, and my book is a tribute to the company and Mary Kay,” she said. “I only have good things to say about her and the company. My life is blessed because I was a part of it.”
