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Success Quote by Mary Kay Ash

"So many women just don't know how great they really are. They come to us all vogue outside and vague on the inside"

About this Quote

Mary Kay Ash is doing two things at once: selling a product and selling a worldview. The line flatters and scolds in the same breath, a classic motivational-sales move. “So many women” casts the problem as widespread, almost epidemic, which conveniently positions her company as the remedy. Then comes the pivot: “great” is framed as something women possess but can’t access without guidance. The compliment softens the paternalism.

“All vogue outside and vague on the inside” is a tidy bit of internal rhyme that lands like a slogan. It’s memorable because it reduces a complicated social condition to a catchy contrast: the visible self vs. the private self. “Vogue” signals fashion, polish, performance; “vague” implies uncertainty, underdeveloped ambition, low self-trust. The subtext is that modern femininity has trained women to invest in presentation while neglecting inner conviction. Ash’s genius is to turn that critique into an on-ramp: if you feel “vague,” you’re primed for a system that promises clarity, community, and a script for success.

Context matters. Ash built Mary Kay in a mid-century business culture that routinely underestimated women’s competence and barred them from advancement. Her message is partly corrective: you’re capable; you’ve been taught otherwise. Still, the line carries an edge: it treats women’s insecurity as a personal deficit to be fixed, not a rational response to structural limits. That tension is the brand’s engine - empowerment packaged as recruitment, self-actualization delivered through lipstick and a ladder.

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APA Style (7th ed.)
Ash, Mary Kay. (2026, January 15). So many women just don't know how great they really are. They come to us all vogue outside and vague on the inside. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/so-many-women-just-dont-know-how-great-they-29397/

Chicago Style
Ash, Mary Kay. "So many women just don't know how great they really are. They come to us all vogue outside and vague on the inside." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/so-many-women-just-dont-know-how-great-they-29397/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"So many women just don't know how great they really are. They come to us all vogue outside and vague on the inside." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/so-many-women-just-dont-know-how-great-they-29397/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash (May 12, 1918 - November 22, 2001) was a Businesswoman from USA.

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