Rhonda Shasteen

Chief Marketing Officer at Mary Kay Inc.

At Mary Kay for more than 25 years, and worked closely with Mary Kay Ash for 10.

Raised in Dallas, Texas. Married, 2 grown children.

At work, I enjoy helping women develop as leaders; creating solutions to complex problems;  learning new things. At home, I enjoy the cows, horses and garden; fresh country air and time with my husband; learning new things and discovering my authentic self.

With more time, I would: sew (again); exercise (more); run for political office.

syndication

recent posts

tags

View more

archives

sort by: most recent | most viewed | most commented

  • What would you like to talk about?

    by: Posted
    By now you've probably got a sense of some of the types of things that I like to blog about. This is a conversation though, and I want to hear from you. What would you like to talk about? (The suggestions you offer here are for my planning purposes for future blog posts. They will not appear as comments on this post.)

  • Mary Kay Learns "What Women Want" - Part 6

    by: Posted
    Here we are again, revealing what women around the globe told us about what they wanted out of life in today's world. In addition to the five things we've already discussed, women want to have their own personal, disposable income . At this point in time, some do and some don't (have it). Women in the United States are very familiar with having disposable income, and are finding themselves coming to terms with their personal financial security issues, given the recent and continuing economic conditions. They want to be in control of their money and they want to contribute to the security of their family. Latin American women are very good planners when it comes to their finances. Because personal credit is uncommon, she cannot overextend herself; she can only spend what she has, so she plans carefully. For women in China, discretionary money is still a relatively new phenomenon. No matter how well she is cared for by her husband, she still wants to be able to spend "her...

  • Mary Kay Learns "What Women Want" - Part 5

    by: Posted
    Mary Kay Inc. was interested in finding out what women want in today's world, so we took a few months to learn from women in several countries around the world. They weren't shy and they held nothing back. We've been exploring these things over the last several posts, and we've reached #5. In addition to completeness, strength and independence, family + choice, and a fulfilling career, women around the world are longing for a connection and sisterhood with other women. For some, "girls night out" has become a never-to-be-missed weekly ritual. These female escapes provide carefree times, to get away, however briefly, from the everyday stressors of life. It can be as simple as meeting for tea or coffee, or involve pampering in the form of manicures/pedicures, or even full-blown weekend long retreats. Our girlfriends, in many ways, are our family. They provide a source of strength and security. They assist us when we need the help. They validate who we are and what...

  • Mary Kay Learns "What Women Want" - Part 4

    by: Posted
    Another of the "10 Things Women Want Now" is a fulfilling career . We heard from some stay-at-home moms in the US that they feel adrift when their kids no longer need them every minute of the day, and wonder if they should have continued to pursue their careers or completed their educations. Latina women in the US felt that a career was a vital part of being a "complete, modern woman". The Chinese women we heard from were well aware of the trade-offs of their careers, and few were completely comfortable with being stay-at-home moms. They seem to need a modern, autonomous view of themselves, apart from their family. This same desire for an element of autonomy drives women in Ukraine and Russia to pursue a career. This sense of autonomy seems to be relevant regardless of culture or geography. Our careers are a very important part of our identity, and are significant contributors to our overall sense of independence and completeness. What seems to differ regionally is how...

  • Mary Kay Learns "What Women Want" - part 3

    by: Posted
    We've reached #3 in our series exploring what Mary Kay has recently learned in our research with women around the world. One of the 10 things that women want today is family choices . We find that, while family IS very important to women from all cultures, what that family looks like and how women feel about it can be quite different than the traditional family models of the past. Even as divorce rates in Mexico rise dramatically, family is still strong. Our Mexican sisters, much like women in the US, spend a great deal of time and energy working to provide a better life for their children. They work hard to keep the family the center of their lives because they believe that the downfall of other countries is caused by the decline of the family unit. In China, many grandparents have the responsibility of child-rearing while the moms work to make their dreams a reality. This multi-generational approach to raising children is a growing trend in the US, too, as families hit by tough economic...

  • What Women Want - Part 2

    by: Posted
    Let's continue our look at "What Women Want". As a reminder, here's what Mary Kay learned from our research with women around the world: Ten Things Women Want Now 1. Completeness 6. Personal Income 2. Strength & Independence 7. Men, sometimes 3. Family + Choice 8. Pampering 4. Fulfilling Career 9. Social Media 5. Connection/Sisterhood 10. Trust Today, I'm going to share with you more about #2 - Strength & Independence . This desire is all about feminine power. Not in a "better than" way, but in a "different than but equal to" way. For these women, feminine power today is no longer a political rallying cry or a movement -- it's a tacit, personal assumption. It's a state of being. It's just the way things are. For women in the United States, this takes the form of confidence, and comes from "knowing what I'm talking about." For Latinas in the US, it is more about emotional strength, These women shared how their mothers...

  • Mary Kay Channel on YouTube

    by: Posted
    For Mary Kay brand lovers everywhere, there's now a specific Mary Kay channel on YouTube. To begin, there are 5 videos currently posted, and there will be lots of new content coming soon. This is the "official" place to go to get Mary Kay video content on our products and the business opportunity. You can post a link directly to the Mary Kay channel in Twitter, or on your Facebook or MySpace page to share content with your friends. The newest video on the channel is the HotNewz segment, produced by a company that creates content for university television networks that is shown on more than 200 college campuses throughout the US. This video segment features two college students who found lots of benefits in having a Mary Kay business while they are attending school. It would be super great to share with any college-age girls out there who are considering their options. Click on the link below to go directly to the Mary Kay channel, and happy viewing! http://youtube.com/marykay

  • Getting to the heart of "What Women Want" - Part 1

    by: Posted
    In Mary Kay's on-going quest to provide the products, services and business opportunities that women around the world are looking for now and for the near future, we just completed a major global research project that we called "WWW" or "What Women Want". We had learning sessions in 7 countries across the globe: the United States (we also met specifically with Latina women in the US), Mexico, China, Russia, Brazil, Korea and Ukraine. Women were randomly selected from among a larger group who met the age, lifestyle and other factors that we were interested in, and each woman selected was asked to invite a good friend to attend the session with her. It was great fun getting to know these women and their friends, and hear all about their lives, their careers, how they used technology and their feelings about beauty. Over the course of the next several posts, I'm going to delve into the lives of these women and share the insights we gleaned from them. At the end...