It's planning and budgeting time around the Mary Kay office right now. That means we're all thinking about our most important initiatives for 2010, our revenue forecasts for all of our markets around the world, and what we think we'll be spending to accomplish our goals. It's a process that goes on for a few months each year. We each begin at the individual department level, but eventually all have to come together to make sure that our goals are in sync overall and that our company-wide budget is reasonable. No one particularly enjoys the process, but everyone understands how important it is to plan. As I was thinking about this, I was reminded about two things: (1) Mary Kay Ash always said that one should " plan your work, and work your plan ", and (2) that many young women these days don't have a plan for their life, but wish they did (as we learned from our 2009 What Women Want research study). It occurred to me that as individuals, we don't often take...

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...