Mary C. Crowley (April 1, 1915 – June 1986),[1] was the founder and CEO of the Texas-based Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc., which became one of the largest direct sales home furnishing operations in America.[2] She was considered to be one of the leading businesswomen in the United States in the 1970s.[3] Crowley was also a published author of works on women in business, and on self-improvement for women.[4]

Early life

Mary Elizabeth Weaver was born on April 1, 1915[1] in Missouri. Her mother died when she was eighteen months old and Crowley lived with her grandparents on a farm in Missouri for five years, before moving back with her father and stepmother, but later moving back with her grandparents.[4] Years later, during depths of the Great Depression, Crowley was divorced (her first husband was Carter), with two children, Don and Ruth.[4] Crowley got a job in Dallas, Texas and attended Southern Methodist University in the evenings.[4] She worked in sales at Stanley Home Products in home accessories.[4][5]

Career

Home Interiors and Gifts

In 1957, Mary C. Crowley founded Home Interiors and Gifts.[6][4] Crowley's business was one of which that sold directly to customers through a home party plan.[4][7][8]

By 1962, Crowley and her daughter Ruth were running Home Interiors & Gifts, Inc., when the company's sales reached its first million dollars.

In 1977, Crowley was one of twenty business owners invited to meet President Jimmy Carter in the White House.[9]

When the company celebrated its 20th anniversary with a three-day gathering attended by the company's top 10,000 saleswomen, it included celebrities including Bob Hope and Billy Graham. At the time, Crowley was said to be earning $1 million annually. According to the Texas Monthly, the "millionairess" owned "a Dallas mansion, two Lear jets, and a Colorado mountain retreat."[10]

By 1983, sales had grown to be $400 million,[11][7] and Crowley's business had become a multi-million dollar corporation,[12][8] and one of the largest direct sales home furnishing operations in America.[2][7] Crowley became the first woman to serve on the Dallas Chamber of Commerce.[4]

In 1986, after Crowley died, her son Donald J. Carter became CEO and president of the corporation,[11] and in 1994, Carter agreed to sell the company to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst for over $850 million.[13]

Management style

Crowley was a devout Christian and an active philanthropist.[14][15][16] She was the first woman to serve on the board of Billy Graham's evangelistic association.[17][8] Crowley encouraged a nondenominational faith among employees, urging them to put "God first, family second, career third."[18]

Crowley was a career woman who put her beliefs and philosophy into her work. She was a generous person; during the holidays she allowed her employees to go on a supermarket shopping spree and she would pick up the tab.[19][20]

She would open meetings at Home Interiors with a Bible verse, introducing, for example, a verse from Proverbs by saying, "Let's see what King Solomon had to say about leadership."[21] Her marketing philosophy is "codified" in her book Think Mink!.[22] Crowley, who owned a mink-covered Bible, used mink briefcases and coats as sales incentives in a system analogous to the Mary Kay Pink Cadillacs.[10]

Writing and speaking

Crowley published a number of books on women in business and on self-improvement for women. Her book of aphorisms had gone through 39 printings by 1989 with 600,000 copies in circulation.[23] She was also an in-demand speaker.[3]

Personal life

"Crowley" was the surname of her second husband, David M. Crowley, Jr., whom she married in 1948.[24] Crowley was divorced from her first husband and had reared her son, Don Carter, and daughter, Ruth, as a single mother.[25][26] Crowley remarried when Don Carter was 15.[24] Ruth was known as Ruth Carter and as Ruth Shanahan, or Ruth Carter Shanahan, after her marriage to Ralph Shanahan.[27]

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics party plan company, was married to Mary (Weaver) Crowley's brother.[13]

In 1957, Crowley was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but after treatment with an investigational drug, she remained in remission for 27 years until 1984, when she was once again diagnosed with cancer and died shortly after.[8] In 1997, "Mary Crowley Cancer Research", an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit, was established to conduct research into gene and cellular therapies.[28]

Honors

  • One of Dallas Baptist University's seven colleges is named the "Mary C. Crowley College of Christian Faith" in her honor.[30]

Works

  • Moments with Mary. Dallas: Crescendo Book Publications. 1973. OCLC 650785.
  • Think Mink!. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell. 1976. ISBN 978-0800708108. Reprinted as You Can Too![31]
  • Women Who Win. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell. 1979. ISBN 978-0800709938. OCLC 4774535.
  • A Pocketful of Hope: Daily Devotions for Women. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell. 1981. ISBN 978-0800712723.
  • Decorate Your Home With Love. Old Tappan, N.J: Fleming H. Revell. 1986. ISBN 978-0800714543.

References

  1. 1 2 "Mary Crowley in Social Security Death Index". Fold3. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  2. 1 2 Carlton Stowers (January 1996). "SPORTS TOO NICE TO BE SUCCESSFUL?". D Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2020. There's Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc., the family business which Carter's late mother, Mary Crowley, launched in 1957 with a $6,000 bank loan and built into one of the largest direct sales home furnishing operations in the nation (with 2,000 employees, 50,000 displayers, and annual revenues estimated at $500 million).
  3. 1 2 "Vocational Banquet Set Tuesday". The Courier-Gazette. McKinney, Texas. April 4, 1976 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "1978 Horatio Alger Award Winner: Mary C. Crowley". Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  5. ↑ Jennings, Diane. “Mary Crowley,” The Dallas Morning News, November 17, 1985.
  6. ↑ Case, Brendan (2 May 2008). "Focus on upscale direct sales was costly for Home Interiors & Gifts". Dallas Morning News. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
  7. 1 2 3 "HOME INTERIORS & GIFTS, INC. v. COMMISSIONER". Leagle. March 24, 1980. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Dr. James Dobson's family talk". Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  9. ↑ Martin, Catherine (2010). A Woman's Walk in Grace: God's Pathway to Spiritual Growth. Harvest House. p. 123. ISBN 978-0736937696.
  10. 1 2 "Dallas millionairess (People Reporter)". Texas Monthly. June 1978. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Home Interiors & Gifts Inc". PM&M Porcelain Marks & More. 2004.
  12. ↑ Miller, Holly G. “The First Lady of Home Interiors,” The Saturday Evening Post, repr., April 1983.
  13. 1 2 Myerson, Allen R. (13 July 1994). "From At-Home Parties To a $1 Billion Buyout". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  14. ↑ Castleberry, Vivian. “Millionaire Mary Crowley Says She Can’t Afford Not to Do God’s Will,” Dallas Times Herald, February 13, 1977, p. 8.
  15. ↑ Sare, John. “Leaders Mourn Death of Mary C. Crowley,” Dallas Morning News, June 20, 1986.
  16. ↑ Neff, Pauline. “Mary C. Crowley—The Woman Who Built a Company Based on Love,” Dallas Magazine, June 1975.
  17. ↑ "From Street Preacher to America's Pastor". Dallas Morning News. 22 February 2018.
  18. ↑ Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (1989). Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America. University of Chicago Press. p. 108. ISBN 0226047857.
  19. ↑ "Double Miracle Day Is March 6". The Paris News. Paris, Texas. February 18, 1977 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Crowley, Mary (2000). You Can Too. ISBN 0-8007-5028-4.
  21. ↑ Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (1989). Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America. University of Chicago Press. p. 98. ISBN 0226047857. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  22. ↑ Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (1989). Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America. University of Chicago Press. p. 114. ISBN 0226047857.
  23. ↑ Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (1989). Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America. University of Chicago Press. p. 5. ISBN 0226047857.
  24. 1 2 Carver, Rita M. The leadership of Mary C. Crowley: Pioneer female business leader. Dallas Baptist University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012. 3507449.
  25. ↑ Hagerty, James R. (23 February 2018). "Don Carter, High-School Dropout, Brought NBA Basketball to Dallas Air Force vet joined his mother's home-décor firm and made a fortune". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  26. ↑ "Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center - Our History". marycrowley.org. Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  27. ↑ Peppard, Alan (7 December 2007). "Gov. Perry, meet Andrew Card". Dallas Morning News.
  28. ↑ "History of our Center". Mary Crowley Cancer Research. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  29. ↑ "Mary Crowley Named to DBU Ruth Award". Duncanville Suburban. April 16, 1986. p. A5 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  30. ↑ "Developing Servant Leaders. Transforming Lives". www.dbu.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  31. ↑ Crowley, Mary C (1980). You can too. Old Tappan, N.J.: F.H. Revell Co. ISBN 978-0-8007-5028-2. OCLC 5336891.
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