Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- LaMaudia Bentley has a home-based business featuring Mary Kay she’d like to tell you about. But, first, Ms. Bentley made sure other business owners were featured first. In a Facebook post that went “Park Forest-viral,” Ms. Bentley invited small-business owners to share the URLs for their websites, and almost 50 did. Because of Ms. Bentley’s generosity and thoughtfulness in working to highlight other Park Forest businesses, we decided to launch a small business series at ENEWSPF. Our goal is to interview every small business owner in town — and there are a lot of us.
In every article moving forward, we will thank and credit Ms. Bentley with the idea for this series.
And thank you for reading and keeping your business local.
Please explore the world of Mary Kay with LaMaudia Bentley at marykay.com/bentley02 and/or call her 410-262-6399.
Here is our interview, the first in this series, beginning with the video of our exchange on Zoom.
Reach out and thank her!
ENEWSPF: Hi, this is Gary Kopycinski for eNews Park Forest, coming to you from Park Forest. And from Park Forest, this is LaMaudia Bentley, who has a Mary Kay business in town and invited her to come on board and talk about what she does and how you might be able to get in touch with her to buy some things.
LaMaudia: Oh, hi, Gary, thank you so much for inviting me. Yes, my name is LaMaudia Bentley. I am in Park Forest. So, my ‘I story’, as we call it, on how I came back into Mary Kay. So I’m a retired veteran from the army of over 20 plus years, and I decided to reside here. So when I decided to retire, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. And most definitely, like all veterans, you are so nervous, trying to figure out what’s next. And you know, God just reassured me that everything would be okay and that He would take care of me and my son. I have a seven-year-old son. And He did exactly that.
I actually homeschool my son, as well as my Mary Kay business. This business allows me to homeschool, work it when I’m available, and be surrounded by some awesome, uplifting, encouraging women. Regardless of where you’re at, the women are always there to cheer you on and to encourage you to go to the next step in your business. So, you’re able to grow your business when you want to. So whenever you want that next promotion, you can take your business to the next level. If you have a lot going on in your life and you need to slow down, most definitely, you can do that as well.
I have something to show. It’s a get set for your business. And it basically shows a lot of different projects… I’m sorry, products. As far as that I have for sale. It’s not the only thing. As well as, they give you in Mary Kay… they give you a whole plan on Steps to Success. You can drive a vehicle for free, and have your insurance paid, 85% of that, by Mary Kay. You get commission checks based upon your recruits. It is not a step plan where you withdraw money from someone else. All of the funds come directly from Mary Kay. And I absolutely… if I haven’t said this already, love the company because Mary Kay was about… she said, “God first, then family, and then your career.”
And I haven’t had too many opportunities and careers where it states God first, family, and then career. And since, you know, being retired, I have the ability to spend more time with my parents. Again, with my son, I’m all about family, and my aunts, uncles, just family in general. I have that opportunity in order to do that.
And how I met you is a post, you know, I truly believe in supporting one another. So I wanted to put it out there for all of us to support one another, for small businesses. Small business is where everything starts. That’s where your community will thrive. If we can all support one another in our businesses, just imagine where we would be. I would say a lot of love, a lot of laughter, and a lot of enjoyment. Absolutely.
ENEWSPF: I think we definitely have common ground there. I appreciated yesterday, your post on Facebook, where you invited other business owners from Park Forest to post URLs for their businesses and information. And I think your generosity and gratitude that you shared with that is one of the reasons, probably the main reason, I decided that I would reach out and offer whatever we can to local businesses. It is important for Park Forest businesses to support each other. I think we’re in a unique position that most of us operate from home.
LaMaudia: This is true. And so, you know, again, another reason I decided to go back to Mary Kay is, when everything was virtual, you can conduct your business from your home. And just like you and I are on Zoom, that’s how you do your facials, your skincare classes, your pajammie jams, if you want to do it in pajamas, but most importantly, to have fun, because we need that outlet right now. And we need a lot of cheer. And just being able to have fun speaks volumes right now. And you know what’s interesting is, so, I’m a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and I’m a member of the JASSAC chapter (the Joliet Area/South Suburban Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.), here in Matteson, and we just had a party. Well, it’s not really a party, it was called JASSAC Pop-Up, where we sold items to other sorority members via Zoom.
And it was amazing, you know, again, to be able to share and support one another. And I’m always a person, a giving person, always willing to help. And it’s just nothing like it and you get your reward by giving and that’s me. And my son, he’s just like that as well. And it just truly warms my heart when I see it. So, I think, again, if we can all support, help one another in times of need, things will be a lot better.
ENEWSPF: Well, I’m glad to hear that you were able to find Mary Kay; that you and Mary Kay were able to find each other. And what can people do to find you?
LaMaudia: So my contact information is LaMaudia Bentley, again, I’m located here in Park Forest. My website is marykay.com/bentley02. Again, that’s marykay.com/bentley02. As well as my phone number is 410-262-6399. But most definitely, reach out on the website and make contact with me, absolutely.
ENEWSPF: Is there anything else you would like to tell residents of Park Forest?
LaMaudia: What I would like to say to other Park Forest members as if we can all support one another, and spread love. And before replying, or being quick to decide to say something negative, pause for a second and think of something positive to say, and share with one another. This is in a time when everyone is hurting, and sometimes, when you’re hurting, and you don’t know what to say, probably the best thing to say is nothing and maybe put a smile on your face; because that’s something that we all need right now. Share love, not hate. It doesn’t matter the color of your pigmentation. Why? Because God loves us all. And He tells us to be like Him. So that’s the best thing that we can do.
ENEWSPF: Ms. Bentley, thank you so much, and good luck with your business. I look forward to hearing more and I’m honored that you were the first.
LaMaudia: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you for inviting me.
ENEWSPF: Thank you.