My sister, Dana, and I have always thought of our mom as phenomenal. She was outgoing, energetic and fun. The values of the ‘Golden Rule’, being fair, making everyone feel important and special, especially women, was balanced with direct no nonsense engagement in a professional way. Not everyone can pull that off, but mom sure did. Here’s a bit of this pioneer’s story as a little girl from Texas, whose dad was a sharecropper before marrying her mom and moving to Los Angeles, California.
Trula Mae Flowers Flanagan was the 5th child born from the 1935 union between Marcus Ross Flowers and Fannie Verdell Elnora Williams in Chenango Community outside of Houston, Texas. Trula was born on March 31, 1943, in Angleton, Texas. In 1946, at 3 years old, Trula moved with her family to Los Angeles, California. Trula played rough and tumble with her three older brothers, Cornell, Melvin and especially Lonnie. Trula was the eldest girl in her family and remained close to her sisters Joyce and Verna her entire life. Trula attended Russell Elementary School then Thomas Alva Edison Middle School, but John C. Fremont High School was where she excelled. Trula blossomed into “girlhood” as a cheerleader, Girls’ League, class president and second place winner of a citywide baking contest with a cherry pie. She lost her campaign for student body president, despite having boyfriend Detroit Flanagan as her campaign manager, using a slogan “Trula Flanagan - tiny, talented, petite personality, plus!” Nonetheless, she had cemented a lifelong partnership with her best friend, Detroit, in 1959 who later became her husband on September 1, 1963 when they married at Zion Hill Baptist Church when it was located at 51st and McKinley Avenue in Los Angeles. While Detroit attended Loyola University of Los Angeles (then an all mens’ university and presently Loyola Marymount University), Trula was attending Los Angeles City College studying business. Upon Detroit completing his math degree and ROTC commitment, the couple received their commission from the United States Air Force and were stationed at Lowry Airforce Base in Denver, Colorado in 1965. The couple then received orders to report to Glasgow Airforce Base in Glasgow, Montana. On January 25, 1966, daughter Cherice Monai Flanagan joined their family, and one year later, on February 8, 1967, the fearsome foursome was complete when a second daughter, Dana Lynn Flanagan, was born. Desiring to upgrade their living standard for the sake of their children, Trula accepted the Mary Kay Cosmetics opportunity to become a Beauty Consultant in May 1967 becoming the first African American beauty consultant in the company. Out of the gate, Trula was excelling in both sales and recruiting even though she had little to no experience wearing cosmetics!
In October 1967, Detroit brought Trula and the girls to live in Inglewood, California to be near family while he reported for duty in Tuy Hoa, Vietnam. With a toddler and a newborn, Trula continued to excel at sales and recruiting in Mary Kay. By 1970, Trula had earned a place in the top ten National Queens Court of Recruiting. That same year, she also made her debut as the first African American Sales Director in the company and the first Sales Director in the State of California. Thereafter, Detroit and Trula traveled up and down the State of California training new sales consultants and directors with an emphasis on how to mix shades for women of color. Her efforts resulted in Mary Kay creating darker cosmetic shades and literature for our people. Continuing her pioneering ways, she became the first Senior Director and Executive Senior Director. And notably, Trula was one of the first 100 Directors in Mary Kay. After enjoying much success with her home-based business, Trula and Detroit moved to Baldwin Vista on Aladdin Street in Los Angeles. There, while the girls attended school, Trula continued to win Mary Kay cars and excel in sales and recruiting. Additionally, Trula, an outstanding cook and baker, held many parties for her husband, an executive with Equitable Life Assurance Society, including her historical annual Eggnog sip and Christmas party. In 1990, when the couple moved to Don Diego in Baldwin Hills, Trula continued to run her business and entertain while working with the Girl Scouts at Zion Hill Baptist Church and being a fixture at Baldwin Hills Elementary School, and later Westlake School for Girls where both daughters attended. Trula could always be found on campus working on various committees and checking up to see that the girls were on task. Trula simultaneously delivered extreme care to both of her ailing parents, took her nieces to Rotary events, and appeared in support of many children all over Los Angeles whom she met randomly who played sports. While her girls attended UCLA, Trula called them each early on Saturday mornings asking what they wore to the parties the night before and which of their friends attended. She learned to play spades with Cherice and Dana’s UCLA friends who came to eat at her house – and she usually made her teammate lose by reneging during the game! Additionally, Trula and Detroit were die-hard LMU basketball season ticket holders for many years and their friendship with Detroit’s basketball teammates and classmates endure to this day.
A little over twenty years ago, when Trula was diagnosed with breast cancer, her long battle with cancer began. She went on to fight two additional cancers and, finally, the all too rare amyloidosis. In 2017, Trula moved with Detroit to Sacramento to be closer to her daughter, Dana. Trula lost her cancer battle on August 27, 2021, in Sacramento, California.
Although she is no longer on this earth, her impact and presence are felt all over the world. The Mary Kay Cosmetics Company is now an international company that is in over 40 countries and has about 3.5 million beauty consultants worldwide based on the Mary Kay site Around the World - Mary Kay | Official Site. Our mom, Trula Mae Flowers Flanagan, is greatly missed, but her love and service to all as a pioneer and phenomenal woman are ever present.
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~Cherice Taylor, Contributing Writer