Tuesday, October 7, 2025

I’ve always admired women who build something of their own from the ground up. Bobbi Brown is one of those women. She started as a makeup artist in New York City in the 1980s, long before the natural look was trendy. From her house in Montclair, New Jersey, she sold her own line of lipsticks, and eventually built a global brand that reshaped the beauty industry.

If for some reason you aren’t familiar, Bobbi sold her original cosmetics company, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, to Estée Lauder in 1995 for a reported $74.5 million.

What strikes me most about her story isn’t just the success. It’s the perseverance. After two decades of growing her namesake company under a major conglomerate, she left under circumstances that weren’t ideal. Because of a non-compete agreement, she had to step away from the industry entirely for four additional years. Most people might have seen that as a stopping point. Not her.

At 68, Bobbi is back, leading a new company, Jones Road, and sharing her story in a memoir that speaks to resilience and reinvention. What I love about her journey is how it underscores a truth we all face: fear is part of the process, but so is the choice to move forward anyway. She shows that even after setbacks (or years of waiting) you can chart a new course and thrive.

For women in leadership, or anyone building their own path, the lesson is clear. Perseverance isn’t just about sticking with what’s comfortable. It’s about facing uncertainty, being willing to fail, and daring to begin again, even when the odds feel stacked against you. Courage is rarely a lightning bolt moment; it’s a series of small decisions to keep going, to keep trying, and to trust that the next chapter can be your best one yet.

Bobbi Brown reminds us that reinvention doesn’t have an age limit. Leadership isn’t always about authority; it’s about resilience, vision, and the bravery to do it anyway. And sometimes, it’s about building something new just when the world might expect you to slow down, or go away.

Until Next Time,

Mary Schuster
Chief Knowledge Officer
October Research, LLC