It didn't realize that what I was doing actually changed the face of makeup and
the course of the beauty industry. And that's pretty cool to look back, you know,
and think that and, you know, if I ever get back into the beauty industry I plan
on doing it again. In a very different way.
I've been in love with makeup since I was a little kid.
I used to watch my mom do her makeup and I used to actually
do makeup on myself when I was in high school and I never wanted anyone to know
is wearing makeup. I just wanted to look prettier. So like that's how I started
and after two different colleges and telling my mom I wanted to drop out, she
basically said to me what would I want to do if it was my birthday? I could do
anything I wanted. And all I could think of was go to Marshall Fields and play
with makeup. She said why don't you go to college and
study makeup. There was not a program but I found Emerson College and I studied theatrical makeup.
I created my own degree which now they're calling "entrepreneurial."
The secret sauce is just knowing what you love, taking chances and
I love doing things that I don't know anything about. But just doing it something different.
Moved to New York and I opened up the Yellow Pages and started calling modeling agencies and
photographers and just showed my book and eventually someone took a chance and hired me.
And I fell in love with fashion.
So I started working as a makeup artist for photographers and models on fashion shows, magazines.
It was the 80s and the makeup was white, skin red lips, contoured cheeks and I just didn't think it was pretty.
I'd always have to mix all my makeup in my kit when I would be on shoots because you couldn't buy makeup
that looked natural. One day I met a chemist and I told him
about this idea I had to make a lipstick that was the color of my lips. And that
was the start of it. It was really radical and a very famous makeup artist
said to me, "this makeup isn't going to work. If you really want to stay in the
industry, you better stop doing the natural, healthy makeup" but he was wrong.
So from that first lipstick I decided I really needed 10 and I don't know why.
I picked 10. But I started to kind of think about all the different women I
knew and from different countries you know models babysitter's friends. And
I had looked at everyone's lips and I made a collection. And I started selling
them out of my house to friends, to models. I just so happened to meet this
nice woman and I asked her what she did and she told me she was a cosmetics
buyer for Berdorf Goodman. I told her about my new idea for a line and she said "Alright. Let's take it."
One of the many reasons we sold was we knew that with our lack of experience,
you know, we- to align with partners that knew how to grow a cosmetics business
you know, the things we don't know was you know was everything. That was a
certainly one of those moments where you realize "oh my god
I did this." But I'm also the kind of person. I never I never rest on my
laurels and I never stop and think "wow this is so cool." I'm always on to the
next. So my job was to figure out how can I keep the company exactly how I wanted it.
Even after someone else bought it. I'd go to work thinking it's mine. So that's
why I stayed so long. That's why I was probably difficult because I cared about
every little detail. Things that probably big corporations don't care about. I
cared about the people. I cared about you know every little detail. I do what I'm
really good at and one of the things for me as a business woman I know what I'm
not good at. But I'd like to have people around me that are. It's making your own rules.
So making your own rules. Is just doing what you think is right and trying
to do things different and being it that's what being an entrepreneur is,
reinventing.
Mickey Drexler was probably is probably the guy that taught me the most. Because
I think I struggled a little bit when I was you know part of a corporation if I
should act a certain way, you know, do I act this way? Or do I act myself? And
Mickey kind of gave me permission to be myself. I always really believed that
it's about being who you are. But making yourself not even better but just being your best self.
Now I look back and I call him the "magic years" and the people that worked with me
we were a family. It was it was like nothing you've ever seen. But towards the
end I would say the last, you know, two to four years were pretty rough but I think
the last year was was really tough. And that's when you know I had an
idea of what I thought company the direction that should go in and some
other people had other thoughts. And it was time for me to leave because I just
don't want to fight anymore and you know what I knew that I wanted to be the boss
again. And I wanted to do something completely different. And be in the new
world because there's a whole new world happening in retail. Let me just say I'm
very happy that we sold the company and I'm happy that we sold the name. You know,
is it weird that I walk around and people still stop me and tell me you
know different things and I always have to say I'm no longer with the company?
It's a little weird but many founders have left companies with their names and,
you know, it's just the way it is. I'm still Bobby Brown. It's my name. I can't
help it. Most of the time when I think something's gonna work, it does. If I
don't know it's not gonna work, I might change direction. So whatever I'm doing
at the time, I feel confident that what I'm doing is right. But if it's not
working I might be shifting a little bit to do something different. You know, it's
easy to say I probably should have left a couple years before I did but you know
then I think about all the great things that I did the last year or two that
were you know that were worth it. So no I have no regrets and all the tough times
now I could look back and say "if I didn't go through that I wouldn't be Who
I am today." Which is exciting about starting a new company knowing
everything I know from before.