WEBVTT - Bobbi Brown 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:04.560 I think it's fair to say that I'm not an 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:07.320 expert on beauty or cosmetics, but I had a chance 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:09.560 racing to sit down with somebody who is an expert, 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.640 Bobby Brown. She launched an iconic company, Bobby Brown Cosmetics, 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:15.880 a number of years ago, and in twenty twenty, she 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:20.040 launched another company called Jones Road Beauty. I had a 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:21.959 chance to sit down with her recently to talk about 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:24.080 all of this and learned a lot more about beauty 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.200 than I knew before. Or let's talk about the cosmetics world, 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.160 which is not a world that I'm that familiar with. 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.960 When you built your initial company, it was, you know, 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:34.400 a gigantic success. 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:36.560 What was it like starting all over again? 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:38.760 One day You're in a big company, when a big parent, 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:40.240 and then you have to start all over again. 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:43.400 You know, it was really exciting and invigorating. 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.680 I felt like a young kid again when I started 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:49.360 Jones Road, and right before we launched, I definitely had 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.320 a sudden, like you know, like emotion of saying. 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.000 Uh, oh, what if I'm a one hit wonder. 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.560 I was a little scared, but then I just threw 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.200 it up into the wind and went for it. 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.560 Well, I can understand why you would have called your 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.720 first company Bobby Brown since that's your name, but Jones Road. 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:07.959 Where'd that name come from? 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:08.440 Well? 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.000 I sold the rights to Bobby Brown to Sdi Lauer 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.000 when we sold the company, so I couldn't use it again. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.640 And why would I want to do something that I've 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:20.800 done before. So we needed a name because I wanted 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.880 to launch Jones Road the day my twenty five year 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.000 non compete was up. It was in twenty twenty, a 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:31.000 week before the presidential elections, and so I needed a 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.959 name and I didn't have one. And I was driving 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.600 to the Hamptons with my husband. My head was down 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.399 on ways and I looked down. I saw Jones Road 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.720 and he said. I said, Jones Road, Beauty. He said, 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.160 I like it, And that's how it became Jones Road. 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.480 Now, in my business, sometimes I'm familiar with non competes, 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:49.800 but I've never really heard of a twenty five year 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:50.440 non compete. 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:51.960 That's unusually long, isn't it. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:52.200 Uh? 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.120 You know, I didn't know because when we sold the 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.120 company and my husband said, the deal is done, However, 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:59.640 they want you to sign a twenty five year non compete. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:01.760 I was around thirty four years old. 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:04.560 And I had never heard of a noncompete, let alone 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:08.079 thought about a twenty five year one. But I thought 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.720 to myself, well, it's not a problem because I'm not 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:12.400 going to want to work when I'm in my sixties. 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.200 So in the cosmetics world, the giants over the years 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.440 have been Helena Rubinstein not related to. 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.120 It, right, Let's see Elizabeth Arden. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:28.080 Elizabeth Arden, Charles Revsen, Max Factor, let's see who else, 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.640 Stay Lauder. And these were people that all invented something 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:34.040 novel all the time. Yes, and in your case, you 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.120 kind of invented what would you say? 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:42.040 I revolutionized natural looking makeup because it was not popular 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.000 at all. You know where foundations used to be white 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.560 and then painted in you know, cheek bones and all. 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:49.560 This artificial color. 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:51.880 Women looked better when they came in with no makeup 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:54.720 than after they had like a full on makeover. So 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.880 I started making products that were easy to apply and 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.480 just made you look better, like it was not complicated 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:02.760 to me. 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:05.960 Well, let's talk about why people put makeup on. 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:11.080 I personally believe that women wear makeup to feel better. 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.359 However you choose to wear your makeup, there's many different styles. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.160 I think it is such an amazing thing to be 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.720 able to make yourself look and feel better. So for me, 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:22.880 it's the way you feel even more than the way 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.120 you look, if that makes sense. I like a more 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:28.519 natural makeup. There are plenty of makeup brands that cater 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:32.080 to women that like a very strong aesthetic that's just 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:33.359 not me or Jones Road. 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:35.200 So it really does depend. 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.360 What age do you think girls or young women should 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:41.240 put makeup on. I have a young granddaughter seven. At 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.400 what age is she going to come and say she 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:44.120 needs makeup? 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:44.600 Well? 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.720 I think that young girls are always love watching their 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:49.720 moms put makeup on. They love the colors. I have 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.080 a three year old granddaughter, Lily is quite good with 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.840 the lip gloss and puts my miracle bomb on my cheek. 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.920 Does she wear at a school. No, but it's you know, 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:01.960 it's going to be in her blood, so I don't 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:06.120 think it's ever a big deal. However, I've written two 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.080 books about teenage girls, and the only time I ever 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:12.320 tell you know, mothers to really pay attention if your 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.720 kids are doing things like putting black lipstick on and 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.200 looking you know, goth, you might want to just you know, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:21.279 stop for a minute and check and say you know, 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:22.599 are they okay? 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.080 So who is the biggest customer for makeup? Is it 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.000 women who are let's say, in their teenage years, women 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:31.760 in their twenties, their thirties, the forties, the fifties. What 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.640 age group is the biggest customer for cosmetics? 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:39.000 Well, I think any woman is a customer for cosmetics 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:43.920 of any age. Jones wrote, our target audiences thirty, you know, 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.560 just in the sixties and some seventies. But I think 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.960 it is definitely, you know, changing now the big thing 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:52.880 are is makeup for young girls. 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:54.719 I don't understand. 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.520 I don't think seven and eight and nine year old 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.120 girls should worry about what's in. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:01.279 Their skincare products. 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:04.080 But there's so much on social media now that it's 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:05.159 becoming a thing. 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:06.800 Let's talk about social media. 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.600 Some people say that influencers on social media are driving 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:12.599 people to buy the beauty products. 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:13.120 Is that true? 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:14.440 One hundred percent true? 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:17.080 But you know the great thing about social media, it's 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:21.960 a freeway to market your products. We're back in the day, 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.720 you know, you had to spend a ton of money 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.240 and do advertising. In this new world, it's much easier 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:29.520 to get your messages out there. 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.480 I wanted to share my three favorite products. 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:34.559 It's hard to choose. It's like which of my kids 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:36.520 do I like best? It depends what day it is. 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.960 Cosmetics and beauty products are sold today. Is it mostly 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.520 online through Amazon or is it that big retailers like Walmart. 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:49.159 I mean, there's definitely different distributions. My first brand was 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.120 in higher end stores. We launched in Bergdorf. Then we 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.880 were in sacks and Bendels, and by the time I 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.680 left the company, we had just started opening Macy's doors. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:02.600 And that's how businesses grow is distribution. Jones Road has 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:06.560 been following a different playbook. We are direct to consumer. 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.000 Probably eighty five percent of our business is direct to 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.880 consumers through our own site, just online, and now we 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:19.640 have ten or eleven retail stores. We're in one account 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:21.800 department store, Liberty and London. 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.520 Well, some people say that the price of cosmetics and 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.360 makeup and beauty care products is relatively high because the 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.560 cost of packaging and the cost of advertising. Is that 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.440 a big factor in the pricing of your products? 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:39.040 Not my products, not our products? That is a big factor, 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:39.720 you know. 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:42.839 I come from a brand that spent a lot of 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:47.800 money on packaging and marketing, and teams Jones Road is 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.159 a different playbook. We spend money on marketing, but we 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.920 don't spend a ton of money on our packaging. Our 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.800 formula is our top notch, but our packaging is more 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.160 simple so we can keep the cost down. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.200 What are your products made. 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.920 They're mostly made in the US, A lot of them 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:08.039 in New Jersey. They the pencils, like all cosmetics, pencils 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.560 are made in Germany. Our brushes are made in Italy. 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:17.920 You know, our packaging comes from Asia, not China. Mostly 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.520 it comes from Taiwan and other places. 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.000 So let's talk about for a moment the business of cosmetics. 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:26.480 Generally. 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:30.040 It's a business that's now really largely controlled by large 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.520 public corporations. I mean, your company's not public yet, but 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.800 is it mostly the large companies that are doing the 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:38.800 business of selling these products. 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.480 It's definitely mostly large companies. And you know, most founders 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:47.000 start these businesses for one reason to sell I mean 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.840 Jones Road, I mean, I never thought about selling Bobby 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:53.000 Brown cosmetics until we got you know, Leonard, we had 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.200 other people call. It was never in my mind that 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.480 that is something you would do. And so now I know, 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:04.320 evench someone the right person will come and honestly, it's like, 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.640 this is my passion and it's what I do. 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:08.640 So the trick and makeup is to look like you 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:09.880 don't have a lot of makeups. 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.240 Yes, what is the no makeup makeup? Look? 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.559 Well, it's choosing colors that work with your skin tone, 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.440 that don't make you too pale and don't make you 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.600 too bright. And if you are someone that is going 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.720 to wear a little bit of powder on camera, I 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.600 would probably just give you a. 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:28.400 Little bit and you're not going to look like you're 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.200 wearing it. And by the way, it's not supposed to 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.320 feel like you're wearing it. Who like, look, look at 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:33.960 how good you look? 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:35.480 So people are going to come up to me in 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:37.160 the next couple of minutes and say, wow, you look 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:37.600 so great. 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:39.760 Have you been on a vacation? Then I've done my. 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:41.800 Job, So what am I looking at here? 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.240 This is the famous product that started all this is 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:48.319 called Miracle Balm. And what you do it's a skincare 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.800 and makeup in one And what it is is you 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.600 dip your finger in it, You take it like this, 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:56.880 pat it on your cheeks. It gives you color, it 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.560 gives you a glow, use it on your neck, you 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.080 can even use it on your body. Comes in all colors, 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:06.040 and this is a miracle to most women because it 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.760 adds moisture and color to the skin. 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:11.360 When there's new product, do you have to look at 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:13.520 every new product and approve it before it goes out. 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.840 I don't want to call myself a micromanager, but I 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.760 date the product, I work with the team, I approve, 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:22.280 and then I am the one you know a year 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.040 later that says, uh oh, something shifted, what happened? 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:27.679 So yes, I am. I am very involved. 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:29.880 Let's talk about how you got into this business. So 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:30.520 were you. 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:32.880 Born Chicago, Suburbs of Chicago? 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:33.960 And what did your parents do? 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.240 They were twenty and twenty one when I was born. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:37.320 My dad a lawyer. 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.079 My mom was always a homemaker, and by the time 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.400 they were twenty five, there were three of us that 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.160 lived in the house, you know, three three. 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.560 Kids, Okay, And so where'd you go to school? 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.000 I went to Nutrier High School, big high school in 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.880 the suburbs High Schoolka, Illinois, right Winetka and we'll met. 0:09:56.480 --> 0:10:00.199 And really, what I think really taught me a lot 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.920 about life was being around my grandparents. Papa Sam, who 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.960 came from the Ukraine who came here not knowing anyone. 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.880 And by the time he was, you know, in his 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:14.680 elder years, he was very known in Chicago as Cadillac Sam. 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.360 He sold cars to all the big guys and some 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:22.320 of the gangsters, mayer Lanski, al Capone and work was 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.120 everything to Papa, followed by his family. 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.040 And so that's really what raised me. 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:32.560 So you graduated from Neutrier High School, then what'd you do? 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.920 I graduated six months early to follow a boyfriend went 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:39.400 to University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh because there was no 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.800 way I was getting into University University Wisconsin in Madison. 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:43.840 I didn't have the grades. 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.160 I was there six months and then transferred to University 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.640 of Arizona with all of my friends from high school 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.880 because school for me was about fun and not about 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.160 what I was going to learn. And at the end 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.400 of the year I told my mom I was going 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.200 to drop out, and she said, you can. 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.840 You have to go to college. She never did. Mom, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:04.600 it's so boring, and. 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.440 She said, forget about anything, forget what you want to do. 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:09.839 If today's your birthday, you could do anything you want 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.120 to do. What would you want to do? And I said, 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.000 I don't know, maybe go to Marshall Fields and play 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.199 with makeup. She said, that's it. Why don't you be 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.319 a makeup artist? I said, I don't want to go 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:22.640 to beauty school. She said, I'm sure there's a college somewhere. 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:25.439 And through a friend of my dad's, I found Emerson 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:28.400 College in Boston, and they let me design my own 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:29.240 major and makeup. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.000 It's Emerson Emerson, all. 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.720 Right, And so you majored in theatrical makeup. 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:35.120 Right with a minor in photography. 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:36.600 That's a very unusual combination. 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:39.120 Uh, it was my two things I liked, all right. 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:41.840 So then you graduated? Yes, and then would you do? 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:43.319 So I got a waitressing job. 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:46.800 I lied to get the job because I had no experience. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.280 And I did that for a year, and then I 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.800 moved to New York. I didn't know anyone. I opened 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.040 up the Yellow Pages and looked up makeup models and 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.760 I just started cold calling people, and somehow I figured 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.160 out how to put a portfolio together, and I started 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:07.400 working as a freelance makeup artist. Really, the main thing 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:09.959 I wanted was to be in fashion, so I did 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.920 a lot of fashion shows. I eventually you did all 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.960 the magazines I got a Vogue cover. You know, I 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.480 started to get a name for myself and then lo 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.960 and behold. While I was working, I also somehow was 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.199 a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey to go on there 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:30.959 and do makeup, and I became a regular on the. 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.520 Today Show talking about makeup. 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.440 Talking about makeup, which I did for fourteen years. Never 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.680 once talked about my products or my brand. I was 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:40.360 the expert. 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.040 When did you start Bobby Brown Cosmetics? 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:49.480 Started Bobby Brown Cosmetics when I married my husband and 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.600 we moved to Montclair, New Jersey, because I didn't want 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.280 to be in New York City. And then I just 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.000 had this idea I didn't want to travel anymore for work, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.680 because being a freelance makeup artist, you're always on a 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.360 plane going some exotic place. And I just said, you know, 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.439 why don't I know, think of something else. I met 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.680 a chemist at a shoot and told him how much 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:16.200 I hated lipstick that was in the market and what 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:17.760 I was looking for, and he said, I can make 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:18.120 it for you. 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:20.360 So he did. He made me a. 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:24.280 Lipstick and I thought, wow, this is like amazing. I 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.400 bet I could sell it to my friends, to models, 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:29.360 and I started doing that. 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.319 So you ultimately started a company which had ten different 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:34.719 shades from lipstick right M. 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.520 And I sold him out of my house and my 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.000 husband would mail them. They didn't even have a box. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.000 They were in an envelope, so they were, you know, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.640 very indeed. We put the ingredients on a card and 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:50.760 started shipping them. And then one day we were at 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.960 a party and I said, you know, thanked the hostess 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.080 for inviting us. I had never met her before, and 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:58.880 she said she was a fan of mine. I'm like, oh, 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.160 you know who I am. That's so nice. I said, 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.040 what do you do? She said, oh, I'm a cosmetics buyer, 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:08.280 a Birgdorf Goodman. I said, oh, I sell these cosmetics 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.959 out of my house. And she agreed to take them 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.040 and sell them at Burgdorf. 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.560 And the venture capitalist didn't come along and said we'd 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:18.080 like a piece of your company and we'll give you 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:19.120 some money, or did you just. 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.160 And you know what, we totally financed it ourselves. 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.600 And you know, I didn't know those people back then. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.920 We had people reach out to us, you know, when 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.800 our business started to grow that wanted to buy us. 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:34.880 We weren't for sale until we got a call from 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.960 Leonard latter because I fell madly in love. 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:40.040 You know, at first sight I. 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.640 Did know Leonard a very impressive person. So he convinced 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.680 you to sell the company, right. 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:46.960 I think we were maybe four and a half years 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:49.240 in business when we sold the company to Leonard. 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:51.720 And so when you did that, you kept the name 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.040 Bobby Brown Cosmetics or did you say. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.240 Well, they bought it. I mean it was called Bobby 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:57.000 Brown Cosmetic. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.680 It was, but it was still called that Bobby Brown Cosmetics. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:01.360 To say with stay law. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:03.920 Now we were the second brand they bought that they 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:09.600 didn't make internally. And Leonard's thing was to run everything independently. 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.880 Everything about Leonard was supporting the founder, supporting the integrity 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.840 of the brand. When we first joined S. D. Lauder, 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.240 I'll never forget, they wanted our lipsticks to be made 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.920 in their lab, and so it was, you know, we 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.520 started the project and it was terrible. I couldn't recreate 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.680 them properly. And finally Leonard got involved. He said, absolutely 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:33.440 not if you you know, if you do not, if 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.120 you change them, women are going to know. So note 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:38.760 we will work with the lab that makes your lipsticks. 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.200 Well, Bobby Brown Cosmetics, did they sell in the same 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.240 place at Stay later would sell, which is the big 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:45.040 department source. 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.520 Well, when Leonard approached me, we were the number one 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.720 line in Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf. So we were beating 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:55.080 STI Latter's in the store and we did not even 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:56.160 have a full line. 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.040 It was it was really a phenomenon. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.440 So as you worked through Stay Lawder for some twenty 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.320 plus years, yeah, you were building the brand, building the brand. 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.720 And now when you left Stay Lauder, you decided to 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:10.160 start a new company, right. 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:14.560 Right, I left s D Latter? Did I quit or 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:16.720 get fired? To me, I got fired? 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:18.840 So why would they fire you? 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.160 Because there was a lot of angst in the year 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.800 or so before I left, And it's all in my 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:28.640 biography so or in my memoir, so it's all out there. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:29.800 It was tough. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.960 I mean, Leonard wasn't as involved, and when you know, 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.960 in the company and there was a new you know 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.080 CEO and a new you know, a lot of new 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.240 things were happening, and it was not a good time 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:42.680 at all. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.640 And so it was it was. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.760 It was honestly, really tough, and it's the best thing 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:49.160 that ever happened to me getting fired. 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:50.080 If you want to know the truth. 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.240 Okay, So because now you can start your own company 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.640 once to noncompete, right, yes, but why not say, look, 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.040 I already conquered the cosmetics world once. 0:16:58.080 --> 0:16:59.400 Why do I have to do it a second time? 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.160 Why I wasn't planning on doing it? Like I didn't 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:03.480 you know when it first happened. 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:03.960 I know. 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.120 It was twenty two years of having a full calendar, 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:10.919 full schedule. Cars follow me around, pr people you know 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.840 with clipboards, follow me around, and all of a sudden 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:15.800 it was gone. I didn't know what it was going 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:17.119 to do, and I didn't think I was going to 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.160 start another cosmetics company. 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.720 If you could give advice to the twenty five year 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.000 old Bobby Brown, what would the advice be? You wish 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:28.680 you had known then something you know now. 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.480 She wouldn't have listened, but I would have told her 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.480 to chill and relax. It's all going to be fine. 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.520 When you have successful companies, you obviously get some money, 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.120 and you can have money you can give it away. 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.680 And are there particular philanthropies or charitable things that you're 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:43.400 engaged with. 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.600 Well, we have an organization in our hometown called reaching 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:50.560 Out Montclair, our affluent town is not just an affluent town. 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:52.080 So that's like something. 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.159 And you know, my husband and I have given to 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.720 all of our colleges. You know, there's a Bobby Brown, 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:00.800 Stephen Ploffker, Jym at Emerson. We have something at and 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:06.560 at Harvard, and you know, different times we have different philanthropic. 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:08.800 So you ever go back to Emerson and say, see 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.159 what you get did for me? I graduated created this 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.240 big business. Are you very famous graduate? I guess you 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.159 were one of the more famous graduates. 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:16.240 You know. 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.200 I actually I do go back and I just went 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.680 back for a talk when my memoir when I did 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:26.040 the Boston the Boston Talk, and it was really we 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.040 did it in the in the gym, so it was 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:28.840 really nice. 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.240 People go into a free standing store to buy cosmetics 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:33.359