:00:07. > :00:14.Bobby Brown is an internationally renowned businesswoman and make-up
:00:15. > :00:25.artist began her career in New York. In those days, the Scandinavian look
:00:26. > :00:32.was in vogue. But she created looks for women of all shapes. She started
:00:33. > :00:37.with lipstick, and now, with a career of three decades, she has
:00:38. > :00:45.become synonymous with a clean and polished look loved by women all
:00:46. > :00:47.over the world. I talk to her about building a successful business and
:00:48. > :01:03.promoting inclusiveness in an exclusive industry.
:01:04. > :01:13.Welcome to the BBC's 100 Women Series. Growing up, you were
:01:14. > :01:19.inspired by your mother applying make-up. Has it's always been
:01:20. > :01:24.important to you? When I was a young child watching my mother doing that
:01:25. > :01:33.I was amazed how beautiful she looked. -- it. She was never overly
:01:34. > :01:36.made up, but she transformed into this incredibly beautiful creature.
:01:37. > :01:44.It was the seventies. It was a little bit about looking like Cher,
:01:45. > :01:49.you know, very sexy and Ricky. You started your career in 1980 when you
:01:50. > :01:57.moved here to become a make-up artist. -- pretty. When I moved to
:01:58. > :02:01.yield in the 80s I did not know anyone and didn't know what I was
:02:02. > :02:04.going to do. -- New York. I moved out and try to get a job as a
:02:05. > :02:11.waitress which I wasn't successful with. So I thought I should make it
:02:12. > :02:16.as a make-up artist. I didn't know what to do and had no idea. I didn't
:02:17. > :02:24.know anyone. So I opened the Yellow Pages and look up make-up and called
:02:25. > :02:29.modelling agencies and ask how I can start working. -- asked. I put
:02:30. > :02:34.together a portfolio and it took a few months to get a job with a
:02:35. > :02:39.magazine. Tell me about your company in the early days and what it is
:02:40. > :02:43.now. I had just had my first child when I started, I was living in the
:02:44. > :02:49.suburbs, outside the city, learning to be a mother and commuting. I was
:02:50. > :02:58.also a work of artists, doing shoes. -- work-up. It was me and my
:02:59. > :03:04.partner. I never thought what I was doing was wrong. It's just made
:03:05. > :03:08.sense to me. There were so many big companies out there that were my
:03:09. > :03:13.competition. -- It. I never thought of them as that. I had tunnel vision
:03:14. > :03:18.and was running as fast as I could. I was adding products as I could and
:03:19. > :03:23.was running home at night to take care of my children and see my
:03:24. > :03:28.husband and in the morning I would go back to work and either do a
:03:29. > :03:33.shoot or go back to my office. I never really looked at the
:03:34. > :03:38.competition because what I was creating was something that didn't
:03:39. > :03:41.exist. I really thought that my cosmetics were different than
:03:42. > :03:49.everything else out there. Now I know I was finding a niche. Tell us
:03:50. > :03:54.about your big break. Many of the things I was organically doing what
:03:55. > :03:58.me on the map. I was a make-up artist when I started the company.
:03:59. > :04:05.Traditionally, most people in cosmetics were very smart people
:04:06. > :04:09.with MBA, I did not have an MBA, but I worked with regular women. I was
:04:10. > :04:14.very lucky to have relationships with editors. They would write about
:04:15. > :04:23.my new company and how to put make-up on. So I became a teacher
:04:24. > :04:27.through the magazines. Now I know it is called PR. I was lucky enough to
:04:28. > :04:39.go on television to explain how the board make-up on. My products have
:04:40. > :04:47.also... -- how to put. I would tell them, put chocolate lions near I, I
:04:48. > :04:56.would explain to women how to do it in those terms. -- lines near your
:04:57. > :05:04.eye. I was on Oprah once. When she said I only use Bobby Brown
:05:05. > :05:10.foundation I completely sold out of it. Much of my success came from
:05:11. > :05:17.working with TV and magazines. You started your company with just
:05:18. > :05:24.$10,000. Did you ever think that Bobby Brown would be as big as it is
:05:25. > :05:29.today. -- Bobbi. If I had a crystal ball and had known I probably would
:05:30. > :05:36.not have done it. It would have been overwhelming. I never set out to be
:05:37. > :05:43.famous or a CEO, a CCO, of a humongous brand. I just set out to
:05:44. > :05:49.make women look beautiful, make make up easy to apply. You said that when
:05:50. > :05:57.you were a teenager you inspired to be tall, thin and blonde, like
:05:58. > :06:06.popular models of the time. Did you have any role models? Ali McGrath, I
:06:07. > :06:10.saw her in the movie Love Story. I did not look like any models at the
:06:11. > :06:15.time. She was brunette, had very strong eyebrows, very natural
:06:16. > :06:21.make-up, she was the most beautiful woman in the world to me. She was my
:06:22. > :06:29.role model. You said in the 80s that make up was about pale white skin
:06:30. > :06:34.and red lips. But you also say that you are somehow part of a revolution
:06:35. > :06:42.that looks at natural skin as more of a natural and healthy look. What
:06:43. > :06:47.made you go against the grain? When I started getting involved in
:06:48. > :06:53.make-up in the 80s it was so artificial. It's never looked
:06:54. > :06:59.right. I was never talented enough at the time to be able to paint and
:07:00. > :07:04.shade and contour a face. It made no sense to me to change the colour of
:07:05. > :07:09.someone's skin. I thought that the models looked so beautiful with no
:07:10. > :07:15.make up. So in trying to enhance their looks I found they were so
:07:16. > :07:20.much prettier. It was not a trend at the time, the opposite, but I always
:07:21. > :07:24.followed my gut and it made sense. Your involvement in this industry,
:07:25. > :07:31.obviously, one can imagine you hoped to revolutionise it to get more
:07:32. > :07:36.people like you. I like people with good energy. Sometimes in the
:07:37. > :07:42.creative field you get people who are pretty intense, have different
:07:43. > :07:50.personalities, I mean, I have worked with some of the top models, whether
:07:51. > :07:57.it is Naomi Campbell, so many people... UCI lots of differences
:07:58. > :08:04.and a lot of brilliant. -- You see a lot. It is great to be around that.
:08:05. > :08:08.-- brilliance. But when I go home I put my hair in a ponytail and put my
:08:09. > :08:13.sneakers on, and I can be the real Bobbi that I am with my family and
:08:14. > :08:18.friends. Seeing that the nice person you are I will take advantage of
:08:19. > :08:23.your kindness and ask for a makeover. I am looking forward to
:08:24. > :08:31.getting your magic hands on me. You always talk about intrusiveness and
:08:32. > :08:42.inclusiveness and you often used black models when many do not use
:08:43. > :08:49.then. -- inclusiveness. -- them. I never knew who would be sitting on
:08:50. > :08:56.my chest I had make-up for anyone. -- chair. But even from day one I
:08:57. > :09:03.wanted all women to have access. I didn't want anyone to go to a desk
:09:04. > :09:08.and hear that there is no foundation for them. So there is make-up for
:09:09. > :09:18.everyone. No matter what kind of make-up. So, with the darker skin
:09:19. > :09:28.tone, how dark aryou willing to go? Are foundation, called Ebony, is
:09:29. > :09:34.very dark. -- Our. It is the lowest selling foundation and many want to
:09:35. > :09:38.discontinue it but I never will. There are women who have that can
:09:39. > :09:43.colour. There is not another foundation in the world that
:09:44. > :09:49.matches. It is important to me. My lightest is called ZeroZero.
:09:50. > :09:54.Alabaster is the lightest colour and not many use it in the UK there are
:09:55. > :10:01.many with that colouring so I make sure we have a colour for ebony and
:10:02. > :10:05.alabaster. It is really important for me. You also say you don't want
:10:06. > :10:11.to change how women look. You want to enhance. Make them look better.
:10:12. > :10:15.You are part of an industry that objectified women. Does that not
:10:16. > :10:21.make you feel uncomfortable? I don't objectified them, I empower them.
:10:22. > :10:30.The better you feel the more you do with your life. If feeling better
:10:31. > :10:32.means putting on a blush, an eyeliner, I like to be a part of
:10:33. > :10:38.that. Confidence means everything to me. It means being comfortable in
:10:39. > :10:47.your skin, that is the secret of life. Tell me about Pretty Powerful.
:10:48. > :10:55.That is a campaign that is the keystone of our company. It is about
:10:56. > :11:00.how powerful you can be with the right make-up. It isn't about a
:11:01. > :11:03.woman with shoulder pads and a briefcase, it is about feeling good
:11:04. > :11:07.and doing anything you put your mind to. For some people it is a little
:11:08. > :11:12.bit of make-up, and others it is a lot. It is also a campaign that
:11:13. > :11:17.teaches women to be their best self and appreciate yourself without
:11:18. > :11:23.make-up and we also help women who are in need with different things,
:11:24. > :11:30.from either giving make-up to women in need, or, helping to educate
:11:31. > :11:38.women. It will be a global message for the brand for a long time. You
:11:39. > :11:40.also distribute make-up kits to women in need. We have a few
:11:41. > :11:45.partnerships globally with different organisations that help women who
:11:46. > :11:53.have gone through bad times and are able to use the make up to be
:11:54. > :12:05.better. Tell me about Les Murray. She is this incredible. --
:12:06. > :12:11.incredible girl. I wrote this book about her, you read it and then you
:12:12. > :12:18.realise... It couldn't even be fiction when you read it. The things
:12:19. > :12:24.that she went through and somehow ended up living on the street... And
:12:25. > :12:28.going and graduating from Harvard... What is amazing about
:12:29. > :12:32.her, she has no chip on her shoulder. She is not angry. She
:12:33. > :12:38.looks back on her incredible life with her parents who had many
:12:39. > :12:45.issues, drugs and addiction, and she feels loved. Her parents love her.
:12:46. > :12:53.She feels like. She is the most incredible role model... If I ever
:12:54. > :13:01.hear anyone complaining about their life I tell them to read this book.
:13:02. > :13:09.In some point of my life I became known as the wholeness to Harvard
:13:10. > :13:13.person. What caused that was a situation in my life where I came
:13:14. > :13:21.from a lot of adversity. My parents... I was raised in York
:13:22. > :13:27.city. People call it a ghetto. -- New York City. My parents had an
:13:28. > :13:35.intense drug addiction. It spills over into every aspect of our lives
:13:36. > :13:41.together and it's common -- culminated in me living homeless in
:13:42. > :13:50.the city and I had to find a way out. -- spilt. -- it. After having
:13:51. > :13:54.failed and dropped out and having nothing going with my education I
:13:55. > :14:01.decided to go back to school. I kept a secret from my teachers in high
:14:02. > :14:04.school that I was homeless. I was doing homework in the subway and
:14:05. > :14:10.sleeping on the street. Absolutely fixated on this idea of finding a
:14:11. > :14:17.way out and making a better life. I did not think I would get to
:14:18. > :14:22.Harvard. That came as a surprise. When I saw it was possible to change
:14:23. > :14:26.my life I knew I had a story to share with other people. I always
:14:27. > :14:36.kept journals and loved to write so I wrote a book and Mrs Brown said,
:14:37. > :14:44.you have quite a story, would you like to be in a book that is the
:14:45. > :14:52.keystone of our brand, Pretty Powerful. What was it like when you
:14:53. > :14:59.first met? Incredible. I was like the brown... I thought it was a
:15:00. > :15:04.different one. -- Bobby Brown. I thought, she wrote a book? In my
:15:05. > :15:10.survival I did not know much about her. It was incredible when I met
:15:11. > :15:18.her because, I mean, in my journey now I do a lot of beating. Islet to
:15:19. > :15:30.inspire people. You meet people who inspire. -- speaking. -- I look to.
:15:31. > :15:34.You come to see she made her success because of the person she is, not
:15:35. > :15:36.because of commerce and finance. She is a quality person who is
:15:37. > :15:50.incredibly kind of. See asked me to be in the book and
:15:51. > :15:54.they asked if it was OK if I was seven months pregnant. I came in and
:15:55. > :15:59.there she was and we ended up with all these cute belly shots and all
:16:00. > :16:03.these great pictures and it was only half-an-hour before she invited me
:16:04. > :16:07.to her house for Thanksgiving. I'm the godmother of your child. What
:16:08. > :16:15.can I do for you? I'm your new family. Bobbi Brown embraces people
:16:16. > :16:20.and makes them feel at home. I think that she is one of those rare people
:16:21. > :16:25.you meet when she always leaves you better than when you found her. The
:16:26. > :16:31.industry that you are so popular in is filled with many people who could
:16:32. > :16:34.be described as prima donnas, very difficult people to work with, and
:16:35. > :16:40.yet you are notably a very nice person, very patient, and you work
:16:41. > :16:44.with everyone. How do you manage? I have been really lucky in my life. I
:16:45. > :16:51.have had some really great role models. Whether it is my parents,
:16:52. > :16:55.grubbing up... I was raised in Chicago, in the middle of the
:16:56. > :17:00.country. I was raised to be a nice, respectful person. I watched my
:17:01. > :17:05.grandfather built his car business on his smart and respectful
:17:06. > :17:08.personality. And I was lucky enough when it came into the industry to
:17:09. > :17:13.work on some of the best of the business. Some of the top
:17:14. > :17:18.photographers, they are nice people. They are confident and they are
:17:19. > :17:21.nice. And I saw that when there are a lot of people who are not so nice,
:17:22. > :17:26.it really comes from being insecure. And the good news about
:17:27. > :17:31.seeing people who act like that when you don't want it like that, it is a
:17:32. > :17:36.great model of how not to be. I always believed that being nice and
:17:37. > :17:41.kind is a much better way of being. And by the way, I get exactly what I
:17:42. > :17:44.want with niceness. What has Bobbi Brown giving you that you are
:17:45. > :17:49.passing on to other people? Well, that is a great question. One of the
:17:50. > :17:55.main words that stands up to me with her is the word inclusive. I grew up
:17:56. > :17:59.with so much poverty. When you grew up with the kind of adversity that I
:18:00. > :18:04.grew up in... My parents are drug addicts and all of this struggle. I
:18:05. > :18:09.think you can feel separate from society. And here I am, coming into
:18:10. > :18:13.different environments that are new to me. From homeless to Harvard. I
:18:14. > :18:19.can carry a feeling of not belonging. And she brings a feeling
:18:20. > :18:23.of you actually do deserve a seat at the table. You are more than welcome
:18:24. > :18:29.here. And then also to really help me see that I'm contributing
:18:30. > :18:32.something. When I see Bobbi working with people, even if I see her
:18:33. > :18:37.walking around her studio and speaking to other people, she seems
:18:38. > :18:40.to find some small way to acknowledge what the person just
:18:41. > :18:44.did, leaves them more empowered and help you see the value you are
:18:45. > :18:49.bringing. It just makes you feel like, maybe I do belong here. It is
:18:50. > :18:52.understandable about the challenges that I have to. I don't mean to
:18:53. > :18:58.diminish that. There were days when I didn't eat. I was starving. Young
:18:59. > :19:03.people grow hungry in this world. I know that it is not easy. I know
:19:04. > :19:07.that we can get depressed. That is very real stuff. Those obstacles are
:19:08. > :19:13.not just because people are spoiled or something. That is real. I don't
:19:14. > :19:17.mean to diminish that. I only mean to say that if you are in a place in
:19:18. > :19:19.your life where you want to move forward, you will be best served by
:19:20. > :19:23.putting one foot in front of the other. There will always be
:19:24. > :19:27.something you can't do. When my mother died when I was 16 and I had
:19:28. > :19:31.to bury her and live on the streets, I could not bring her back. I did
:19:32. > :19:35.not even have a home for myself at the time. I did not know when my
:19:36. > :19:42.next meal was coming from. But I had to say, OK, what is the next thing I
:19:43. > :19:46.can do? And if I focus on what I can do, I can empower myself from there
:19:47. > :19:50.because that will give me pride. That responsibility it takes will
:19:51. > :19:57.give me pride. And I can move forward just for the possibility.
:19:58. > :20:02.And when you started out, your plan was to sell 100 lipsticks in a
:20:03. > :20:06.months but you were able to sell those in a day. Was that surprising
:20:07. > :20:10.for you? I knew that my lipsticks would have appealed to women I
:20:11. > :20:15.knew. I never understood what it was to have a business plan. We thought
:20:16. > :20:21.it would be amazing if we could sell 100 in the first months and we sold
:20:22. > :20:25.that in the first day. That was pretty exciting. But then what comes
:20:26. > :20:33.with that is the war is not enough lipstick at the end of the month. So
:20:34. > :20:45.it was pretty neat to start that we. -- start that way. How did you make
:20:46. > :20:47.this brand is so huge? I believe I started a revolution and that
:20:48. > :20:51.revolution was to tell women they are actually beautiful the way they
:20:52. > :20:56.are. And for the past 24 years, that is what I have been doing. I started
:20:57. > :21:01.creating lipstick that worked with the colour of women's lips and
:21:02. > :21:06.worked with their skintone. That was new. And when I started adding
:21:07. > :21:11.products, I used my vision, which was foundation that looks like skin,
:21:12. > :21:15.blush there is a national -- natural colour of a woman's cheek when you
:21:16. > :21:21.can jet, eyeshadow that works with your skintone. To me, it was not
:21:22. > :21:27.revolutionary, it was common sense. But I do think it is change the way
:21:28. > :21:32.women look and make up. And how do you inspire your staff? What
:21:33. > :21:35.inspires me more than anything is meeting women and I have been lucky
:21:36. > :21:40.enough to meet women globally from country to country, many in New
:21:41. > :21:44.York, many as I travel, and honestly, what inspires me is
:21:45. > :21:49.hearing their stories, from where they have come and where they want
:21:50. > :21:53.to go. They inspire me and I love being part of the inspiration for
:21:54. > :21:59.them. When you walk around the saloon, how do you feel? Honestly,
:22:00. > :22:03.I'm usually so busy I don't have time to look at the details, so when
:22:04. > :22:07.I'm finally here I look at the details and I notice the things that
:22:08. > :22:11.need to be fixed. That is just the way my eye operates. I never stop
:22:12. > :22:16.and think about the other things but sometimes I come in and I'm very
:22:17. > :22:20.pleased and I see how visually nice it looks. Other times I come in here
:22:21. > :22:28.and I say that I wish I would have done that or that doesn't extend --
:22:29. > :22:32.doesn't make sense. How does it feel letting go of a company that you
:22:33. > :22:38.describe of as your fourth child? I don't let go of anything. That is my
:22:39. > :22:42.problem. I don't let go and I'm more involved today than I think I was on
:22:43. > :22:45.the first day and I'm very involved. For me, it is about having a team
:22:46. > :22:50.that you inspire and that work together to create the company that
:22:51. > :22:56.you know it can be. And it is a challenge. I won't say it is not.
:22:57. > :23:00.When your company is that big, it is a challenge. And when I travel,
:23:01. > :23:06.often see things that I don't like to see. But sometimes I see things
:23:07. > :23:11.that I'm very surprised seeing. It is part of the business. Where do
:23:12. > :23:14.you see yourself in 20 years? In 20 years, I see myself with my
:23:15. > :23:17.grandchildren doing yoga in the morning and spending a couple of
:23:18. > :23:24.hours per day working with my team. And good luck with the rest of it.
:23:25. > :23:27.Thank you. 20 years goes so quickly. Thank you so much. My pleasure.
:23:28. > :23:50.Thank you again. Not quite as cold a start to the day
:23:51. > :23:56.as we had during yesterday but Tuesday will be a day of sunshine
:23:57. > :24:02.and blustery showers across the UK.