“I clearly imagined my success and turned it into reality”. Business rules of the founder of the cosmetics business empire Estee Lauder
Photo: styleinsider.com.ua
Bottles, bubbles, a saucepan for cooking sausages, experimental recipes for creams hastily written on a napkin – it is how the cosmetics empire of Estee Lauder, a business woman who made billions of dollars, began. According to Time magazine, she was included in the list of people who defined the face of the 20th century. And she was not only the first woman on this list, but also the only one in her field in nomination of the BUILDERS & TITANS.
FREE LADY CREAM
Laughing woman Estee Lauder could be called an obsessive person, but her charm opened every doors in front of her. It was so in that barber shop on the outskirts of New York. The impudent girl opened the door to the salon boldly and asked to call the manager from the doorway. He was not there.
“Hmm, it’s strange…” Estee drawled in disappointment. “We agreed with him to try my new cream for today!” The young hairdresser just threw up her hands. Perhaps there was some kind of mistake. She could not even imagine that Estee Lauder was going all-in.
Estee knew very well that the manager was not at work on Thursdays. Wasting no time, she persuaded a barber to try her super expensive and super effective cream for ladies on one of the clients. Of course, today it is absolutely free, in honor of the acquaintance. Needless to say, clients lined up to apply a pleasantly scented rose and lavender emulsion to their skin? And most importantly – absolutely free.
The next day they brought their girlfriends to the hairdresser’s. Information about the miracle cream spread like wildfire. And now the manager of the hairdresser had to look for Estee Lauder, so that she kindly agreed to supply them with her beautiful cream. Of course, the young girl began to cooperate with a whole network of hairdressing salons actively.
“There are no ugly women – there are those who are indifferent to themselves. Always avoid extremes. You don’t have to stand out from the crowd. It is not only unpleasant, but also a manifestation of bad taste. Stay tuned for cosmetic updates. Nothing ages a woman like boring lipstick, a thick layer of tone cream and powder that looks like flour,” Estee Lauder told her customers.
She was so inspired that she kindly gave a little blush for free with each cream she sold, and her regular customers got a sample of tonic. The fame of her products and her kind heart quickly spread among the people, and sales grew rapidly.
UKRAINIAN ROOTS
“Everyone can and should tune in to success. It is the most effective way to achieve your goal. I clearly imagined my success – and turned it into reality,” said the founder of Estee Lauder Cosmetics in an interview. Today this empire is the creator of about two dozen famous brands.
However, Estee Lauder started much more modestly. The daughter of the Hungarian settlers, the Mentzer, wanted to realize her cherished American dream at any cost. She inherited perseverance from her dad, by the way, who was born and raised in Ukraine, not far from Chernivtsi.
Estee Lauder has already managed to visit her father’s homeland, came to his village and found the house in which he was born. “It was very important for me to visit Ukraine, because I want to tell my grandchildren as much as possible about our past,” she said.
As a child, Estee Lauder loved to watch her uncle, the chemist John Schotz Mentzer, experimenting with herbs and liquids. The girl also wanted to become a scientist in order to cook amazing creams and return beauty and youth to women. And she would definitely name these miracle remedies by her own name.
She began experimenting in her own kitchen, making ointments and creams in a sausage saucepan. In the 1930s, Estee married a successful businessman, Joseph Lauder, but she continued to experiment with cosmetics.
The young wife captivated her husband, the owner of a fashion store, with her experiments. The Lauders rented a corner of the kitchen at a restaurant in Manhattan, worked together to conjure up the proportions of herbs and essential oils and make products.
The Estee Lauder line includes four skin care products, as well as powder, red lipstick and turquoise eyeshadow. By the way, four formulas of creams, the production of which has not yet been discontinued, were developed precisely at the dawn of the company’s formation. Together with her husband, they made special packaging for their products and even came up with their own shade of tubes – lauder blue.
Estee Lauder soon remembered her experience of donating products, and in the 50s, the couple spent $ 50 thousand on samples of their creams, which they sent out for free by mail. So they found several thousand more new customers.
BROKEN BOTTLE
“People make their own luck, not being afraid to take risks and trusting their inner voice,” said Estee Lauder when asked by journalists how she managed to conquer Europe. In fact, the conquest of new markets began with the extravagant act of the founder of a business empire.
On that bleak November morning, Estee Lauder walked into the most famous store in Paris, Galeries Lafayette, took a glass bottle from her purse and threw it on the floor.
While some of the sellers fainted, and others tried to alert the police about the strange visitor, the scent of wonderful perfume spread through the store. In this extraordinary way, Estee Lauder presented her Youth Dew perfume. Indeed, how else to stir up Mother Europe, which has seen a lot?
All the newspapers wrote about the case at Galeries Lafayette. And soon there was a small counter with tubes and jars of shade lauder blue in this store. Europe was conquered. But Estee Lauder did not rest on her laurels. She said, “The greatest of all myths is the one that promises the magic formula for instant success”.
Estee rolled up her sleeves and began to promote and advertise her magic creams even more actively. Today, Estee Lauder Cosmetics has annual sales of more than $ 15 billion, and the empire accounts for 45% of the US cosmetics market.
In her biographical book, Estee Lauder tried to explain how to become successful and organize a sustainable business, “Everyone can and should tune in to success. It is the most effective way. I have taken on an unbearable burden. There was constant work, close attention to detail, lack of sleep, pain in the heart”. “You are allowed to make a mistake only once”, she says to budding businessmen. Estee Lauder tried not to make mistakes at all. And it looked liked she did a great job.
