Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder didn’t sell with words: she’d put her cream on your face, hand you a mirror, and let you convince yourself.

Estée was born in 1908 to Hungarian Jewish immigrants.

She grew up in Corona, Queens, above her father’s hardware store.

She learned sales by rearranging tools in the window to draw customers.

And by watching her chemist uncle mix creams in a backyard lab.

Obsessed with beauty, she gave classmates makeovers to show off his formulas.

She called them “jars of hope.”

Soon, she was selling them everywhere: salons, beach clubs, department stores, even on the street.

In 1930, she married Joseph Lauder.

They divorced in 1939 and she moved to Miami Beach, chasing investors, but came up empty.

Three years later, their son Leonard got sick so Joseph and Estée remarried and this time, they went all-in on the business.

Estée mixed creams at night in a converted restaurant kitchen.

Joseph handled the finances and manufacturing.

Leonard delivered the jars on his bike.

They launched Estée Lauder Inc. in 1946.

A year later, Saks Fifth Avenue placed their first order: $800 worth of product.

It sold out in two days.

Estée handed out free samples... at fashion shows, salons, and charity balls.

She pioneered the “gift with purchase” model.

She believed in the “Three T’s of marketing”: Telephone, Telegraph, Tell a Woman.

She showed up at every new store opening.

Trained the beauty advisors herself, making them demonstrate the product.

Because touching skin was part of the pitch.

And made sure her product stood out, starting with the packaging.

She chose a specific shade of pale turquoise for her cream jars, one that matched every bathroom.

In 1953, she launched Youth-Dew, a bath oil that doubled as perfume, letting women buy fragrance for themselves and use it by the capful, not just a dab behind the ears.

By 1984, 150M bottles had been sold.

Estée Lauder was eventually stocked in Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Teller, and Harrods.

She built five more brands under her name, including: Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives, Origins, and Lab Series.

She famously got her products into Galeries Lafayette in Paris by “accidentally” spilling Youth-Dew on the floor during a demo.

Customers flooded the counter asking where to buy it. The store caved. She got the order.

In the 1980s, Estée stepped back from daily operations.

But she stayed on as chairwoman, spokesperson, and strategist.

Her grandchildren still lead the company today.

She received France’s Legion of Honour and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 1985, she published her autobiography and shared her 15 rules for entrepreneurs, including: “No one ever became a success without taking chances.”

When Estée died in 2004 at age 95, she left behind a company with…
- 60,000+ employees
- Products sold in 140+ countries
- A portfolio of acquired brands such as M.A.C., La Mer, Jo Malone, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, and Too Faced
And a $50B+ valuation.