As the phrase goes, “Empowered women empower women.” When I think of that line, I don’t immediately imagine “girl bosses” in hot pink power suits high-fiving each other after winning a case. Instead, I envision powerhouse women, the kind who don’t just lead a company to success, but lead with the intent to welcome other women to the table.
A woman who fully embodies that saying is none other than Bobbi Brown. Not just because she’s been called a Beauty Icon, was named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People”, or because she sold her first company for over $74M (although those are definitely impressive feats). The reason I associate her with that quote is because of who she is. She’s a woman with character, a kind soul, and an inclusive attitude – which is rare these days. But her story goes so much deeper…
The art of reinvention is not for the faint of heart. As Bobbi told me years ago, “If you believe in something, don’t ever give up. If one door closes, find a window to climb through.” We first connected on social media in 2018, and she’s contributed to my stories over the years. Every time she offered a piece of advice or inspiring guidance, I paid attention. Her words of wisdom have stayed with me as a kind of compass.
If you’ve ever built a business, grown a company, or just developed a successful career, you’ve learned that it doesn’t always go as planned. The twists and turns eventually ask you to pivot, to head somewhere you didn’t originally intend to, and to have faith in the process. That shift almost always comes wrapped in fear of the unknown — but learning to trust your inner compass often leads somewhere better than where you started.
Beloved as a celebrity makeup artist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur, Bobbi did it again in 2020 — at the height of the pandemic, no less — launching her DTC brand, Jones Road Beauty. It would go on to become one of the most meaningful ventures of her career.
Bobbi’s story didn’t begin with Jones Road, though. More than three decades ago, she built Bobbi Brown Cosmetics into a brand significant enough that Estée Lauder acquired it for over $74 million, turning it into a billion-dollar brand. She stayed on for years afterward as a creative leader and face of the company, until her departure at the end of 2016 — a split framed publicly at the time as voluntary, though she’s since spoken candidly about feeling pushed out as the company changed around her.
Bundled into that original sale was a 25-year non-compete barring her from launching anything beauty-related. Rather than see that as a closed door, she treated it as a countdown, deciding years in advance that when the clause finally expired, she’d go all in. The name Jones Road came to her almost by accident — she spotted it as a street sign on Waze while driving to the Hamptons and simply liked the sound of it. And because she was determined to launch her next beauty company right when the non-compete ended, she decided right then – Jones Road was the name she’d choose.
In between her two beauty ventures, she also launched Evolution_18, a wellness supplement line, and — alongside her developer husband — opened a hotel. It’s become apparent that reinvention, for Bobbi, isn’t a one-time event. It’s simply how she operates.
Six years after launching Jones Road, that same spirit was on full display earlier this week, on September 14, 2026, when the brand hosted an invite-only celebration at its new Palo Alto location inside Stanford Shopping Center — the brand’s 17th store. Nearly 90 guests filled the space for the official celebration: founders, investors, bankers, and media gathered for an evening that felt as much like a homecoming as a store launch.
Among those in attendance were Steph Wagner, National Director of Women & Wealth at Northern Trust (the evening’s sponsoring bank); Juliet Baker, VP of Retail at Jones Road; Anna Tong, reporter for Forbes; Christina Passariello, San Francisco Bureau Chief for CNBC; Jean Armstrong, VP of Marketing for Williams-Sonoma; Christina Hood, Board President of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce; and celebrity makeup artist Christina Flach.
Women mingled, tried on makeup, and traded stories, all while feeling inspired simply by being in the room. The atmosphere was kinetic – like everyone in the room felt united by a sisterhood of support, encouragement, and a shared mission to empower women.
The Brand Behind the Room
Jones Road was built around the idea of an edited, no-fuss collection of makeup designed to work across ages, skin types, and skin tones — a “better, not more” philosophy. The brand holds itself to clean beauty standards that go beyond even the EU’s, formulating without thousands of ingredients considered potentially harmful, including parabens, phthalates, sulfates, PEGs, BPA, and EDTA. The whole point, as Bobbi describes it, is “the ultimate no-makeup makeup” — beauty that looks like enhancement, not disguise.
That philosophy carries into the retail experience too. Each Jones Road store was thoughtfully designed to act like an interactive beauty classroom: shelves built for education, stations for hands-on application and skin-matching, and screens playing Bobbi’s own MasterClass content for anyone who wants to go deeper. Stores regularly host live workshops and events, turning retail into community.
The growth has been hard to ignore. Jones Road launched in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and was named one of Business Insider’s 25 fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands that same year. Its first physical store opened in Montclair, New Jersey — the brand’s hometown — in 2021, an 800-square-foot space that crossed $1 million in sales within nine months. And this year alone, they’re planning to ramp up to 21 stores, primarily located in cities where their core customer base resides.
By 2023, the company had grown to $100 million in annual revenue; by 2024, $160 million. Now, with 17 stores open nationally and more on the way across California, Jones Road is on track to surpass $200 million in revenue — a number Bobbi has said she expects to eventually eclipse even her first company’s success.
In Conversation with Bobbi Brown
CLP: Congratulations on your new store and welcome to California. Launching a direct-to-consumer brand takes real drive, especially in the middle of the pandemic, which is when you first launched. But opening brick-and-mortar stores across the country a few years later takes a different type of courage and commitment. What made you want to open your own retail stores?
BB: Well, first of all, the two things work together, especially with makeup. People will buy online, but a lot of people like to come in and see what really works on them. My first store was really simple. My husband’s a developer — he said, “I have a space, do you want a store?” I said, “Okay, I better get a makeup artist.” I found one — my first makeup artist. Now she’s the head of all makeup artistry.
CLP: One of the best compliments a woman can hear is, “You look beautiful” — not “your makeup looks beautiful.” I’ve always shared your philosophy that makeup should enhance our natural beauty rather than cover it up. But it also takes a strong sense of self to stay skin-first and natural, especially when makeup trends like heavy contouring or full glam take over social media feeds. How do you stay confident in your point of view without feeling pressure to chase what’s trending, especially when developing new products?
BB: It’s really simple. I’ve always been really clear on what I think looks good on people — and that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for other kinds of makeup. This is just what I find most beautiful: when people look like themselves, just a little bit enhanced.
CLP: Jones Road is built on the idea of better, not more. Is that a beauty philosophy for you, or is it also a business one?
BB: I think that’s how I live my life. I always want to be better, and I always try to be simple — my husband says there’s not a simple thing about me — but when developing the products, I want things that will help a woman do their makeup quicker and just help solve some problems.
CLP: Would you say that your customers feel they have a similar perspective as you?
BB: It’s been amazing talking and meeting my customers. The great thing with a direct-to-consumer brand is I meet a lot of people online — I meet them in stores too, but I lead a lot of people online. We have a group called the Jones Roadies. We have almost 90,000 people who have joined this Facebook group, so I know what they like and what they don’t like right away. They are very, very opinionated.
CLP: You’re also a best-selling author, a celebrity makeup artist, and now a founder of multiple companies. But I think one of the most impressive things you’ve done is becoming a serial entrepreneur, as that requires courage, resilience, and drive. Building a new business takes a certain level of fearlessness, even for someone as accomplished as you. How do you personally overcome fear of failure when you’re launching or rapidly expanding a new venture?
BB: I think I’m really naive — I’m not afraid of something not working. If it doesn’t work, it’s like, okay, I should have done it differently, or next time I’ll do it this way. I’m very fortunate that I love what I do, and I’ve done these two brands while I raised three kids — and now we have grandkids, so it’s kind of crazy.
CLP: You’ve always been generous with your wisdom for other women. You shared some incredible advice in my annual Women’s Day feature a few years back about not giving up and finding a window when a door closes. Of all the advice you’ve shared with female entrepreneurs, what words of wisdom would you give to the next generation of founders?
BB: First of all, breathe. People forget about breathing, and everyone’s in a rush. And starting a business — I would suggest, before you even start a business, and this is to the young women: go work for someone, go work in the field, learn how to do what you do. And when you’re ready for a business, make sure you’re ready for it.
CLP: Having interviewed countless founders and industry leaders over the years, I’ve come to realize that as people gain more success and recognition, what often fulfills them the most is the idea of leaving behind a legacy — something impactful that carries on long after them. What do you hope your legacy will be known for, besides being a beauty icon?
BB: I hope — and I feel like I’ve already accomplished it — that I’m known for helping women and men feel good about themselves, and empowering people to be the best version of themselves. That’s what I believe in.
Words of Wisdom, On Stage
Later in the evening, Steph Wagner, National Director of Women & Wealth at Northern Trust, took the floor to interview Bobbi in front of the crowd, and what unfolded felt like two women thinking out loud together about what it means to build something new later in life.
Asked about launching Jones Road in her 60s, Bobbi didn’t lead with strategy — she led with disbelief that it had worked at all. “I never thought I was going to have a big brand again,” she admitted. “I thought maybe I’d sell a couple things on Etsy.”
It’s a telling admission from a woman running a company on track for $200 million in revenue: she didn’t set out with a five-year plan or a grand vision of scale. She simply kept moving forward, figuring it out one step at a time — which may be the truest definition of reinvention there is.
That same candor carried through the rest of the conversation. On the topic of resilience, she was blunt: not everything works out, and the skill isn’t avoiding failure — it’s knowing when to shift direction and who to call for help. “It’s not supposed to be easy,” she said, “and if it was, it wouldn’t be as fun.”
When Steph asked what advice she’d give women navigating their own reinventions, Bobbi’s answer was almost startlingly simple: “Breathe. Don’t rush. Take care of yourself, mentally and physically.” Move your body — not for vanity, but because it clears out stress and keeps you capable of the next chapter, whatever it turns out to be.
Asked if she’d ever consider selling Jones Road, she didn’t hesitate. “No. What would I do? I don’t play golf, I don’t play tennis.” Steph’s response landed perfectly: Bobbi doesn’t just build businesses — she builds people.
Based on everything she’s accomplished, the insights she shared with the world, and the massive community of smart, ambitious, and inclusive women that she’s attracted, it’s all proof that Bobbi Brown fully embodies the phrase: “empowered women empower women”. And, in my opinion, that’s exactly why she’s earned the title of being an icon.
To discover more words of wisdom from Bobbi Brown and over 20 other powerhouse females, read the empowering Women’s Day feature story on Inspirations & Celebrations.
[Media access c/o Jones Road Beauty. Image credits: Christina-Lauren Pollack for Inspirations & Celebrations. All opinions are my own.]