Women began paving their own success as society began loosing up a bit. Many began developing their brand before it became common to brand oneself and did it well. In today's entry, I'll be looking at a few women who left their mark on the world in the 20th century. 1. Elizabeth Arden - most of us have heard of her even if we've never afforded anything of hers.
Elizabeth Arden, nee Florence Nightingale Graham, hails from Ontario Canada. At the age of 30, she moved to New York City with the goal of building her own cosmetic company but first she spent two years working for someone else so she could learn everything possible about the cosmetic industry.
In 1910, she invested $1000 with a partner to start a beauty salon on 5th Avenue. At about the same time, she contracted with a chemist to create a beauty cream and a lotion as the first products of her own beauty line. Shortly after a trip to Paris in 1912, she introduced the concept of eye make-up to American women. At this point in time, only prostitutes wore make-up so she had to create a campaign to counter that reputation.
Fortunately, close-ups became the thing in the movie industry so it became more socially acceptable to wear makeup. In 1914, the partnership dissolved and Florence kept the salon and the name associated with it. She continued offering makeovers in her 5th Avenue salon. In addition, the company began expanding internationally so even during the depression in the 1930's, her company did well.
Elizabeth Arden managed a series of firsts such as creating travel sized items, she created makeup kits for military women and she provided the red lipstick worn by sufferagets during a protest in 1912. Elizabeth Arden died in 1966 but her company continues to do well even today.
2. Coco Chanel created a fashion empire. Coco Chanel began her life in France where she was raised in an orphanage after her mother died. The nuns taught her to sew which helped her later in life. She gained the name "Coco" during her brief time as a singer. She opened her first store in 1910 which only sold women's hats. In 1921, she released her iconic perfume "Chanel #5".
Just a few years later, she introduced the even more iconic "little black dress" that launched her as a fashion house and made her an ongoing success. Unfortunately, the depression did not help her business and when World War II broke out, she closed down her fashion house. Eventually, she opened up again and her business grew tot be as successful as before.
3. Olive Ann Beech is a woman who began a business in 1932 with her husband in Wichita Kansas. The founded the Beech Aircraft Corporation with 10 employees but the company grew to employing over 10,000 people. In 1940, her husband became sick and she took over running the company. The United States Army bought 270 of their Staggerwings during World War II.
Her husband died in 1950 and she became the company president. During her 20 years at the helm, the company continued supplying the military and NASA's Gemini, Apollo, and the space shuttle programs so that the company expanded, eventually becoming a multi-million dollar aerospace company. Not bad for a woman who began as a secretary.
Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.
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