Bobbi Brown, 68, says being fired from her namesake brand at Estée Lauder forced her to leave a job she was unhappy in.
On Thursday’s episode of “Aspire with Emma Grede,” the entrepreneur reflected on how her exit from Estée Lauder became a turning point in her career.
“I got fired, which is a good thing. And I didn’t know what I was going to do. It was the first time in so many years,” Brown told podcast host Emma Grede.
Brown founded Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in 1991 and sold it to Estée Lauder for a reported $74.5 million in 1995. As part of the deal, she agreed to a 25-year noncompete that prevented her from starting another cosmetics brand.
She stayed on as chief creative officer for more than two decades before leaving in 2016.
Brown said that things had grown more difficult toward the end of her time at the company.
“Well, the two years before were pretty miserable,” she said, adding that neither running a business nor navigating corporate relationships is easy.
“When Leonard Lauder was in charge, I always had him. I could always just call Leonard, and he would say, ‘OK, we’ll figure this out. We got it.’ So, he was really my mentor,” Brown said. “And it stopped happening.”
Lauder stepped down as CEO in 1999 and later as chairman in 2009. He died in 2025 at 92.
Brown said she felt out of step with the direction that the company was heading.
“For the majority of the time I was in charge, you know, until it became definitely more corporate, and there was a new leader, and things just were not about supporting individual brands and founders,” Brown said. “And you know that’s what they wanted, and that’s fine.”
Looking back, Brown said being fired ultimately worked in her favor.
“First of all, if I didn’t get fired, I’d still be there, miserable. So, it’s really good that it happened,” Brown said.
“And, you know, it wasn’t easy. I didn’t just walk out and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to start another brand.’ You know, I had to literally emotionally detach. It was hard. It was really hard,” she said.
Brown added that she doesn’t “have an affinity, at all” toward Bobbi Brown Cosmetics now.
“They went in different directions, and honestly, it’s fine. I don’t spend a lot of time talking about the brand. You know, I don’t wish any ill on them. It is what it is,” she said. She added that she’s now focused on her new passion project, Jones Road Beauty, which she launched in 2020 after her non-compete expired.
When Grede asked whether she had any regrets about selling her name, Brown said, “I don’t.”
This isn’t the first time Brown has spoken about her departure from her eponymous label.
At The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Council Summit in November, Brown said she relied on those around her for support after leaving the company.
“My neighbors came over and I drank tequila with them,” Brown said.
In March, Brown told Business Insider she kept herself busy to avoid falling into a slump.
“I’m not someone that likes to stay sad or mad, so I just worked on myself — from the inside out,” Brown said.
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