Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/876458
d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m Fa l l 2 0 1 7 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N 15 O ftentimes, when celebrities decide to launch a business line, they target the luxury audience. After all, that is the world and market they know best. Actress Drew Barrymore, who launched her Flower Beauty Cosmetics makeup line in 2013, went in the other direction. She decided she wanted to develop a qual- ity product line sold at affordable prices, targeted to the vast majority of consumers who can't afford $100 lipsticks. Barrymore signed an exclusive deal with Walmart to carry more than 180 of Flower Beauty Cosmetics eye, face, lip, and nail products. e products sell for less than $20. Barrymore, who currently stars with Timothy Olyphant in the Netflix sitcom Santa Clarita Diet, says she decided to de- velop a makeup line because she wanted to help women improve their self-image. She told Business Insider, "I think there's such a crucial necessity for positive messaging so that women feel empowered and are not making themselves up to be something else. It's always about being the best you. Who you are inside and your joy levels and a smile are better than any lipstick. It's sort of antimakeup messaging, but I think it's more human messaging and the rest will fall into place." Barrymore also chose makeup as her business line because as a former model and a prolific actress (E.T., Donnie Darko, Grey Gardens), she has spent a good chunk of her life being made up by professionals. "I've been in a makeup chair since I was six years old and had the fortune of working with the icons of the beauty industry— learning, being in love with products, pig- ments, brands, companies, and just being a constant student of makeup." In 2017 Barrymore expanded Flower Beauty Cosmetics to Mexico, its first for- eign market. It also began an ecommerce platform. Drew Barrymore: Flower Power Etc. Women in Tech: Challenges at the Top A n organization named the- Boardlist, which champions and assists women aspiring to join the board of a technology company, recently surveyed 100 of its board-ready female executives about their experiences working in tech. The responses underscored the need to bring more women leaders into the industry: • Seventy-two percent said they had experienced gender discrimi- nation. • Forty-six percent said they had been sexually harassed. Surprisingly, while more than 80 percent said that age had held them back in their careers, the respondents more often said this had happened early in their work lives—con- trary to the widespread perception that age discrimination is prevalent among older workers in tech. On a more encouraging note, more than 80 percent of the women had mentors, suggesting that men- torship is a critical factor in prepar- ing women for leadership roles. Surprisingly, these mentors were more than twice as likely to be men. And two-thirds of the respondents said trends for women in business are moving in the right direction. Upfront > Stars Who Mean Business