Success Tips from Makeup Maven Georgette Mosbacher

Costco Connection magazine has a very interesting article about Georgette Mosbacher, the CEO of the high-end makeup and beauty company Borghese. The article traced Mosbacher's rise to success from a small town in the Midwest to her entrepreneurial successes before landing the top job at Borghese.

The article highlights that Mosbacher found success in the business world by "sticking to her principles." She gave a number of interesting tips for attaining success:

• Have tenacity. You can't be afraid of failure because you're going to fall in some potholes. Failure is just a detour sign. Take it as a lesson and move on.
• Beware of well-meaning people. People often want to tell you what you can and can't do. You have to listen to your inner voice.
• Think on a global level. Entrepreneurs need to think beyond the obvious markets.
• Speak up. Know who to ask, when to ask and how to ask.
• Be patient with yourself. You don't have to have your entire life mapped out.
• Stay motivated. Instead of asking, "Am I doing it right?" ask yourself, "Am I doing it?"

Source: Costco Connection Magazine, May 2006 issue, pages 26-27

Alison Liebeskind: Making a Mark in the Fashion Industry

Like most successful entrepreneurs, Alison Leibeskind, founder and creative force of fashion upstart Alison Beth Company http://www.alisonbethco.com/ , is an innovator with passion. Even as a young child, Alison displayed strong interest in designing, creating and painting rich silk textiles. In 2004, she fulfilled her dream by launching her own line of knit accessories, producing hand-manufactured hats, shawls, scarves, and handbags using the world’s finest cashmeres, wools, yarns and knits.

Alison combines her vast knowledge of visual arts with her business acumen in knowing where the industry is going and what the market wants. As a result, she is considered a designer-to-watch and regarded as an “influential designer and young entrepreneur within a highly competitive industry” despite being relatively new in the fashion industry. Her knitwear products are described by fashion publications as “unforgettable pieces instantly taking on a life of their own.”

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Paulette Jarvey: Success in the Catalog Business

I love catalogs. I love the well crafted ones - the gorgeous pictures, layouts and product backdrops. But I know that creating a catalog is not easy as simply taking a nice picture, but entails a thorough understanding of customers and how they respond to product offerings.

Paulette Jarvey, owner of scrapbooking companies Hot Off the Press and the catalog Paper Wishes, attributes two things to the success of her catalogs: "knowing her customer base very well and providing them with top quality color coordinated products." Her major challenge initially was "managing and learning the ropes" so she eventually partnered with more experienced crafts cataloger Herrschners to handle fulfillment for her as well as the books' creative and buying.

In an interview with the Catalog Success magazine, she points the following reasons for her success:

• Spot trends early - Jarvey was the first to bring scrapbooking to retail, and has capitalized on the Web with her Paper Wishes Weekly Webisodes
• Share credit - she has a strong team to back her up
• Product variety - have new and exciting products all the time

She has the following advice to new catalogers:

• Know your customer and serve them well
• Grow according to your core competencies, but don't be limited to them
• Stop every now and then to look at your business from a strategic perspective

Read full story at Catalog Success magazine (May 2006 issue, page 110)