Making a Difference

An Interview with Georgette Mosbacher, President and Chief Executive Offi cer, Borghese, Inc.

EDITORS’ NOTE Before assum- In an industry as competi- Is there more opportunity for women ing her current post, Georgette tive as cosmetics, what makes this in business today? Mosbacher purchased the high- brand special? Certainly. Today, women are every bit as end cosmetics firm La Prairie in This is partly self-serving, be- educated, capable, and ambitious as men. 1987, served as its CEO, and sold it cause management is very important, However, I have been involved in politics in 1991 to Beiersdorf. She has also but so are vision and consistency, es- for 25 years and women still do not understand served as national Co-Chairman of pecially with a brand. With respect to that politics is about money; it’s the reason we John McCain’s 2000 presidential Borghese, it’s the quality, which we only have 7 percent women in Congress. Until campaign and is Co-Chair of the have never compromised on even they’re willing to write those checks, they will Republican National Committee’s though we have diverse distribu- never be players in politics and until they can Finance Committee. She received tion. We have a line in Costco, be players in politics, they can’t affect change. a B.S. in Education from Indiana but the quality is the best of In terms of the corporate world, women University in 1970 and is the author Georgette Mosbacher the best. who do get to the top as CEOs don’t bring of two best-selling self-help books: It’s about being consistent with women with them. They blame men, but if you Feminine Force: Release The Power Within quality and message, and doing what you say. look at the kind of articles being written that To Create The Life You Deserve, and It Takes Don’t overpromise. stereotype women, women are writing them. Money, Honey: A Get-Smart Guide to Total We’re not trying to be everywhere. I run Women are also still not as comfortable with Financial Freedom. the company to be profi table and there is a de- money issues. If a deal comes across a man’s votion to the brand and an understanding of it desk with a guy he almost punched out the night COMPANY BRIEF Borghese (www.borghese to which we remain true. before, he reaches out to that guy as if nothing .com) is built on a heritage that dates back to I also hire the best people and pay them happened; a woman will stop speaking to a man the 14th century and combines the tradition of well. You are as good as the people around for the rest of her life on a perceived slight. This classic Italian beauty and modern sensibility you, and as a result, they’re devoted, and they is what we aren’t willing to talk about. to create a wide range of color and treatment work hard and do a good job because they like I still go out to raise money politically – products including anti-aging skincare, daily where they’re working. a man will give me a $1,000 check and maybe skin maintenance, self-renewal spa care, and With so much need out there today, is a woman will give me a $20 check. Yet we color cosmetics. Their innovative product line it tough to decide where to focus your phil- still don’t understand why we’re not part of that combines time-honored botanicals and cutting- anthropic efforts? dialogue. edge technology to gently yet effectively address I believe that charity begins at home, so Despite all you have achieved, you have each person’s individual beauty concerns. I don’t get involved in charities overseas or in maintained your company culture. those that aren’t U.S.-centric. I’m a redneck who lives on Fifth Avenue. With the different areas you are involved in It is important to focus and I have been Whatever success I’ve had is a result of the values from business to politics, how do you de- drawn to our military. We have been involved that my family instilled in me. I’m a product of fi ne yourself? in one war or another for a long time with an a one-parent home, growing up on the edge of It’s always been a problem defi ning my- all-volunteer army in which only one percent of poverty, but no one told me I couldn’t do things. self because I have numerous interests but the population serves, so it’s not high profi le. They told me there was dignity in any work. So they’re all interrelated because I have worked But we have a moral responsibility to take care I’ve never been afraid to work. That’s also part of all my life. At the same time, I’ve always felt of these men and women and their families. So my success in fund-raising – I don’t take it person- you have to give back. I grew up with a strong I have focused my time on helping our veterans ally when someone says no to me. work ethic that made success easier but I and their families. There are those who suggest the U.S. is los- was also taught that you shared. Whether it’s Is it tough to remain optimistic today ing its competitive edge. Are you concerned? working or giving back, I always try to make with such a fl awed political system? No. I’ve been doing business in China for a difference. It’s all about leadership and there is our over a decade and when I hear people say, I have a responsibility to step up and do crisis – if you don’t have someone with a vision China is going to pass us, I say, China has some what I can to make this a better world. I don’t who is prepared to lead and inspire, you’re not real problems. have a lot of respect for people who complain going to get far. The only thing that is threatening is if we but aren’t willing to do something about it. We need someone to lead us to accomplish lock this country down and don’t allow the tal- I want to succeed at everything I do but I the things we have to do – and that’s true ented to come here, and we make it diffi cult also know I can’t succeed if the world around around the world. Margaret Thatcher, Helmut for entrepreneurs to start businesses. We should me isn’t succeeding. Kohl, Golda Meir, and Lee Kuan Yew are lead- not regulate to the point where you can’t start a I’m someone who feels comfortable in my ers that had a vision and made a difference. business at your kitchen table. own skin, which is why people can’t defi ne me; It’s frustrating but we will survive this, and So if we can get government out of our I’m not out there trying to be someone or some- maybe it will mean reaching the abyss for that way, we will still be the greatest nation on thing. I just want to do well in what I do. leader to emerge. earth.• 74 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2012 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 35, NUMBER 4