Bobbi Brown needs no introduction. Having founded her eponymous make-up line in 1988 with just one lipstick called “Brown” – which remains one of their best-selling shades – she grew the brand into a global billion dollar company before walking away in 2016 to start entirely new ventures Evolution_18, The George and justbobbi.com.

Here she shares how it all happened, her own coveted beauty address book and the future of her beauty empire.

The Rules

I first knew I wanted to be in beauty when I used to watch my mom get all glammed up as a child. I was mesmerized as I watched her put creamy bronzer on her cheeks, pale eyeshadow on her eyes and pale lipstick on her lips.

Looking back my career has been like a giant staircase – one step at a time (and still going). But if I had to choose a big break moment, my American Vogue cover (above) with Naomi Campbell was an epic breakthrough for me.

Creating a billion dollar business was both unbelievable and unpredicted. I wish my math teacher could see me now – I always got D’s in school.

The golden business lessons I’ve learnt are to stay grounded, work hard and be open to opportunities.

The failsafe life lessons I’ve learnt are to live a good, healthy life and marry well!

Change is good. Sometimes you don’t know you’re stuck, until you are going through a change.

My move into wellness and lifestyle with Evolution_18, The George and Just Bobbi came about because after I left Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, I wanted to create a lifestyle brand and content company to share my passions and do things I hadn’t done before.

There is no average day for me. The only constant is my espresso from Nespresso in the morning when I wake up, my iPad, and my family. Work is always different and that keeps me interested.

For me, I’ve found that the key to successfully juggling the work/life/family balance has been my husband. He has always kept me grounded. When things are crazy, he tells me to breathe – and that everything is going to be alright.

I don’t mind being me. I now realize that the things you can’t change, you can’t fret about. The main thing is to try to keep being better than you were before.

The one piece of beauty/wellness advice I’d give would be to hydrate your body, on the inside and out. Health is the key to beauty: eat well, laugh often and enjoy your food (and cocktails)!