She fell in love with a box of lipsticks on her first interview and hasn’t looked back since: Lynn Emmolo, chief brand officer at Rodan + Fields, believes honesty is the key to success and inner beauty is what matters most. Here are few more of the anecdotes she shared with us.
Name: Lynn Emmolo
Occupation: Chief brand officer at Rodan + Fields
Destined for beauty: “On my first interview, I saw a box of lipsticks and fell in love. The lipsticks were lined up in color tones for shade approval on the director of product development’s desk. I knew this was what I wanted to do and I never looked back.”
Her turning point: “A very well-known photographer who I greatly respected said to me one day on a shoot, ‘I thought you’d be on to better things by now.’ It was a very thought-provoking nudge. I knew then, as much as I loved what I was doing at the time, I had more to do.”
Her work ethic: “Passionately committed. Be smart, be creative, do the math.”
Must-haves: “Rodan and Fields Acute Care (I am addicted). The Financial Times, The New York Times, and Scientific American. Rookwood pottery on eBay. Fashion and watching it evolve each season: the colors the silhouettes, and of course wearing it. The Embarcadero Farm Fresh Food Market in San Francisco. NY MoMA’s, Boy Leading a Horse (Picasso). Rockefeller University Women & Science. The paintings of Joan Mitchell. Cornell Lab of Orinthology—eBird app for identifying birds.”
Inspiration comes from: “Women, their capability for compassion and their endurance to achieve despite the odds.”
Her personal style: “Eclectic.”
Best advice to give: “Failure doesn’t exist; it’s just learning along the way.”
Best advice received: “My mother told me, ‘You can do whatever you put your mind to.’ And she was right.”
Her office uniform: “It’s all about the shoes. I’m loving my new Chanel boots and Chloé sandals. And I never leave the house without a piece of Ted Meuhling jewelry.”
Words to live by: “Be nice. It feels better than otherwise.”
Her definition of beauty: “It’s what we have on the inside.”