Broadway's 'War Paint' Teaches Us to Embrace Risk and Never Settle
In the early 1900s, Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden were considered two of the first female celebrity entrepreneurs in America. They built competing cosmetic empires at a time when women were rarely welcome in the workplace. Now they're subjects of the new Broadway musical War Paint -- and the Tony Award-winning actors who portray them, Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, say their lessons are just as relevant today.
Related: 5 Powerful Rules for Women Entrepreneurs to Live By
Arden and Rubinstein became business titans at a time when women weren’t expected to have ambitions. What drove them to create these empires?
Christine Ebersole: The social class they were each born into was a driving force. They weren’t born to the manner, so I think they wanted something better. They weren’t going to settle.
In Helena’s case, she was born independent. She actually rejected her father’s choice [of husband] for her, and he banished her from the house. She asserted her will quite early. I don’t think she ever thought, I’m not supposed to
