Broadway's 'War Paint' Teaches Us to Embrace Risk and Never Settle
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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
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