How A Poor Queens Girl Created Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder built a billion-dollar beauty empire starting with nothing but a hot plate, her uncle's recipes, and an unshakeable belief that every woman deserved to feel beautiful. Born Josephine Esther Mentzer to immigrant parents in Corona, Queens, she hustled her way into Saks Fifth Avenue and sold out in two days — then rewrote the rules of the entire cosmetics industry. This is the real story of how a scrappy girl from Queens became one of the most powerful women in business history, invented the "gift with purchase," and turned a kitchen experiment into a global dynasty worth over $100 billion. You won't believe how she got her first meeting. Subscribe for more stories of empires built from nothing.