I find people endlessly fascinating—their choices, their justifications, their joys and sorrows, their innate nobility. Telling their stories is my passion.

Historian and Biographer

Strong Women. Smart Biographies.

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Becoming Elizabeth Arden:

The Woman Behind the Global Beauty Empire

Now Available

Elizabeth Arden, a poor, uneducated immigrant with a deep passion for beauty and an ambition to match, created a global cosmetics empire and set the beauty standard for the twentieth century. She brought about a cultural revolution by making cosmetics first acceptable and then de rigueur for women of all backgrounds. An early believer in holistic beauty, Arden combined skin care with exercise and designed the first destination spa. Men derided her unorthodox business methods, but she became America’s wealthiest female entrepreneur and her many innovations in beauty and fashion are still with us today.

She began life in rural Canada as Florence Nightingale Graham before transforming herself into Elizabeth Arden, the inventor, innovator, and visionary CEO of the company she started in 1910 and ran until her death in 1966. Becoming Elizabeth Arden explains the fascinating life and the astounding business success of this rags-to-riches global businesswoman with a penchant for thoroughbred horses and a driving desire to make women beautiful.