Up until 1999, Avon, like most fashion houses and makeup giants, was led by men who didn’t wear its own products. Then former Duracell CEO Charles Perrin stepped down after two years of trouble grasping the beauty business and handed the top job at Avon to a Ms. Andrea Jung. Jung made small changes that made a big difference: sales jumped 45% and its stock went up 169%. Her fluent Mandarin aided the company’s overseas expansion. She also revamped the product line, now sporting compactness (a two-in-one gloss/mascara stick means fewer things to carry), better engineering (e.g., lipstick that swivels up more smoothly) and jazzier packaging.

Meet the English-lit major who saved a moribund company January 19.

[Andrea Jung: 01/19/06]