Beauty Queen, Deborrah Himsel
Beauty Queen, Deborrah Himsel
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Beauty Queen
Inside the Reign of Avon's Andrea Jung

Author: Deborrah Himsel

Narrator: Katie Billings

Unabridged: 8 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 08/19/2025

Synopsis

Andrea Jung, the glamorous former head of Avon, was arguably the world's most charismatic and effective CEO, credited with the astonishing turnaround of the venerable brand. Jung seemed incapable of making a wrong move, until, amid declining sales, an investigation by the SEC, and a brand in crisis, she stepped down in late 2012. In Beauty Queen, former Avon VP Deborrah Himsel uses Jung's story as a case study for two timeless leadership questions: What makes great leaders great? And what makes them fail? She explores both Jung's early years of success as well as the combination of missteps that led to her downfall, including her failure to nurture Avon's direct selling channel, the erosion of trust that occurred as a result of frequent decision reversals, and her ignorance of operational details, including how her people secured a license to conduct door-to-door sales in China, which led to a federal investigation. Through interviews with other CEOs, Avon executives past and present, and leadership experts, she explores the unique challenges Jung faced as a female Fortune 500 CEO; the thin line between pride and hubris; and the danger of the so-called "halo effect" in our high-stakes times.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Alisha on June 29, 2014

I don't typically read memoirs, but I was excited when I won this book as a FirstReads, mainly because I remember Avon when I was coming into my teenage years. I would literally spend every dime I had earned and saved just to buy a piece of that beauty. Needless to say I didn't know the background o......more

Goodreads review by Beth on December 02, 2015

This book is a little misleading. While it does offer a profile of former Avon CEO Andrea Jung, it is mainly a case study on her leadership. The author also ran out of material two-thirds of the way through the book and had to add chapters at the end with filler on woman CEOs and leadership.......more

Goodreads review by Ary on August 07, 2020

Good but the author glossed over too much for my taste. She needed to dive into direct sales more and especially how Avon defined it. I'll fill in what she left out. Avon, for a long time, was a "direct sales" company, as in they did it door to door. There was no recruiting, downline, or any of the......more

Goodreads review by Maureen on September 02, 2018

If you're a senior management/business executive type, I guess you'll like this book for what it is: HR how-to mumbo jumbo. Clearly instructional. Well-organized, step-by-step guidelines, easy-to-understand coaching on climbing-the-ladder behavior. A great playbook for the games and politics of the......more

Goodreads review by Aspasia on June 13, 2019

I used to sell Avon and still order occasionally from my local rep but I haven't kept up with the latest news and gossip about "the company for women" for about the past 5 years or so. I recently found out that Avon's stock isn't doing too well (as of this review) and some quick Internet research re......more

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