Hi everyone, I'm Hilary Kerr and this is Life Lessons, a podcast spotlighting women who

have incredible careers within a single field or industry. We talk about everything from

how they got their start to the best things they've learned along the way. Today, I am

so delighted to share that Greg Renfrew, the founder and CEO of Beauty Counter, is in the

studio with me. She's a serial entrepreneur who has been starting companies since she was

in college and has a long history of creating selling and leading companies, including her

current focus, Beauty Counter. For those of you who don't know it, Beauty Counter creates

safer skin care, cosmetic and beauty products and refuses to use over 1,600 questionable

ingredients in its products, ingredients that are standard practice with most companies

might add. The company is thriving to put it mildly with over $80 million in funding,

plus two brick and mortar stores she opened this year, a seasonal pop-up in New York, 45,000

independent consultants who do peer-to-beer selling, plus a booming e-commerce business.

Not bad for a company that debuted product in 2013. Greg is going to tell us all about

her journey, so now, with no further ado, it's time for our next episode of Life Lessons.

So let's start at the beginning. What did you study in school and what did you think

you were going to be when you grew up? I studied at the University of Vermont and I studied

English as my major and I did that because I wanted a strong command of the English language.

I thought it was interesting. I also loved to read. I did then, I do now. And then I was

an art history major, a minor, which I think I practically failed, but I do like art.

I guess I don't know much about it, but it was a fun thing to minor in.

So your entrepreneurial journey started quite early. I read that you started a house-cleaning

business when you were still in college to help pay for study abroad. Can you tell me

...