Key TakeawaysA multi-decade non-compete couldn’t deter Bobbi Brown from starting Jones Road.Brown learned to tune out the noise and trust her intuition.Never stop asking questions, Brown advised founders.Just before Bobbi Brown signed along the dotted line to sell her namesake business to Estée Lauder in 1995, four years after the brand’s inception, for a reported $74.5 million, her husband, Steven Plofker, checked in with her about the aggressive 25-year non-compete. She told him not to worry. “I’m not going to want to work when I’m 60!”So much for that.As soon as the legendary makeup artist’s non-compete ended in 2020, she launched her cosmetic brand Jones Road. In September 2025, Brown published her memoir Still Bobbi, an intimate window into the iconic makeup artist’s life.In her memoir, Brown shares how her family—from her Aunt Alice to her hardworking grandfather “Pappa Sam”—inspired her to become the powerhouse she is today. She takes readers through her Chicago upbringing, the excitement and struggles of starting a career in New York City, her tough decision to sell her business to a conglomerate, and the fun of starting something new with Jones Road.Brown recently sat down with BeautyMatter Senior Editor Janna Mandell (both Brown and Mandell live in Montclair, NJ) to talk struggles, triumphs, leveraging chutzpah, and sage advice for new founders.Janna Mandell: I absolutely loved your book. And if I were to pull advice from it, I would say it's all about your chutzpah and trusting your gut, right? There were a lot of times in your career when people wanted you to ignore your gut and go with the flow.