As a businesswoman, matriarch, and innovator, Estée Lauder was in a league of her own. From a humble background growing up in Queens as the child of Hungarian immigrants, Estée’s ambition and hard work found her tremendous success, transforming a small skincare cream business she started in her kitchen into a worldwide portfolio of beauty brands. Ever principled and determined, her charming ebullience took her far— she was the first to harness the power of word-of-mouth advertising, and to realize that a free gift with purchase would do well to win her customer’s loyalty.