You know, you go home and you try on a new mascara, and I guess a male CEO can’t do that.

There’s obviously a correlation between an economically empowered woman and the investments she makes. That leads to her social and moral conscience for bettering her community.

Avon is a unique place to work; we’ve got family-friendly policies. We have more senior women in high-level management than any other company; 46 percent of our officers are women.

It’s an unbelievable responsibility to influence decisions, shareholder value and most important to me, people’s careers and livelihoods.

It has given me a global vantage point, being the daughter of immigrants from China, who had nothing when they came here. And now I am leading a company. It speaks to something deep in me, the concept that you don’t have to start with anything.

China is going to be one of Avon’s largest market opportunities. It has a large geographic expanse, with hundreds of thousands of women in small villages really striving to make an earnings opportunity for themselves.

The game in beauty is changing so much, if your product isn’t high tech or can’t make a unique performance claim – plump your lips, reduce your lines, look glossy, and stay on for 24 hours – you can’t go to market today. I’m not just talking about a $20 lipstick, but a $5 lipstick!

Since I’m a mother and a wife, I have to have passion or the frustration would win out. But I love managing people. The product is second to managing the people. And marketing to consumers is so challenging because it is evolving constantly.

I think the economic empowerment of women that has been growing over the past decade is at the ‘inflection point’ with this global recession. Women are, we believe, the solution for their families in their ability to go out and increase household income.

I think it’s critical that you feel you’re working for a person who is committed to advancing your career.