Right now Max Factor is one of many brands owned by Proctor & Gamble, but did you know he was an actual person? He started his career in cosmetics and wigs when he was just 9 years old. He was an apprentice to a cosmetician, and eventually he started his own business in Russia selling handmade rouge, creams, and wigs. In 1904 he came to America and began selling his products at the St. Louis World Fair. He had some business hiccups (a partner stole his inventory) after his American launch, but he continued to stay the course.

He eventually moved to Los Angeles and through his innovations in make-up science became the prominent cosmetician in the movie-making world. He was the first to sell make up in a jar, also known as pancake make up. He made faces such as Jean Harlow and Bette Davis. Max Factor was credited in many Hollywood movies, and he is also the reason why we refer to make-up in the noun form. Prior to that it was called cosmetics only.

Max Factor has a star on the Walk of Fame. His son, who called himself Max Factor Jr., continued to run the Max Factor company after the death of Sr. Today Dean & Davis Factor run a cosmetic company they created called Smash Studios & Cosmetics, so the legacy lives on.

The lessons here are we don’t have to have a formal education to be a great success; We have to stay the course even when things seem hard; and we have to live our lives with the full knowledge that we are creating a legacy. We are a creating a legacy you know, whether it’s a great one or a shameful one, we are creating a legacy. Our children will have to build from where we leave off.