Andrea Jung
Andrea Jung is a notable business executive recognized for her significant contributions to women's empowerment in the corporate world. Born in 1959 in Toronto to Chinese immigrant parents, Jung demonstrated early academic excellence, graduating magna cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in English literature. She began her career in retail marketing and rapidly ascended through the ranks at major retailers, culminating in her role as the first female CEO of Avon Products Inc. in 1999. Under her leadership, Avon experienced impressive revenue growth and global expansion, although she faced challenges, including a sales slump and allegations of corporate misconduct, which ultimately led to her resignation in 2012.
Following her tenure at Avon, Jung became the CEO of Grameen America in 2014, where she has focused on providing microfinance solutions to low-income women, helping them establish successful small businesses. Jung's advocacy extends beyond her corporate roles; she serves on boards for organizations like Unilever and Apple, and is involved with the Avon Foundation for Women, promoting causes such as breast cancer research and efforts against domestic violence. Her career is marked by a commitment to gender equality and advancing opportunities for women in business, making her a prominent figure in the discourse on women's leadership in the workplace.
Andrea Jung
- Born: 1959
- Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
BUSINESS EXECUTIVE
Andrea Jung’s storied rise from consultant to chief executive officer (CEO) at Avon Products Inc. paints a compelling portrait of women’s empowerment in the workplace. Her success in steering the world’s largest direct-selling retailer and her advocacy for the advancement of women in business have contributed to her status as one of the most prominent Asian American women executives of her generation. In 2014, Jung became CEO of Grameen America, the largest microfinance organization in the United States.
Area of achievement: Business
Early Life
Andrea Jung was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1959. Her parents were first-generation Chinese immigrants to Canada. Her father, an architect, was born in Hong Kong, and her mother, a chemical engineer, was born in Shanghai, China. The family’s Asian upbringing left Jung and her younger brother, Mark, with a strong sense of traditional values, including an emphasis on education and achievement. Jung’s parents moved the family to the United States from Canada and settled in Wellesley, Massachusetts, after her father accepted a teaching position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1979, Jung graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a BA in English literature.
Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, French, and English, Jung pursued a career in retail marketing after graduating from Princeton. Her family, dubious about her chosen career path, tried to dissuade her from embarking on this route, but Jung joined Bloomingdale’s, an iconic US retailer, as a management trainee. She soon discovered that her strong business acumen coupled with creativity could help her succeed within the retail industry. To build her skill set, she aligned herself with mentor Joan Vass, a senior executive at Bloomingdales who dexterously managed her own professional career and family life. Jung’s exceptional performance at Bloomingdales saw her move to merchandising manager and then to vice president. In 1987 she followed her mentor to upscale retailer I. Magnin, and was based in San Francisco, California, for the next five years.
Life’s Work
She quickly ascended the corporate ladder at I. Magnin, going from general merchandising manager to senior vice president. Her success there paved the way for a senior vice president appointment in 1991 at Neiman Marcus, a much larger department store chain specializing in luxury goods. Jung was based in Dallas, Texas, for the following two years. Somewhat disillusioned with Neiman Marcus’s business model, she left the company to consult for Avon Products in 1993. This step would mark the beginning of an illustrious corporate footprint.
Jung’s tenure at Avon both defined and legitimized her global status as an iconic businessperson and powerful role model. Within seven months of joining Avon as a consultant, she was appointed president of the marketing group in the United States. She introduced innovative product lines that attracted new customers and increased revenue among existing clients. She also retired the company’s marketing initiatives and introduced a new advertising campaign along with a trendier, more elegant packaging design. Her bold marketing campaigns included Avon’s ubiquitous presence at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. That same year, Jung was promoted to head of global marketing. In 1997, she was promoted to executive vice president of the company, and two years later, in 1999, she became president and CEO. In six years, she had worked her way up from consultant to the top position in the organization.
Following Jung’s appointment as CEO, Avon’s earnings tripled, share prices shot up, and the company’s growth rate exceeded 10 percent over the next six years. Sales spikes were noted in various regions of the world where Avon’s products were marketed. In 2005, however, Avon encountered a sales slump, and the share price rapidly declined. The company’s sales were also buffeted by the fallout from the 2007–09 global financial crisis. Jung employed aggressive cost-cutting strategies to stave off serious consequences to the brand, successfully steering the organization through these challenging times.
Despite these successes, Avon’s stock price sagged again through 2011, and the company was beset by government investigations into allegations of bribery of foreign officials by Avon executives. With investor concern mounting, the company announced in December 2011 that, after twelve years on the job, Jung would step down as CEO of Avon as soon as a replacement could be found. She resigned in 2012 but continued to serve as a senior adviser to the board of directors until 2012. In 2014, she became president and CEO of the nonprofit microfinance organization Grameen America. In this role, Jung directs the operations of the organization, which by 2023 had invested more than $3.5 billion to help low-income women to run successful small businesses. The 179,000 members had a 99.8 percent repayment rate.
In addition to her responsibilities as the CEO of Grameen, Jung also serves on the board of directors for Unilever and Apple, as a member of the New York Presbyterian Hospital Board of Trustees, and as a director of Catalyst, a nonprofit organization engaged in building inclusive workplaces and improving opportunities for women in business.
Significance
By 2011, Jung was the longest-serving female CEO on the Fortune 500 list of companies, heading the world’s largest direct seller with operations in more than one hundred countries. As the first female CEO of Avon Products, Jung’s appointment was a significant milestone in the history of the company. Her efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace continued well into her tenure as CEO of both Avon and Grameen and on the board at Catalyst.
In addition to being a firm proponent of expanding opportunities for women in business, Jung was directly involved in the Avon Foundation for Women. This philanthropic organization is dedicated to promoting women’s causes, especially breast cancer research and working to end domestic violence.
Bibliography
"Andrea Jung." Grameen America, www.grameenamerica.org/andrea-jung. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
"Andrea Jung, President and CEO of Grameen America: Leading Women's Economic Empowerment in the United States and Around the World." Columbia Business School "Capital for Good" Podcast, 8 Nov. 2023, business.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/initiatives/capital-good-program/podcast/jung. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Byrnes, Nanette. “Avon: More Than Cosmetic Changes.” BusinessWeek 12 Mar. 2007: 62–63. Print.
Coleman-Lochner, Lauren. "Avon's Andrea Jung Exit Marks End of Era at Cosmetics Retailer." Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg, 6 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Himsel, Deborrah. Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon's Andrea Jung. New York: St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
Lublin, Joann S. "Andrea Jung, Former Avon CEO, to Run Microfinance Group." Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones, 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Setoodeh, Ramin. “Calling Avon’s Lady.” Newsweek 27 Dec. 2004: 98–101. Print.
Tarquino, J. Alex. “Selling Beauty on a Global Scale.” New York Times. New York Times, 31 Oct. 2008. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
Zong, Wubing. “Business Leaders.” Chinese American Forum 16.2 (Oct. 2000): 2–5. Print.