Charles Margerison - Amazing Entrepreneurs

My parents were impressed with the work of Florence Nightingale Maybe they thought I would also become a nurse They gave me her surname as my middle name Therefore, my birth certificate reads Florence Nightingale Graham Encouraged by this I trained as a nurse I found it was not the life for me Nor did I retain my name Born in Woodbridge, Canada, my early life was not easy My mother took ill and prayers for her recovery were not answered She died when I was only six years of age Father did his best, but we were not well off Rather than finish high school, I started work A number of temporary jobs gave me work experience None of them appealed to me Nor did the local guys, despite various invitations It was important to find a purpose and direction in my life As a person with energy and ideas, I decided to make a change In 1907, I went to New York My elder brother lived there and I joined him At 23 years of age, I was ready for a challenge The hustle and bustle and bright lights attracted me So did all the shops Fortunately, I gained work at E R Squibb Pharmaceuticals Officially, I was employed as a bookkeeper My real interest lay in the products they made In my spare time, I went to the laboratories It was a great opportunity to learn about skin care That led me to get a job with Eleanor Adair There, I developed skills as a treatment girl The cosmetic industry was taking off, and we had many clients Recognizing the opportunity, I formed a business partnership in 1909 My brother lent me 6000 dollars, and I repaid it in six months The shop on Fifth Avenue sold beauty products Elizabeth Hubbard was my partner, but we had differences When we split, I decided to continue in the business Marketing and retailing cosmetics Providing skin care and beauty treatments was important In developing my business, I decided to have a brand name That is how Elizabeth Arden came to be That surname was from Tennysons poem Enoch Arden The name Elizabeth was chosen because I liked it To gain wider experience, I needed to travel to Paris That was recognized as the centre of the cosmetics business Delegating my business operations was a big decision