The Maybelline Story Inspires young Entrepenures to never give up on their dreams and for families to leave a legacy for their children

I've had a passion for my family history since I was in Jr. High School.  I have to give credit to my grandmother, Evelyn Williams, for lighting the fire in my heart for my family's history.  She told me about the birth of the Maybelline company and how my Great Auntie Mabel, mixed the ashes with Vaseline and dabbed it on her brows and lashes to make them grow.   She also told me how my great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, a 19 year old entrepenure with a small mail-order business in 1915, brought mascara into the world and named his company Maybelline after his sister, who gave him the idea. My grandmother, suggested I tell the Maybelline Story for my speech class.  I did and got an “A.”  The little Maybelline story won me popularity overnight and from that moment on, I wanted to uncover the secrets about the people who shaped the company and my life. 

I spent time with all my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, collecting stories, photographs and vintage Maybelline ads for years and years.  Then, in 1978, when my grandmother, Evelyn,  was killed in an arson related fire, I was determined not to let her memory die.  I vowed to write her story.  So, for the last the next 20 years, I practiced intensive journal keeping, using the Ira Progoff system, until found my writer's voice.  

When a fire took my own home in 1993 and all my family heirlooms with it, I turned to my father, Bill Williams, for support, to help me recall my family's history.  We'd get together every week, while rebuilding my home for over two and a half years and eventually I finished a 963 page manuscript about the Maybelline family and Maybelline's history.

After three years of working with a publisher, my manuscript was edited a dozen times, and  The Maybelline Story was born.  I hope it  inspires, entertains and will leave a legacy for the people I love who have passed on and encourage young entrepreneurs to never give up on their dreams.  If my grandmother hadn't ignite my passion to tell my story, I believe a piece of America's history would have been lost forever.  I ask that other people would research their roots and leave their priceless for their children and grandchildren.  

Bill Williams, Evelyn Williams, Tom Lyle Williams, Emery Shaver, 1934

Family History is the greatest gift one can pass on.  Connecting with your background is a priceless gift, according to my grandmother Evelyn, because... it 's the one thing that can never be taken away from you.