January 1, 2001

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Innovators And Influencers 2001

A New-Generation Avon Lady

Harriet Edelman's creed: Find balance and have fun

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

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ou could call Harriet Edelman the Ultimate Avon Lady. The 18-year company veteran, now senior VP and CIO, knows Avon Products Inc. inside and out. She also has the personality, energy, smarts, and influence to help make the cosmetics giant a Web-savvy business. "Harriet brings together the old and new. She understands technology, but she also understands what the capabilities of technology mean in the Avon world," says Adam Kuta, Avon's senior director of customer relations and retail systems.

In other words, the cost and efficiency benefits of the Internet have to complement Avon's legendary direct-sales model. With Edelman's guidance, Avon has tread lightly as it moves into E-business: It can't afford to alienate its network of 450,000 independent U.S. representatives or its nearly 2.5 million overseas reps as it moves sales online. Globally last year, those reps sold direct to 95% of consumers of makeup, skin-care sundries, jewelry, and other products generating Avon's $5.3 billion in revenue.

But Edelman has a plan. "The company is 100 years old, but we have to rethink the business as a startup," says Edelman, who was previously VP of global operations before taking on the CIO job last February. The goal is to offer customers "an integrated hybrid experience--high-quality and high-touch," she says.

If anyone understands how to strike a balance and rally the troops at the same time, it's Edelman. "She's very spunky, yet brings a calming effect to those around her," says Debby Pinon, a database project manager who's worked at Avon for 22 years and with Edelman for many years before joining her in IT.

CHARITABLE WORK : Habitat for Humanity; director for the Police Athletic League and Junior Achievement

FAVORITE VACATION PASTIMES: Traveling and visiting museums. "I'm not a sit-on-the-beach person."

Keeping morale high and promoting fun is another of Edelman's talents. She helps organize staff social gatherings, and she plays softball--usually second base or right field. She encourages staff to participate in charitable and community-outreach programs, including Habitat for Humanity, and is a director and board member for the Police Athletic League and on the board of Junior Achievement.

Last fall, Edelman completed Avon's 60-mile walk for breast cancer. She was well-prepared for the walk because she rides her stationary bike for a half-hour every night while reading The Wall Street Journal. She usually gets home in time to put her 8-year-old daughter to bed, and then spends two to three hours working online and checking E-mail. It helps that her husband, a former Avon executive, stays home with their daughter.

She faces other challenges this year as Avon targets high-growth markets such as teens, who are strongly attracted to the Internet. Avon is investigating partnerships that provide teen-oriented content and entertainment, in addition to selling Avon products.

Edelman also helped launch several hundred cosmetics counters in Sears and J.C. Penney stores this year, and her organization is responsible for IT support for those retail operations. But those are the kind of assignments she thrives on. She says: "I like leading the big challenges, rather than just improving things a little bit here, a little bit there."

Photo by Catrina Genovese

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