If you are anything like me, when you envision the CEO of a cosmetics company you may picture an authoritative figure wearing a designer outfit with an executive assistant sitting right outside their door, waiting to answer every beckoning call. Ok, The Devil Wears Prada may have influenced this vision a bit, but the fact remains that we often perceive these high power individuals to be intimidating, untouchable, and far removed from everyday people or everyday life just in general.

While that may be true for some corporations, let me set the record straight here at Paula’s Choice. I would know; I’m Paula’s assistant! First of all, I have to start out by mentioning that in the 30 years Paula has been flying around the world educating women about skin care, and running Paula’s Choice, this is the first time she has had an assistant. I’m flabbergasted at how she managed to juggle it all on her own (though to the credit of the office, she has had great support). Nonetheless, let’s get down to the details you really want to know…

Is Paula a diva? Well, she does like her Perrier mineral water and flying first class (but she flies me first class, too, so that part of her being a diva is fine with me), yet in reality Paula is about as down-to-earth as they come. Some days she comes into the office dressed to the nines, but other days she’s completely comfortable sporting a casual ensemble. She’ll be the first one to greet everybody as she enters the building, compliment you on a new hair cut, or stop to play with the dogs in the office. It’s easy to tell when Paula is here because you can usually hear a roar of laughter before she has even made it up to her office on the second floor. (Speaking of laughter, she has been known to interrupt a meeting to play a funny video she just saw on YouTube, but you didn’t hear that from me.)

Another surprising fact is how hands-on Paula is. You might typically think of a CEO as someone who has “people” for everything, but as busy as Paula may be, she will actually read letters from customers and take the time to respond. She holds weekly meetings with our Customer Service department to keep them up-to-date with the latest information, as well as get feedback on what our customers have to say. Even when she is traveling across the globe to different time zones, Paula will wake up at 3am to do her online radio show. Every product development idea, Beautypedia.com review, or Paula’s Choice promotion goes through Paula.

Last, but certainly not least, what sets Paula apart as a CEO and as The Cosmetics Cop is her capacity to relate to people. Fans catch a glimpse of this on her weekly radio show where Paula tells all from her struggles with puberty and acne as a teen, to her experiences with menopause and plastic surgery. Paula has sincere empathy for the skin-care issues that her customers, fans, friends, and employees face and she is always there to lend advice and sometimes even some free products. Moreover, what other CEO would recommend products outside of their own? Only someone who is dedicated to helping you find the best products for your skin. Now that’s a far cry from what most of us would picture of any CEO from any other company in the world.