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How I Built This with Guy Raz

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Beautycounter: Gregg Renfrew. She Built Beautycounter to $1B… Then Got Fired From Her Own Company

Apr 27, 2026 · 1h 17m

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Gregg Renfrew started a movement by making better-for-you cosmetics, then enlisted an army of women to build the business through direct sales. But after selling Beautycounter, she was pushed out of the company she created. Then she got to do something almost no founder gets to do: She bought her company back. Then lost it again. Then took the risky step of rebuilding it into a new brand, now called Counter. This is a story about ambition, humility, and second chances. Gregg learned her first lessons by launching an early online wedding registry and selling it to Martha Stewart. She briefly led a clothing company and was summarily fired— by messenger. In this candid conversation, Gregg…