Angela grew up in communist Romania. Her life seemed predetermined… as though her story had already been written before she had even lived it. Equality manifested itself as uniformity, and stability as the absence of choice… as the absence of freedom. She hungered to express herself in a way that felt true to her. She wanted to challenge herself, explore her talents and find out what she was truly capable of, but only ended up stifled, severely limited by her environment… Till she found destiny calling at the beloved and iconic beauty company, Avon. Angela’s journey from a tiny sea side town in Romania, to CEO of one of the most iconic beauty brands of our time, is nothing short of remarkable‼️ When she left Avon after 25 years, there was an outpouring of love from her people that is truly rare. What is fascinating is how many sales reps acknowledged her impact on them, often recounting a treasured personal memory with her. Now, that’s true leadership ‼️ In this episode, we explore : ✅ Angela’s early years in communist Romania and how that shaped her purpose ✅ Her quest for self empowerment and how unlocking that for others became a core leadership philosophy ✅ How living across US, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia has helped her grow as a leader ✅ Why she said ‘NO’, when first asked to be CEO of Avon❗️ ✅ How she architected the epic transformation of the 140 year old Avon from a heritage brand to a modern omnichannel powerhouse, slashing products formats from >50,000 to 3000, and organization hierarchy from 11 layers to 5‼️ ✅ The leadership lesson she learnt the hard way ✅ How she overcame her limiting beliefs ✅ Her impact - from teams, consumers, and female founders to survivors of domestic violence ✅ A very fun Rapid Fire‼️ This is a truly compelling episode, packed with so many phenomenal stories, inspiring lessons, insights and so much wisdom‼️ About Angela Cretu: Angela Cretu is a global CEO, Non-Executive Director and Angel Investor who has reinvented iconic brands and led transformation across more than 60 markets. As Chief Executive Officer of Avon, she transformed a heritage beauty company into a modern omnichannel business, accelerating digital growth, restoring profitability, and embedding sustainability and women’s empowerment at the heart of its strategy. With more than 25 years of international leadership experience spanning beauty, consumer and technology-driven businesses, Angela is a trusted board leader on governance, artificial intelligence, ESG and strategic growth. Throughout her career, she has also been a passionate advocate for women’s economic independence, safety and opportunity, working across business, philanthropy and advocacy to advance women’s voices and strengthen their ability to thrive. She has guided organizations through complex market shifts, restructurings and bold innovation, always with a strong belief that performance and purpose reinforce one another. Known for bringing diverse stakeholders around a shared ambition, Angela now combines board leadership with angel investing, mentoring and advocacy, supporting the next generation of leaders and female founders to build businesses and institutions with lasting impact. About Shahana Banerjee: Shahana is a Strategic Advisor, Certified Executive Coach and member of the elite Forbes Coaches Council. She helps leaders navigate through challenging points of inflection in their business, in their teams, their careers and their own leadership journey. Setup a 30 minute free intro call with her at https://justhuman.io. Learn more about her executive coaching services at https://justhuman.io/coaching/
