Leap Academy with Ilana Golan

Episode: The Powerhouse Behind MAC, Tom Ford Beauty & More: John Demsey’s Untold Career Lessons
Guest: John Demsey (former Executive Group President, Estée Lauder Companies)
Episode #136 | December 2, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features the legendary beauty industry executive John Demsey, former Executive Group President at Estée Lauder Companies and a driving force behind iconic brands such as MAC Cosmetics, Tom Ford Beauty, and Jo Malone. Host Ilana Golan explores John's unconventional journey—from a creative Midwestern upbringing to leadership at some of the world’s biggest beauty houses—uncovering his hard-won lessons on reinvention, navigating crisis, and the pivotal role of inclusion and experimentation in building global brands. John opens up about personal and professional setbacks, the art of continuous leaping, and his ongoing projects post-Estée Lauder.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Early Life and Influences

• Childhood in Ohio with Dual Influences
  • Industrialist father and artist mother exposed John to both business and creativity.
  • Early, broad travel and curiosity shaped his worldview.
  • "Growing up in a fairly normal place...my parents allowed me basically to leave and to explore and to immerse myself outside of my comfort zone..." (03:38)
• Exposure to Arts and Culture
  • Family’s involvement in textiles, fashion, and creativity from a young age.
  • Early love for escapism via art, film, music, and magazines.

Education & the Big Leap to California

• Decision to Attend Stanford (against the grain)
  • Sought a non-traditional, independent path.
  • Realized inclinations toward creativity while surrounded by the rise of Silicon Valley.
  • "I was interested in the arts, in creative, in style, in fashion, in filmmaking, in entertainment..." (07:14)

Entry into Beauty & Retail

• Parisian Awakening
  • Lived in Paris during college; exposure to Andy Warhol’s circle.
  • Saw the business behind fragrance, fashion, and art.
  • "Being there as a student, I was in the middle of watching the entire factory underground scene..." (10:12)
• Family Influence: Jovan Musk Connection
  • Relative succeeded in the entrepreneurial beauty space, proving the industry was accessible.
  • "My grandmother's first cousin...created Jovan...the pheromone Musk sex fragrance of the 70s and the 80s." (12:28)
• Embracing Job Hopping & Learning
  • Early career spanned Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Revlon, Benetton.
  • Gained a panoramic understanding of beauty and retail, which later gave him a unique edge.
  • "After my Macy's job, I never looked for a job ever again. It always came to me based on my work." (19:15)

Career Philosophy & Early Lessons

• The Power of Experimentation & Generalist Experience
  • Emphasizes the benefits of varied roles for perspective and empathy.
  • "If you don't expose yourself to a lot of things...you don't know what you don't know." (13:41)
  • "My advice...is figure out what you love, what you're passionate about, and figure out how you fit into that world..." (23:06)
• Learning From Failure and Naysayers
  • "I learned probably more from the people that didn't wish me well..." (24:10)

Revolutionary Leadership at MAC

• Mac Cosmetics Transformation

  • Joined MAC when it was a $60 million, indie brand.
  • Embraced its countercultural, inclusive ethos; scaled it globally.
  • "The only piece of advice I was given was, 'Go make MAC more MAC than it ever was.'" (27:09)

• Building Brand Identity & Culture

  • Bridged the “men in blue suits” (corporate) and “men and women in black” (MAC creatives).
  • Cultivated internal talent, kept original voices, and learned the business from the ground up internationally.
  • "The answer is always in the room." (27:09)

• Impactful Philanthropy: MAC AIDS Fund

  • Grew the MAC AIDS Fund from $1 million to $500 million for HIV/AIDS causes—becoming the largest non-pharma funder in the world.
  • "I took the MAC AIDS Fund over...and I became the largest non pharma funder of HIV AIDS...I raised a half a billion dollars." (32:07)

Celebrity Partnerships & Shifting Culture

• Celebrity Collaborations & Authenticity
  • Early focus on drag queens & people of color, who were MAC’s real fans but not the industry’s norm.
  • Built relationships personally—bypassing traditional PR channels.
  • "I did it myself...I was fearless...I had the audacity to walk in and to ask, and I never accepted no for an answer." (40:07)
• On Influencer Culture Pre-Social Media
  • Highlights how the “girl next door” changed as beauty democratized via pop culture.
• Global Expansion Pre-Digital
  • Personally embedded in diverse markets worldwide to understand and adapt the brand, before social media or online connectivity.

Reinventing at Tom Ford Beauty & Fragrance

• Building Tom Ford Beauty
  • Convinced Estée Lauder to back Tom Ford before he had a standalone brand.
  • Revolutionized fragrance by focusing on bold, diverse, unisex scents for overlooked audiences.
  • "We didn’t do any market research. I said I want to just do the best and I want to see the inclusivity and diversity in luxury that I saw in a democratic way from MAC." (45:57)
• Industry-wide Impact
  • Inspired new paradigms in luxury beauty; spurred entire industry trends.

Navigating Crisis: The Cancellation Event & Reinvention

• The Instagram Incident
  • During COVID, rapidly grew social media presence; mistakenly posted a meme seen as offensive.
  • Felt the full force of “cancel culture,” lost his job, reputational harm, family affected.
  • "The narrative went from John Demsey, the builder of inclusion and diversity...to being framed as an old, entitled, wealthy racist..." (54:46)
• Personal and Professional Reckoning
  • Processed anger, guilt, loss; ultimately chose not to let the incident define him.
  • "I was afraid to go out. I couldn't even walk into a department store. I was physically ill." (58:59)
• Choosing Resilience & Authenticity
  • Focused on family, created a book (Behind the Blue Door), returned to art and personal passions, embraced the need to continue “being you.”
  • "All that matters is that I'm true to myself." (66:42)

Current & Future Endeavors

• Senior Advisor & Creative Consultant Roles
  • Advising at El Katterdin on Kiko Milano’s global expansion.
  • Consulting for Gap Inc. on their venture into beauty.
  • Ongoing luxury projects (within NDA limits).
• Outlook on Disruption in Beauty
  • Stresses the industry's shift toward community, fragmentation, and digital fluency.
  • "Large corporations...used to mass merchandise techniques, they don’t work the same way anymore." (51:38)
• On Staying Relevant
  • Sees himself as “current,” always connecting with younger generations, never aging out of curiosity or impact.

Life Lessons & Final Advice

• Don’t Hurry
  • "Don't be in such a hurry...You need to know your strengths, you need to know what your value add is and where you make a difference if you want that kind of life." (63:41)
• Embrace Reinvention & Experimentation
  • "My story is a story of...always reinventing, always at the forefront." (64:58)
• Be Authentic Regardless of Criticism
  • "All you can do is define yourself by your actions and be a good person." (67:18)
• Take Leaps, Even Without a Safety Net
  • "Sometimes with no one below me to catch me, and sometimes getting hurt, but never giving up." (66:04)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Not Having a Master Plan:
  "I didn't have a master plan. I just knew I wanted to do something that was creative, inventive, exciting. That was not the standard path that all my friends took."
  (15:17 – John Demsey)

• On Career Experimentation:
  "If you don't expose yourself to a lot of things, you don't know what you don't know and you don't know what you don't like until you try it."
  (13:41 – John Demsey)

• On Building MAC’s Success:
  "The answer is always in the room. You don't have to leave the room."
  (27:09 – John Demsey)

• On Inclusive Entrepreneurship:
  "I was fearless...willing to take risks. Business risks, personal risks, reputational risks, doing things that were wildly commercial or wildly uncommercial."
  (40:07 – John Demsey)

• On Enduring Disruption & Reinvention:
  "Nothing is permanent. The only thing that's consistent to me...is that beauty, it's a universal aspiration."
  (51:38 – John Demsey)

• On His Biggest Advice:
  "Don't be in such a hurry...You need to know your strengths, you need to know what your value add is and where you make a difference..."
  (63:41 – John Demsey)

Notable Timestamps

• Early childhood, family & influences: 03:38 – 07:14
• Paris & early exposure to fashion/arts: 10:12 – 12:19
• First jobs & learning through industry: 15:17 – 22:43
• On experimentation & career adaptability: 23:06 – 25:27
• How MAC came into play & scaling the brand: 27:09 – 32:07
• Building the MAC AIDS Fund: 32:07 – 36:45
• Celebrity collaborations & influencer strategy: 39:36 – 41:45
• Creating Tom Ford Beauty: 45:54 – 51:38
• Reflection on industry disruption & digitalization: 51:38 – 54:13
• Navigating public crisis/cancellation: 54:46 – 62:33
• New ventures & advice for next generation: 62:37 – 66:37
• Authenticity, legacy, and moving forward: 66:42 – 68:56

Episode Tone

Frank, inspirational, self-deprecating, and practical. John shares stories with candor and humility, offering both hard truths and uplifting encouragement.

For Listeners Considering a Leap

• Embrace a winding, unpredictable path; career leaps and setbacks often lead to the most transformative growth.
• Dare to experiment widely and absorb experience from every role and interaction.
• Stay authentic, even in the face of public criticism or failure.
• Never stop reinventing; curiosity and relevance are lifelong pursuits.

End of Summary