Roberta Burd, original CEO and founder of Lady Burd Cosmetics, has passed away.
For decades, Burd led the private label manufacturer of color cosmetics, skin care and other beauty products, which serves entrepreneurs, brands and retailers alike.
She was also ahead of her time. As her granddaughter says, "She was a woman entrepreneur when women were barely working at all. She was a 'woman in STEM' before STEM was even a thing. She let new mothers work from home or bring their kids to work before 'work from home' was even coined, and before 'work life balance' was even a concept."
Beyond being a beauty industry fixture and innovator, Burd was a beloved mother and grandmother. Here, her granddaughter, Samantha Burd, shares her memories:
In memory of my grandmother, Roberta Burd, founder and forever-CEO of Lady Burd Cosmetics:
They say to never meet your heroes … but mine was the matriarch of my family, let my parents raise me in a nursery in her office building, let me be her roommate on and off through the years, and took me to brunch every Sunday with her girlfriends when we both lived in Florida. I not only got to meet my hero, but I got to bask in her glow and watch the respect she demanded everywhere she went.
It is so difficult to sum up into words what Grandma Roberta encompasses to me and everyone else. She managed to be so much in a 5’ frame. It really is impossible to state everything she means to me, everything she’s accomplished, and all the crazy stories that became the fabric of her life.
I need to start with how proud I am to be her only granddaughter, which she also proudly never let anyone forget. It’s such an honor to go into work every day knowing she built everything around me. To sit in the office she used to sit in and try to carry on her legacy is the most important thing in the world to me. There is nothing that makes me prouder than customers coming to the booth at trade shows, asking for grandma, and getting to tell them I’m her granddaughter. She has accomplished more in her lifetime than anyone I know, and I take any chance I get to proudly tell her story.
I’m in the rare position amongst my peers where not all my friends know the name of my parents or my brother, but EVERYONE knows about Grandma Roberta. I brag about her every chance I get. If you’ve met me, you’ve heard about my Grandma Roberta. To have feisty 5’ Jewish makeup mogul from Brooklyn be the inspiration and role model for your life is really something to brag about. I never tire of seeing people’s reactions when I tell them the story of Lady Burd, the story of Grandma’s life, and how she was always so ahead of the times. She was a woman entrepreneur when women were barely working at all. She was a “Woman in STEM” before STEM was even a thing. She let new mothers work from home or bring their kids to work before “work from home” was even coined, and before “work life balance” was even a concept.
Grandma is the reason I have everything I have. She’s the reason over 100 people have jobs, and thousands have their own businesses. She’s the reason I have a place I love to go into work every day. She’s the reason that everything I have in my life is possible. She’s the reason February 17th is a national holiday in our family. She’s the reason I’m never shy about playing favorites, the reason I’ve been wearing makeup since I was 4 years old, the reason I love to watch shark tank, the reason I love to drink out of huge mugs, and the reason I got a business degree. I’ve always wanted to be just like my Grandma Roberta.
Not only did she create a beautiful life for our family, but she built a world in which others could do the same for themselves. Allowing people to start their businesses with such little risk was so revolutionary of her, and she’s enabled so many other entrepreneurs to get their start and build the life of their dreams for their families too.
Since Grandma’s passing, I have received so many beautiful messages. My favorite one was actually very simple. It simply read, “Samantha, your grandma was a winner. Continue the tradition.”
Grandma was so many things; She was fearless, generous, wise, innovative, and a visionary. I still have trouble wrapping my head around everything she did and accomplished in her time… but to sum it up simply, she really was a winner above all else.
To say I idolize my Grandma Roberta is an understatement. The world will never be the same without our matriarch and the center of our universe. The whole world really revolved around her. It’s only been a few months since we’ve had to exist without her, but I know she’s already the CEO of heaven, and I can’t imagine a more fitting role for the Queen we all knew and loved.
