Roger Cushing was always the first person to arrive at Glamor-a-Go-Go’s corporate headquarters. He needed the quiet of the early morning to get ready for the craziness of the day—and days at Glamor-a-Go-Go were always crazy. But good crazy, Roger reminded himself. The company had just opened its 120th store, and 15 more were in the works. Not only did customers love the Glamor-a-Go-Go formula—department store cosmetics at drugstore prices—but they also couldn’t get enough of the company’s “Girl Power” line of private-label cosmetics. No wonder sales and profits were skyrocketing. And even more frenetic growth was in sight—with a bold plan to take the company global within 18 months. As head of Glamor-a-Go-Go’s marketing group, Roger himself was deeply involved in preparing for that giant leap.
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 1999 issue of Harvard Business Review.