When Leslie Blodgett became CEO of Bare Escentuals in 1994 — the company was then a tiny maker of bath and body products — she saw a huge opportunity selling healthy mineral-based makeup. But she didn’t quite realize how many women she could reach until she made a pitch on late-night TV. The company’s rapid growth led to a 2006 IPO, followed by the sale of the company this year for $1.7 billion to Shiseido, the Japanese beauty giant. Today, Bare Escentuals, based in San Francisco, has 130 boutiques in the U.S. and one in the U.K., and employs 2,200.

I’ve been working since I was 10. My parents got divorced when I was 9, and my mother raised me, my brother, and my sister on a teacher’s salary. She was tough. I probably would have been very lazy if she weren’t always on my ass.

My first real job was at McDonald’s. There was a girl there who taught me how to apply double shades of eye shadow, which I still do today. I always loved makeup, even though my mother didn’t approve. She was into the women’s-lib movement. She never remarried, loved her independence, and always told me to have my own career. Whenever I went out with a guy, I’d always pay for myself. I didn’t want men to think that they had anything on me.

I spent my first two years at Oswego State partying. My mom read about a new program in cosmetics marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, but I needed experience to even apply. My first interview was at the Christian Dior counter at Gimbels, on 86th Street, but I wasn’t their type. Bloomingdale’s wouldn’t hire me, either, so I waited outside the buying-office door every day until they gave me a commission job selling hair sticks. I made 21 percent of all sales and ate a lot of popcorn and ramen noodles.

By then, I’d been accepted to FIT. I took on part-time jobs, including one at the Ultima II counter at Macy’s. That’s where I learned about makeup application — and that the makeup counter is a terrible place. The saleswomen were angry and mean. Then I met Keith. He was the first guy who insisted on paying for dinner. We got married very quickly. I think I was looking for a guy who could take care of me emotionally.

I got a job at Max Factor in product development and discovered I had a really good eye for color. I moved quickly from assistant to manager. The company was sold to Revlon, which was then bought by Procter & Gamble. I was surrounded by younger M.B.A.’s who were making more than me and had attitudes. I resented that. As a result, I didn’t hire M.B.A.’s for years — I wanted passionate people coming up through the industry. I’ve since learned that you need balance.

Keith worked in film production, and we agreed that whoever was making more money would keep working when we started a family. Our son, Trent, was 3 months old when I took a job with Neutrogena. Keith has been a stay-at-home dad ever since. He does everything around the house. I don’t even know how to turn on the dishwasher.

In 1994, John Hansen, part of an investor group that owned Bare Escentuals, called me. I’d never heard of the company, which made the first mineral-based makeup line and had six stores in Northern California. Back then, everyone used liquid foundation, which seeped into your pores and gave you zits. A powder foundation that was good for your skin made great sense, but the shades Bare Escentuals had created weren’t working. They were gross. I knew complexions and how to match skin tones — and I saw a huge opportunity. John hired me, and I became CEO within a few months.

I relaunched the line as bareMinerals, with six eye shadows, six blushes, five foundations, and brushes. There were seven of us in the office just winging it.

By the fourth quarter of 1996, I thought we weren’t going to make it. I spent many sleepless nights worrying. There was not much on TV at 2 a.m., so I found myself watching a smiling woman on QVC selling jewelry and thinking, I could do that. I bought a white suit and a $29 fake 5-carat diamond ring and decided to give it my best shot.

I went on air August 30, 1997 — the day Princess Diana died. I said things like, “Do you want to make your skin break out even more? Then don’t try my product. But if you’re interested in something pure that you can actually sleep in, then let’s talk.” That day, we sold $45,000 worth of product. My heart was pounding when I walked off the set. I started screaming, “You rock!” to the host, Lisa Robertson, who’s now my best friend.

Women liked the product but had questions. I went online daily to respond but couldn’t keep up. And then I noticed other women were answering for me. That inspired me to start hosting events at our boutiques. I invited people to come share ideas and tips. I started naming new products after loyal fans.

I was scheduled every six weeks on QVC but realized I needed more time to talk about the application process. Infomercials seemed a great way to do that. Suddenly, we had the ability to get our message out daily if we wanted to.

The infomercials were a success, but people couldn’t find the product. So I focused on distribution. Sephora was an especially hard sell. I sent a white limo to Sephora’s headquarters, which is right down the street, and brought the buyers to our boutique. It worked. A few years later, Nordstrom called.

Big bashes get a lot of notice. So we had a cruise for customers to the Bahamas and then one to Mexico. It was like a giant slumber party: We dressed up and danced and had fun. Then, I took a bus tour of our boutiques and we hosted events. I’d talk about our products as well as my thighs. And my Spanx.

In the mid-2000s, we started growing too fast and couldn’t keep up with demand, so there were a lot of lost sales. We hired Myles McCormick as our chief financial officer in 2004: He’s an M.B.A., and so I’ve learned to love M.B.A.’s. He’s now the CEO, and I’ve become executive chairman. Myles has always done the hard math and business analysis. I make decisions from the gut.

I’ve received thousands of letters. One woman wrote: “Dearest Leslie, I’ve always been overweight. I’ve never felt pretty. I lived without cosmetics for 15 years. In 2008, my younger sister convinced me to try bareMinerals. I did — and then I cried. Finally, at 49 years old, I was pretty.” She’s one of my angels now, part of my volunteer ambassador program. We send these women samples, and they talk about the product to friends, strangers, and colleagues.

Why am I here? Because women want to feel pretty. If I have a bad day, I read these letters before I go to sleep at night. They remind me of what we do. It’s powerful. I don’t want to be a business. I want to be a community.

Not long ago I had lunch with the vlogger and lifecaster Sarah Austin. We ate on the patio at Aureole and not ten minutes in she asked if I we could shoot our interview for a reality show she is doing. She said she’d send me what she wanted to use before it went live and wouldn’t ask for a release until I gave her approval.

I agreed and she rolled tape.

Looking back, I realize this is what Austin does. She turns her life into content. And at the same time she is reinventing not only what it means to be a media personality, but is also defining the concept of the individual being the new network.

Austin hosts a weekly Webcast on Justin.tv/pop17 that attracts 50,000 viewers and has been endorsed by, among others, Leonardo Dicaprio, Steve Wozniak, and Demi Moore.

We recently spoke about online influence and our conversation landed on the question of when we thought was the best time to break news. We instantly realized it was a subject other people would be interested in too. So I asked Austin to produce a broadcast that revealed the best time to not only tweet and post, but also when to pitch editors of top tech and news sites, as well as tips for getting your voice heard above the social media din of everyone trying to capture their 15 minutes of fame.

Read the Q&A, then prepare to reschedule your programming.

Mark Borden: When did you first go online?

Sarah Austin: I was 10 in 1996 and my dad had a PC in his home office. Under his supervision, he would let me go online.

What is the most interesting thing you’re working on right now?

I’m relaunching Pop17 as a new media brand that tells personal stories and tracks and analyzes Internet fame, social media news, tech tools, and trends.

Over the last two years, I’ve told the tales of social media influencers. Now I’m chronicling the next generation. The people who have influenced me and told me their stories are now collaborating with Pop17 and contributing videos, blogs, live shows, tweets, events; while simultaneously building out their personal brand.

The more a contributor posts and interacts on our Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as pop17.com, the more social capitol they earn for media spotlights, features, and promotion in their social media field. Badges will appear on their pages to show their level of engagement. Influence is not top down, it’s circular and cross-distributed. It will be interesting to see how the contributors will leverage Pop17 to tell stories and build their brands.

How do you gauge a person’s online influence?

Virgil said, “Follow an expert.” If social media had a king, he would say: “Follow an expert you like on Twitter and Facebook.”

Influence is about behavior, social capitol, and a likable personality. Social perception, impression management, and persuasion are the three pillars of social capitol. It’s less about how many fans and followers you have, and more about what other people say about you and the psychology of persuasion.

Robert B. Cialdini points out that politicians use celebrities to sway votes. The association to celebrities can be linked to the way people make assumptions that we are like our friends.

Duncan Watts revokes the influencer theory to some extent, stating that true influence will never be traceable. However, Watts misses the phatic dimension. In Roman Jakobson’s work, Phatic‚ communication is when someone says, “Sorry I can’t hear you, your breaking up. I have bad reception.” Micro-blogging and online communities host most phatic conversations. Despite Watts‚ findings, the influence debate will go on and on, and in my opinion, authenticity and personality are at the core of influence.

Who do you influence and how?

The social media marketing, new media PR and entrepreneur crowd. Personal branding gurus and tech heads tend to follow my voice. I’m influential to an emerging market on the brink of Internet stardom. The video blogging, new media, creative entrepreneur crowd is listening as well as the technology enthusiast crowd.

18-35 year olds are the largest demographic I influence, but of these people I reach, many often ask, “How can my social media savvy translate to business?”

I reach an average 50,000 people with one hour live on Justin.TV. I engage with comments and questions live and that makes for a truly connected experience that cannot be replicated by mainstream media. I provide information to business minded people looking for a fresh take on technology from a user’s perspective.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I’ve always wanted to be the first to do something.

To this day I want to start a revolution in new media.

In the spring of 2007, when Justin Kan asked me to lifecast my life 24/7 with wearable technology to his Web site. I did. I was not alone and others like Lisa Batey, Jody Gnant, and Justine Ezarik joined.

We said that it was a trend in exhibitionism and transparency that everyone would soon be doing. To an extent, we were right. Lifecasting today has evolved into sharing images, videos, tweets, location based updates, and blogs about day-to-day life.

The most mundane moments have become voyeuristically enchanting. I would chat with my viewers while out to lunch and keep a camera running. Other times I’d strap the Webcam to my hat and take them around town in San Francisco and New York City.

As a student of social experimentation, I once updated a calendar on 30boxes that acted like a lifecast TV guide to my personal schedule. I would take my lifecast to tech and media events where I’d encourage others to join the movement.

Describe the last time someone in your network inspired you do something–even something as small as clicking on a link to a great video or a revealing site?

Nerdfiighters are changing the world one video at a time. The VlogBrothers (Hank and John Green) collaborate with their audience–the nerdfighters– annually as a way to raise PR for charity using the power of YouTube. Alan Lastufka, a fellow nerdfighter, sent me a link to Hilary Clinton’s annual U.S. Department of State Exchanges Connect contest calling for short film submissions. Instead of submitting my own film entry, I filmed and submitted my little sister’s video.

My 17 year-old sister has some troubles at school and is moving around from school to school, so I felt she could use a summer exchange. Guess what? She won!

What’s one thing you’ve done online that lit up your network and caused a major reaction?

In an interview with YouTube founder, Steve Chen, I broke the news that YouTube would be introducing live video streaming.

How much time do you spend on your Wall, your Feed, your Lifestream, Updates, Tweets or other social media?>

Around 30 hours a week.

What is your favorite blog?

Personal Branding Blog

What is your worst experience in the digital world?

My twitter account, @SarahAustin, was hacked by a phishing scam and posted sales tweets without my knowledge.

Twitter Tombstone: In 140 characters or less, how would you like to be remembered?

I’d like to leave a legacy in new media… just sayin’.