Christina A. Gold: wiring Western Union to the world.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: Executive Edge - Western Union Financial Services Inc.

After spending 30 years convincing women to buy another lipstick, Christina A. Gold now helps people who work outside their native countries send money home to their families. According to Fortune magazine, that's a market of 175 million people, ranging from Mexican workers in the U.S. to Chinese workers in Russia.

Gold, president of Greenwood Village-based Western Union Financial Services, is responsible for money transfers, bill payments and prepaid services globally. Gold was credited with transforming Avon, the cosmetics company, into a global, even hip brand. She'd started working for Avon in 1969, after earning a bachelor's degree at Carleton College in Ottawa. Gold began in Avon's clerical pool, but aided by her longtime mentor, a human resources executive, she fought her way into supervisory roles in Canada.

By 1997 she'd worked her way up to president of Avon North America and moved from Montreal to New York. "Because there are so many businesses in the U.S., the level of competition is much greater," she said. "It's a faster pace, and it's more exciting for me."

The accolades were also exciting. Magazines included her in their "Powerful Women" and "Ones to Watch" lists. BusinessWeek even predicted Gold would become the first female CEO of the more than 100-year-old company.

But that honor went to Andrea Jung in 1999. Gold moved on to Excel Communications, a Dallas telecommunications firm. She sold that firm and joined Western Union, a division of First Data Payment Services, in 2002.

Besides the money vs. makeup difference, Western Union has another dissimilarity from Avon. While Avon needed to be revived, Western Union simply wanted to be able to send payments to more countries than before. "I am very fortunate," Gold said. "I am in...