Sherilyn McCoy, formerly senior executive at Johnson & Johnson, was named CEO of Avon. She starts in her new position at the beauty products company on April 23.

McCoy moves from a career of thirty years at Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey. In 1982, with a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton, she began as a scientist in the consumer research and development division. Steadily rising through the company’s structure, McCoy was most recently vice chair of the executive committee. J&J’s chairman and CEO William Weldon credited McCoy with making important contributions to the company’s pharmaceutical and consumer businesses.

Avon, founded over 125 years ago with its direct sales approach of beauty products, gave women an opportunity to earn money in sales at a time when not many worked outside the home. Since then, Avon has grown to a global company with 6.4 million representatives in over 100 countries, according to its website. McCoy will have the responsibility of developing and implementing a strategy to restructure the company and increase sales in key markets, including the United States, Brazil and Russia.