The beauty industry is powered by creative, capable people who work hard to keep consumers engaged with innovation and insightful products. Here, GCI offers a selection of a few of those dynamic personalities for 2011–2012.
Mally Roncal, Founder, Mally Beauty
Celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal began experimenting with color and makeup at an early age, using her mother as her model. She has now turned those experimentations into a $50 million-plus business.
With both her parents being physicians, her career began down a much different path, following in her parents’ footsteps of a pre-med education. But with her passion for art, makeup and fashion still burning, Roncal stepped off that path to explore the power of makeup. Her contagious enthusiasm and energy, evident in her QVC spots, as well as her talent with a makeup brush, make her one of the most in-demand makeup artists for some of the world’s top celebrities.
That hands-on, practical experience and natural curiosity about products and ingredients (while working part-time at the Shiseido counter at Barneys, she studied ingredient labels) translated into real insight to create a diverse range of products under a beauty philosophy that emphasizes healthy, breathable skin that looks flawless and dewy. “Makeup is simply the accessory that allows someone’s true nature and beauty to outwardly manifest itself,” she said.
Now, in addition to her QVC appearances, Roncal’s energy and passion for beauty and consumers finds an outlet in social media, where she partnered with Ustream, Inc. (www.ustream.tv) to conduct live “shows” to provide makeup tips, address viewer questions and host a forum to connect with her customers and gather their feedback in order to continue to build innovative products, develop the brand strategy and live her beauty philosophy.
Pascal Bordat, Vice President, Aveda R&D; Vice President, Botanical Technologies Division, The Estée Lauder Companies
When he joined The Estée Lauder Companies and Aveda in June 2010, Pascal Bordat brought with him more than 20 years of industry experience, including 10 years in a leadership role in the world’s largest botanical hair and skin R&D facility at the Pierre Fabre group in France, where he also managed 175 employees and served as a member of the executive committee.
An inventor of more than 20 international patents, some of which are still utilized in key beauty products, as well as the author of a number of scientific publications and associate professor to the University of Montpellier (France), Bordat has been more than just a man in a lab coat and has mentored a number of today’s thought leaders in the beauty industry.
Armed with, among other degrees, a master’s degree in industrial chemistry and a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences, he also has led product development for Henkel KGaA’s body and skin care brands and served as vice president of R&D for Johnson & Johnson, where he oversaw the new product pipeline for 57 countries and established a strategic research department with a strong foundation in pharmacology, formulation and clinical assessment.
Richard Anderson, Creator and Founder, Per-fekt
During his 15 years in the industry, Richard Anderson has successfully launched some of today’s leading beauty brands and held key roles at The Lancaster Group, Yves Saint Laurent and Bobbi Brown Essentials. However, he was driven to build his own brand to solve a frustration that he knew was growing for beauty fans: the desire for beauty but the lack of time for lengthy beauty rituals.
Anderson launched Per-fekt in 2005—and quickly built a successful global distribution and retail network—with a commitment to bring technologically advanced products that simplify beauty by merging advanced skin care formulations with color. The multifunctional products were designed to be quick, easy to apply and long-lasting.
Launching with one product—Skin Perfection Gel for the face—the brand has built a retail network that includes Sephora and Beauty Brands in the U.S., and Harvey Nichols and Fenwicks internationally. It is also sold through QVC.
Caroline Pieper-Vogt, CEO, Fusion Brands
“Caroline brings a fresh, creative and global perspective to Fusion Brands’ product development and branding,” Eugene Melnyk, owner and chairman of Fusion Brands Inc., said when he named Pieper-Vogt the new company’s CEO in 2009. And being fresh and creative with a rich background in real and effective beauty positions is a hallmark of the leaders that propel the industry.
A native of the U.K., Pieper-Vogt arrived in the U.S. in the early 1980s. Her intuition for business and persistent determination propelled her as she grew as a leader, absorbing an immense amount of industry knowledge along her path from a coordinator with Estée Lauder to senior vice president roles in marketing, sales and group business development at Clarins USA, and global vice president for Prada Beauty, among other positions. She brought knowledge and global perspective to the Fusion Brand’s research, development, manufacturing, distribution, and sales and marketing channels—allowing for a rapid and strategic expansion of the company into a global beauty entity.
Her talent for introducing fresh products and innovations to the market helped Fusion Brands foster a partnership with Sony Pictures and CBS Consumer Products to launch Jabot Cosmetics in 2011, one of the first fictional beauty brands to become available for purchase to consumers. Inspired by the beauty company portrayed on the daytime TV series The Young and the Restless, Jabot became a non-fiction premium collection of color cosmetics, skin care and fragrances.
Lewis Farsedakis, Founder and CEO, Blinc Inc.
Recognized multiple times by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., Blinc has averaged nearly 20% in annual growth and profitability since its inception in 1999. From 2005 to 2008, the company posted gains of 70.6%—with revenues of $2.5 million growing to $4.3 million. The numbers owe much to the business model and operational philosophy that Lewis Farsedakis put in place, as well as to his dedicated team, but the basis of the success may be more about his ability to crossbreed ideas and think about products and business in broader ways.
With interest, experience and success in the technology transfer, biotech and consumer goods industries, among others, Farsedakis has a talent for creating products that both fill a niche and meet universal needs—making Blinc’s tagline of “Innovation Meets Beauty” apropos.
Farsedakis, who speaks four languages, studied at Oxford University in the UK and holds an MBA from George Mason University in Virginia.
Ido Leffler, Co-founder, Yes To Inc.
Stocking shelves as a 16-year-old taught Ido Leffler three lessons, he told Beauty Inc. magazine: “Firstly, make every process as easy as possible for those working in stores. Secondly, make your product interesting. Thirdly, think about how the customer shops.”
It’s what is striking about Leffler—he’s an expressly unique individual (How many teenagers are noting shopping behaviors and retailing potential?) who can express the broadly universal in an actionable way—and it’s reflected in his company and products.
He’s built a company on lines that utilize just about everything you can find in a backyard vegetable garden—carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and blueberries—creating unique products with ubiquitous ingredients. Consumers across the globe are familiar with what’s in the products while recognizing the products themselves are idiosyncratic—an irresistible combination that’s helped Yes To grow from six products available in 16 doors when it launched in 2005 to more than 20 products across four lines available in 28,000 stores around the globe.