section ii cew at 60 - women's wear daily · 2014: cew/bcg conduct an industry-wide study on...

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CEW CONNECTCEW U.K. & CEW France

Cancer and Careers

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Newsmaker ForumsYoung Executive Programs

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WWD FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014

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4

Roll CallThe CEW team gathers from across the

country in a rare group appearance.

WWD.COM

WWD FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014 5

PHOTO BY THOMAS IANNACCONE

FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Ben Klein, finance and operations assistant; Roch Minieri, controller; Landree Bower, manager of development; SECOND ROW, FROM LEFT: Rebecca Nellis, vice president, programs & strategy, C&C; Claudia Flowers, chief operating officer; Carlotta Jacobson, president; Lisa Klein, senior vice president, CEW; Andrea Nagel, vice president of content; My Tran, senior manager, programs & events; Kelsey Fenton, program coordinator, C&C; THIRD ROW, FROM LEFT: Randi Lloyd, vice president of marketing; Kate Sweeney, executive director, C&C; FOURTH ROW, FROM LEFT: Xylina Morales, associate manager, programs & events; Tara Russo Scott, senior manager, programs & events; Shari Beck, senior manager, member services; Delia Mitchell, marketing coordinator; Lindsay Keane, assistant marketing manager; Liz Bonofiglio, senior director, programs & events; Maria Ricci, finance manager; Martin Barfield, associate director of IT; Caroline Santana, executive assistant to the president; Casey Curnan, assistant manager of development; Lindsay Mitcher, development manager, C&C; Un Sin, director of development; LAST ROW, FROM LEFT: Sarah Goodell, associate manager of programs, C&C; Becky Nelsen, director of development, C&C.

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6 WWD FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014

WWDMILESTONES

1954: Cosmetic Career Women is established.1964: Cosmetic Career Women is renamed Cosmetic Executive Women.1975: The Achiever Awards are established.1986: CEW France is formed.1989: Estée Lauder is honored with the first Lifetime Achievement Award.1992: CEW U.K. is formed.1992: The first Newsmaker Forum runs and is led by Edwin Artzt, chairman and chief executive officer of Procter & Gamble.1993: The CEW Foundation is formed.1994: The Beauty Awards make their debut.1999: Carlotta Jacobson becomes president.2000: CEW consists of 400 members. 2001: Cancer and Careers launches.2002: Jeanette Wagner is honored with Lifetime Achievement Award.2003: Cancer and Careers launches a Spanish-language Web site and workbook.2004: The first Women in Beauty Series is held.2004: Cancer and Careers U.K. is formed.2004: The Young Executive Committee and program are established.2004: CEW membership reaches 850.2004: The Indie Beauty Award is established.2006: The Speed Networking event launches.2009: The Women in Beauty Series is introduced to the West Coast.2010: CEW and Boston Consulting Group release the first study on Women in the Beauty Industry.2010: CEW membership opens up to men, ending the year with 178 male members.2011: The Eco Beauty Award is established.2011: The Great Idea Award for Fragrance Innovation is created.2011: Cancer and Careers holds its first National Conference on Work and Cancer.2012: The Women and Men in Beauty Series bows with the first CEW panel discussion featuring men.2012: CEW’s Beauty Insider newsletter makes its debut.2012: CEW reaches 5,000 members.2013: CEW partners with NPD for its Hot Off the Press event.2013: CEW/NPD partner to deliver a proprietary Trends Forecast for CEW members.2013: QVC Beauty with Benefits raises $1 million to support Cancer and Careers.2013: The QVC Beauty Quest Award launches.2014: CEW male members reach 698.2014: CEW/BCG conduct an industry-wide study on talent requirements for the future.2014: CEW’s Top Talent Awards make their debut. 2014: CEW partners with Yahoo for Most Buzzed About Award.2014: Leonard A. Lauder will be the first man to receive the CEW Lifetime Achievement Award.2014: CEW consists of more than 6,000 members.2014: CEW Connect, its first interactive member directory, is introduced.

CEW Looks Back At 60 Years

Joan Lasker, CEW chairwoman, 1995

to 1996.

Jean Hoehn Zimmerman, CEW chairwoman, 1997 to 2001.

Robin Burns, CEW chairwoman,

2001 to 2004.

Jill Scalamandre, CEW chairwoman, 2004 to present.

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congratulations,CEW

with no wrinkles to show.

celebrating

beautiful60

years…

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Mission DirectorCEW president Carlotta Jacobson is laser-focused on recognition, moving the beauty industry forward, professional development and philanthropy. By Pete Born

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Carlotta Jacobson in her Manhattan office.

CEW

Coty congratulates and proudly supports

Cosmetic Executive Women

for

60 years of contributions to women in the cosmetics industry

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“YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY” may be an ad line from the Sixties, but it’s just as true today when de-scribing the evolution of the Cosmetic Executive Women organization.

In 60 years, it has grown from a small circle of lower- to midlevel staff-ers, known in 1954 as Cosmetic Career Women, to a huge, multifaceted orga-nization dedicated to helping female professionals advance.

CEW’s 54-member board is designed to represent the entire industry and in-cludes some of the industry’s highest-profile female leaders, including chief executive officers, group and division presidents, company owners and magazine editors. The organiza-tion consists of a number of compo-nent parts ranging from individual achievement and product awards to seminars with women executives and speeches by industry leaders to programs for young executives to a program that helps people stricken with cancer stay on the job. CEW’s structure resembles spokes in a wheel and at the hub is Carlotta Jacobson, the president of the or-ganization and the architect of its modern rise.

“Carlotta is the whirling der-vish that keeps us all focused on the purpose of the organization,” said Pamela Baxter, a board mem-ber and president and ceo of LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics NA and Christian Dior Inc. “As a leader, she is firm but fair and gathers consen-sus in an objective way that makes everyone feel included and heard.

“I have served on many nonprofit boards,” Baxter added, “none as well organized and managed as CEW.”

“Not only is she a motivating force, but Carlotta leads CEW with the perfect combination of passion and warmth,” said Gina Boswell, another board member and executive vice president of Unilever Personal Care NA.

Jacobson, a former beauty edi-tor at Harper’s Bazaar, came on the scene as a CEW board member at the urging of chairwoman Robin Burns, then president of Calvin Klein Cosmetics. Jacobson recalls the tenor of the organization at that time as mostly social, having been originally established because women had been excluded from the male-dominated organizations that existed then. “It didn’t have [a] mission,” she said. “It didn’t have a vision. I think the per-son that really saw the opportunity and the need to change things was Robin Burns. She wanted me to lever-age my access to the industry to actu-ally get things done. To make certain things happen.”

Jacobson noted that the orga-nizations that existed then in the Eighties, like the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association and the Fragrance Foundation, mainly repre-sented the industry through compa-nies. “Our idea was that it should be about individuals,” she noted. “So we only have individual members. There was a need for a platform for women. We wanted to promote professional development and charitable issues.” Jacobson likes to point out that CEW does not consider itself an event orga-nization, even though it hosts a series of speakers and seminars. It is aimed squarely at fostering the fulfillment of women professionals.

Jacobson became president in 1999

and the organization held a two-day off-site meeting in 2000.

CEW’s mission was built with three main pillars — recognition, philan-thropy and professional development. She noted, “what we offered was a view of the entire industry, the important people in the industry and what they thought. The education was more expe-riential. We filled in the places where companies could not go and gave a broader view. Let’s say you’re at Estée Lauder, and hear Ed Artzt [from Procter & Gamble] speak about the industry.”

Jacobson said the motivation be-hind launching the “Newsmaker”

speakers series, of which Artzt was the first, was to raise the visibility and relevance of CEW. “It changes [the corporate] perception of CEW from a women’s organization — it reflects on you as being important when you get important people to speak.”

As a way of promoting and show-casing the accomplishments of fe-male executives, there is also a se-ries of interviews, called the “Beauty Insider Series.”

“Because we have a cross sec-tion of members that attend, on the highest level, they’re your contem-poraries, so it’s interesting to hear what they’re thinking,” Jacobson con-tinued. “On a lower and midlevel, it’s aspirational, too.”

CEW board member Karen Fondu, president of L’Oréal Paris at L’Oréal USA, said, “when CEW started, its core mission was to bring together young executives and senior leaders through mentorship and other pro-grams specifically designed to give the new generation access to sea-soned role models. Over time, CEW has expanded its offerings such as online mentoring, news forums and industry newsletters to ensure they were arming women with all the tools and resources needed to succeed in the beauty industry.” She continued, “They have worked with external consultants and companies to create studies and benchmarks to shed light on what strengths top-ranking women executives bring to the industry.”

Asked what she hopes women will take away from the program that will allow them to be successful, Jacobson replied, “We can give them the infor-mation; we can inspire them.

“But,” she cautioned, “they have to direct their career, because no one is sitting there thinking about career ladders.”

One young participant was Dior’s Baxter, who still remembers getting off a plane in 1990 from California know-ing no one except the people at Lauder headquarters. She was a marketing director who found CEW to be a good place to hear a lot about marketing. “It

was really a learning experience and a safe environment for young women executives,” Baxter noted. “It was everyone’s mission to men-tor, educate and move young female executives up the ranks. I grew up in the organization.”

But when Jacobson started, it wasn’t easy. She recalled how there were fewer women in corpo-rate leadership positions then and the female advancement of women wasn’t a big discussion topic. “They were the workers,” she said. “They were in support positions. When I joined the board, there weren’t as many women as there are now that you could recruit,” Jacobson noted, adding that the goal was to recruit from the higher ranks. “We could go into a compa-ny and identify the highest level of women. So the difference between then and now is there are [more] women to choose from.”

“A few years ago, Carlotta start-ed on a journey with CEW to say [how can we] help women in the industry, and we made a very big decision to say we are a learn-ing organization,” said Lynne Greene, group president at the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. of Clinique,

Origins, Ojon, Aveda and Darphin.“One of things that we have be-

come is an organization that em-braces what is happening in the in-dustry and then we talk about all of those things that are happening in the industry,” she said, singling out a Boston Consulting Group study on career patterns of young professional women, who, for instance, may drop out of the workforce to have children. “Then a few years go by and it’s not that easy to reenter the workplace,” Greene recalled. “CEW took the po-sition to say to ceo’s, ‘You are much better to take these women and say, ‘Stay with us on a consultant basis. Let us retrain some of this.’’ It was encouraging women to stay connect-ed because [if] you take an absence from this industry for a short amount of time, you’re just plain out of touch. It also encourages corporations to keep these people in [mind] because they are high talent. In five to seven years, you can come back to them and you’ve got a talent base that you haven’t lost.”

Greene praised the informational value of CEW’s various speakers se-ries and lauded the impact Jacobson has had on the male establishment. “Corporations have paid attention to some of these initiatives,” Greene observed.

Despite the size of the board, it is often remarked that the group, now counting 54, is amazingly productive and focused. Their apparent sense of

camaraderie is somewhat surprising, considering that they compete with one another in their day jobs. Jacobson observed, “Even today, these are the biggest and most important women, big competitors. But once they came in here, it just wasn’t that way. They found this community of women, be-cause how else were they going to know each other? Maybe they all felt it was the struggle to get to where they were,” she said, speculating that per-haps the mission of improving the lot of women executives “was really what brought them together. We were very serious about that commitment. They very much wanted us to have a chari-table initiative and we were doing very important things. [CEW] was run truly like a business, with strategies, with goals and with metrics.”

Also, it has the scope of the indus-try. “It represents every single compa-ny,” Jacobson pointed out. “The manu-facturers are a little over 50 percent. The rest is composed of the suppliers, the retailers, publishing, media, p.r. and markets.”

“Carlotta has done an amazing job,” said board member Carol Hamilton, president of L’Oréal Luxe USA. “[She] realized from the beginning that she needed to include on her board key influencers from all aspects of the in-dustry. Everyone who has really con-tributed to the beauty industry in a leadership role has at some point been on that board.”

Hamilton added, “There was a real turning point when Robin Burns was chairwoman. She put together a mis-sion statement and a business plan with Carlotta and we talked about the very serious issue of gender equal-ity. We put together a whole plan. We did research and actually presented it to all the ceo’s in May 2009. We really wanted to have an official statement about the issues facing women in beau-ty as opposed to just gender equality as a non-industry-specific group. The board has tackled very serious and sensitive issues. The other very seri-ous and very huge accomplishment is Cancer and Careers.”

Wendy Liebmann, ceo of WSL Strategic Retail and a board member, noted that one of Jacobson’s talents is the ability to enlist “the skills and voice of the board members to get things done.” She also is able to keep the agenda on course while “knowing how to bring [the board] along.”

In discussing the development of CEW, Jacobson is careful to credit board members like Jill Scalamandre, senior vice president of the Philosophy brand and Coty Prestige Skin Care at Coty Inc., who instituted a lot of the disciplines; Jill Granoff, chairman and ceo of Vince Holding Corp., in the ear-lier days; and vice chairwoman Heidi Manheimer, chief executive officer of Shiseido Cosmetics America, who heads the CEW Foundation.

“We are a not-for-profit that runs like a for-profit,” Jacobson said. “Because we had to speak the same language, we had to be on the same page, we couldn’t just say we’re not-for-profit, so we have different rules because no one was on a not-for-profit board. You have to know about the companies in order to attract and maintain our board members and com-panies. We had to have the same disci-pline to get their support.”

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That mission was surely accom-plished, judging from the names and titles on the board. “It turned out very well indeed,” said Annette Green, who was one of the original mem-bers in 1954 and went on to build the Fragrance Foundation into an industry force. “Whatever top women executives there were, they didn’t join [the organi-zation]. It was looked at as [a place] for middle to lower working staff. It had no panache at all. And there weren’t that many career women,” she said, adding that “in those days, women had a very hard time being promoted and being recognized.

“They were trying to help women in business by bringing them together and encouraging them to go after ca-reers and be more produc-tive. It was to be helpful to young women,” she said, recalling the difficulties young women executives had in the early days.

But the atmosphere has clearly improved since those days. Asked what contribution the modern CEW has made, Green responded, “It certainly lifted the image of women in the beauty business in a very, very positive way, a very professional way. With the events and honors, it has allowed women to have their own leadership roles in the development of the industry.”

L’Oréal’s Hamilton un-derscored the impact CEW has made, dating back a number of years. “For me, CEW really legitimized and gave stature to the beauty industry. There was a place for leaders to express their thoughts and to discuss key issues that really needed to be addressed on behalf of industry and especially the women in that indus-try. It gave the industry itself stature because it gathered the leaders who could orga-nize their thoughts and it made us an important industry, not just a female business.”

Liebmann from WSL said one of CEW’s primary contributions to the industry is in nurturing young talent and showing junior executives that there is opportunity for them to run companies one day. Similarly, corpo-rations foster a youth movement and encourage the development of top fe-male management by sponsoring the participation of their younger employ-ees in CEW programs.

As is often the case, the organiza-tion had a hardscrabble beginning in terms of a modest home. Jacobson remembers Avon giving the organiza-tion an office in the company’s head-quarters on Manhattan’s 57th Street. “This was CEW; it was myself and we had a part-time assistant. That was in the Eighties.” Then the fledgling group moved uptown to a brownstone on 74th Street. “We think, ‘We’re really moving up....’ We had two rooms.”

Lisa Klein, senior vice president, added, “It was a one-bedroom apart-ment; we had the files in the bathtub. We had the Xerox machine in the kitch-en. It was teeny.”

“It was a grass-roots organization,”

Jacobson diplomatically noted. “You had to believe in it. It was not the full-est staff.”

Then they got evicted because the building wasn’t zoned for business.

But fortunes changed for the bet-ter and the CEW wanderers landed in their present Midtown building. “We remember thinking, ‘OMG we’re going to have offices.’ Before, we just all sat in a room, desk to desk,” Klein said.

In 2000, there were four staffers in one room “and now it’s 25 or 26.”

The membership stood at 400 in 2000. Even now with a roll of more than 6,000, the DNA of the organization remains firmly fixed on honoring individual women for their professional achieve-ments. That was one of the motives for starting the Achiever Awards in 1975.

Jacobson recalled that there weren’t that many female presidents at the time, but “there were women to be recognized. Today, let’s face it, you don’t get recognized for your work to begin with. You get recognized for the work and the money you raise for a charity. So we felt that we could rec-ognize women for the achievements in their work.”

She added, “It’s an important part of advancing them. We can’t change poli-cy, we can’t go into a company, but we can continue to put women out there who are achievers.”

To give the organization added vital-ity, CEW tapped into the exuberance of youth by forming a Young Executives cadre, complete with its own events, then recently added a Top Talent program to recognize the achievers of tomorrow.

On the more humanitarian side, Cancer and Careers was founded in 2001 after a past board member confid-ed to Jacobson that she had cancer and that she was afraid of losing her job. “It was not even just getting fired, it’s the perception that you’re not going to be able to work — that you’re not going to be there,” Jacobson noted.

A more recent development in the evolution of the organization was the decision to admit men as members, even

though only women can sit on the board. “It’s important for us to encour-

age and to recognize that the indus-try isn’t only for women,” Jacobson said, adding that CEW will celebrate its 60th anniversary by honoring Leonard A. Lauder, chairman emeri-tus of Estée Lauder, with a Lifetime Achievement Award, the same honor his mother Estée received in 1989. “The biggest female leaders in the in-dustry have been mentored by him,” Jacobson observed.

When Jacobson thinks about the turning points in the growth of CEW, she thinks about when the 1,000th member signed up. She also men-tions the night in 1989 when the or-ganization honored Estée Lauder with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“She had never accepted an indus-try award before, never,” Jacobson recalled. “The fact that she accept-ed that award from us, I think it re-ally helped establish us.” The eve-ning also filled CEW’s coffers with $300,000, she added.

Jacobson has proven herself to be adroit in dealing with such a high-powered and large board. “First of all, you can’t have a big ego,” she noted, “and you have to be very clear about what your role is. I’m very clear about what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m very clear about what my expectations of them are and what their limita-tions are as far as I’m not going to ask them to do something that we can do to begin with. They are running these huge businesses, so I don’t ever think that the organization is their first pri-ority. That would be stupid.”

Starting about five years ago, the organization got the hang of being able to talk to the executives on the board in the same language they hear at work. “We try to present them and have the same voice and the same language that they use in their work. We look at it as we’re a business and they’re in a business.”

Asked what her role is, Jacobson re-plied, “I’m there to motivate to make

sure we stay on mission. I really do feel I’m there to serve the industry.”

As for her management style, she noted, “I had to learn that what I expect of myself is not really what I can expect of everybody else. That is really to focus on the skills people do have, and not look at what they don’t have.”

Jacobson also said that she often bites her tongue and stops herself from saying things “that wouldn’t be produc-tive.” Asked what she considers to be her personal strengths, she immediate-ly laughed and blurted out, “humility.” Then after a moment, she replied, “I’m very curious and very determined.”

Estée Lauder’s Greene sizes Jacobson up from a different angle. “She’s a collaborator,” Greene said.

“She recognizes accom-plishment and she pub-licizes [it] and she rec-ognizes innovation and she publicizes [it]. She brings to the forefront the accomplishments of big brands and she also brings the little guy who has just launched two or three things. That’s a powerful place to hold.”

Looking toward CEW’s future, Jacobson point-ed out, “As the industry grows and expands, I feel that we should follow it. We are trying to figure out how we become a global organization. We already have a U.K. chapter; we have a French chapter, and that’s what our talks were about, what we’re planning.” Noting that Asia and South America are areas of focus for an increasingly global-ized industry, she added, “We’re looking at where companies are setting up, where they have people, and then determining — just like we did when we first started CEW — what were their needs. Because of the Internet

and because of the programs we’re building, a lot of this now makes it easier for us to do things any place in the world.”

She said the organization is think-ing about setting up communities in Singapore and possibly in Brazil.

“What we’re doing now is the basic research of those companies [that] are there in those places,” Jacobson ex-plained. “We all worked as volunteers until we started to get bigger. We can build that model again. We’ve had a lot of requests out of Brazil and tre-mendous requests out of Canada. That might be the first test for us, Canada, because that seems to be where every-one is opening up offices.”

Also, Jacobson is contemplating an entrance into an unexplored part of the business — the salon and professional industry. Jacobson noted that this was one reason for forming a partnership with Cosmoprof, particularly in connec-tion with its Las Vegas show. There also are partnerships that have been struck with the likes of QVC, which merchan-dises and retails CEW’s Beauty Awards-winning products on TV.

“We work with them on getting it out to their consumers by doing a program on the Beauty Awards win-

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ners,” said Jacobson. “We are really looking for growth through these partnerships and growth through the global business and also, as I said, the professional business.”

Jacobson also sees education as another area for expansion, where ex-ecutives can take individual courses in areas where they feel deficient. “Not everyone can go to the FIT master’s program, but I’m a very big believer in educating yourself.”

Jacobson noted that there has been talks with the Association of American Universities and early discussions with New York University. Moving beyond the classroom, Jacobson maintains that there are other forms of learning, such as the experiential approach of an exchange program. One such suggestion she has in mind is Zappos. “You would have people go and learn how they operate,” she speculated. “The gap right now is on the Internet business and the way they communicate and the way they think. I think there is really a learning curve that we have to have and it’s not just hiring the right per-son. It’s more of an understanding.”

In return, CEW could instruct the Zappos personnel on understanding the beauty industry, she suggested.

Jacobson agreed with the notion that the lot of women professionals has steadily improved over the decades as many of them have won positions of power, at least at the divisional level. “I’ve seen it rise,” she said, although they may not be occupying the top job.

“Companies now, especially pub-lic companies, are beginning to be held accountable on the level of pro-

moting women,” Jacobson noted. “It is an important part of the board’s responsibility to make sure that hap-pens. Now it hasn’t gotten yet to the ceo [level] but it’s not going to stop. If you look at everything that’s being published now — all of the studies — it will happen.”

Nor does she give much credence to comparisons with titans of the past — Estée Lauder, Helena Rubinstein, Elizabeth Arden or Mary Kay Ash.

“The world is different today,”

Jacobson replied. “Those women, when they did what they did, they were run-ning a brand. It wasn’t as big, it wasn’t as complex. Of course it was hard, but it’s certainly not as hard as it is today. It isn’t.” A brand manager today is run-ning the equivalent of “a whole com-pany,” she maintains.

When the conversation turns to leg-acy, she mentions Cancer and Careers, the “Women in Beauty” interview se-ries and what the organization has ac-complished in the decades since she’s

been involved. “That’s part of it, but I also think it’s about people.

“What we represent is what people learn about the industry,” Jacobson said. “We represent the entire industry while a company represents its own in-terests and its own culture. What we do is we bring them the industry — how people think, how they operate. Our recognition is a very strong pillar with women, but our ability to share knowl-edge, to share those insights drives the organization, too.”

One of CEW’s many beauty industry events at the Waldorf-Astoria.


Mission Director

By JAYME CYK

SHOW AND TELL.That is the premise of Cosmetic

Executive Women’s Beauty Insider Series, where beauty executives are chosen to speak about their career and company.

“[It’s] education,” said Carlotta Jacobson, president of CEW, referring to the principle of the program. “[It’s about] knowledge and networking.”

What first made its debut in 2004 under the name Women in Beauty Series is now CEW’s Beauty Insider Series. The panel or conversation, which is moderated by Jenny B. Fine, editor of WWD Beauty Inc, one of the event’s sponsors, invites members to hear from their contemporaries on top-ics ranging from risk taking to the im-portance of digital and social media.

One of the first conversations was in April 2004 and included Jill Granoff of Victoria’s Secret Beauty, Stephanie Klein Peponis of Revlon and Phebe Farrow Port of Estée Lauder. These women set the stage for future speakers to promote their careers, which have featured influ-ential figures in beauty including Pamela Baxter, president and chief executive officer of LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics NA and Christian

Dior Inc.; Leslie Blodgett, founder and executive chairman of Bare Escentuals, and Thia Breen and Jane Lauder, among many others.

“We have a cross section of mem-bers who attend,” said Jacobson. “On the highest level, they’re your contem-porary, so it’s interesting to hear what they’re thinking. On a lower level and midlevel, it’s aspirational too.”

In July 2012, CEW opened up the dialogue to men and held its first CEW Men and Women in Beauty Series featuring Olivier Gillotin, vice president, perfumer at Givaudan; Ron Rolleston, executive vice president of creative and new business develop-ment for Elizabeth Arden, and Kathy Widmer, execu-tive vice president and chief marketing officer at Elizabeth Arden. The three shared their insight on how to create a successful fragrance.

When CEW opened its membership to men in 2010, the organization did a survey to see what they wanted to get out of the organization, and ultimately, they wanted the same things as women.

“[The men] wanted to have ac-cess to leaders in the industry,” said Jacobson. “They wanted to learn from leaders and they wanted to have con-

tacts and networking. And no matter what we do, [Beauty Insider Series] has those elements.”

According to Jacobson, when it comes to the Beauty Insider Series, the mission hasn’t wavered.

“It’s about the job and it’s about the career,” said Jacobson. “It’s a dif-ferent way of learning. We say that if the [attendees] find one nugget of inspiration that they can use when they go back to their company, then we’ve succeeded.”

Below is a sampling of topics and speakers from Beauty Insider Series

over the years: March 2014: Karen

Buglisi Weiler, global brand president of MAC Cosmetics, on MAC’s path to success.

June 2013: David Greenberg, president

of Maybelline New York, Garnier and Essie, and Carolyn Holba, se-nior vice president of marketing for Maybelline New York, Garnier and Essie, on risk taking.

November 2012: Charrise Ford, senior vice president of global mar-keting at the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc.; Silvia Galfo, senior vice president of marketing at Lancôme, and Tomoko Yamagishi-Dressler, senior vice

president of marketing at Shiseido Cosmetics America, on strategies for creating innovative skin care.

October 2011: Lynne Greene, global brand president at Clinique, Origins and Ojon; Agnes Landau, senior vice president of global marketing at Clinique, and Janet Pardo, senior vice president of product development worldwide at Clinique, on the formulas driving Clinique’s sales.

March 2010: Mindy Grossman, ceo of HSN Inc., on redefining HSN.

February 2009: Pamela Baxter, president and ceo of LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics NA and Christian Dior Inc., at the first West Coast Women in Beauty Series on creating opportunity in a challenging market.

October 2008: Gina Drosos, president of global personal care at Procter & Gamble, on failing.

January 2007: Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, president of the Aramis and Designer Fragrances division of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., on the new beauty mandate.

September 2006: Heidi Manheimer, ceo at Shiseido Cosmetics America, on breaking the glass ceiling.

April 2005: Daria Myers, president of Origins, and Jeanette Wagner, then vice chairman emerita of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., on innovation inside the box.

September 2004: Jean Zimmerman, executive vice president of Chanel, and Jill Scalamandre, group vice president of global marketing at Avon Products Inc., on global brand marketing.

CEW Beauty Insider Series

FOR MORE ON CEW, SEE

WWD.com/beauty.

www.givaudan.com

Congratulations Carlotta & CEW!Th ank you for six decades

of beauty industry support, leadership & innovation.

By FAYE BROOKMAN

THE NAME may be Cosmetic Executive Women, but since 2010, men have become an important segment of the roster.

“Why limit our membership to only women when men can attend all of our events? It made perfect sense,” ex-plained Jill Scalamandre, chairwoman of CEW and senior vice president of Philosophy Brand and Coty Prestige Skincare. “We have always received enormous support from the men in the business.”

Carlotta Jacobson, CEW president, added, “Men have enlarged our com-munity. We are no longer an organiza-tion of us but of all.” Since men were given the green light, their ranks have soared from 170 to 720 and represent more than 12 percent of the member-ship base.

Beyond the fact that men have al-ways contributed to CEW, inclusion has been a boost to the advancement of women in the beauty industry. Many believe now that men are official mem-bers, they’ve helped tear down the bar-riers that stymied women’s ascent up the corporate hierarchy.

Christina Hennington, Target Corp.’s

vice president of beauty and personal care and CEW board of governors mem-ber, put it succinctly: “The only way to create a truly inclusive environment that is committed to supporting the de-velopment and advancement of its mem-bers, is to include all the potential stake-holders in that process. Men are clearly an important piece in that puzzle.”

The men who are members seem happy to complete the picture. “CEW played a foundational role in the cos-metics industry and they continue to inspire the next generation,” said John Demsey, group president for the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc.

“I think it is great we let down the barriers and opened the gates,” he added, comparing it to the reverse of the Friar’s Club allowing women. “It is great to empower and develop talent across gender lines.”

CEW research revealed men want the same member benefits as women — primarily networking and learning from leaders. To that end, men give a thumbs-up to the myriad opportunities.

“I became a member of CEW as soon as I discovered that they were accepting men,” said Matthew Frost, vice president of global fine fra-grance and beauty care marketing for International Flavors & Fragrances. “I had been attending some of the speaker series events, and even hired through the Web site, before I was able to actually become a member myself.

I find the events enlightening and ex-tremely useful in providing inspiration for new ways to approach my job.”

David Rubin, vice president of mar-keting, U.S. hair, at Unilever, agreed CEW’s worth transcends gender. “Personally, I’ve benefited from the organization’s external seminars and training to gain industry insights and networking and partnership opportuni-ties. CEW is a unique organization that inspires and motivates me to be a bet-ter marketer in the beauty and groom-ing space.”

The opportunity for aspiring beau-ty executives to find mentors is also outstanding, said Demsey. This is es-pecially crucial as the role of women beauty executives expands from coun-ters to c-suites.

Don’t discount how much men enjoy the friendly competition presented by CEW’s coveted awards. “We diligently compete for CEW awards and it fosters healthy competition to be part of the organization,” said Demsey.

The honors give men a chance to acknowledge their teams — both male and female. “Some of my proud-est moments in the industry have been alongside CEW — from Unilever being honored with the 2013 Corporate Empowerment for Women Award, watching my colleague Gina Boswell be honored with an Achiever Award and proudly cheering on our brands as they are nominated for and win CEW beauty

awards,” said Rubin.With male membership, CEW has

adopted a more holistic, inclusive mes-sage it feels is relevant to men and women. With CEW’s importance in the beauty industry, the decision to reach out to men was a no-brainer. “Carlotta has done an extraordinary job of bring-ing CEW into the 21st century, while bringing men on the ride as part of the journey,” concluded Demsey.


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Going Co-ed

By CARA KAGAN

OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, Cosmetic Executive Women has come to a realization: To ex-pand the organization’s reach, bring innovation to con-sumers and provide members with proprietary intelli-gence, as they say, “It takes a village.” And so CEW has been busily partnering with trend forecasters, think tanks, number crunchers and media outlets to help accomplish these lofty goals.

CEW partnerships are not pay-for-play-based. In fact, no shekels change hands. Rather, the not-for-profit organization cre-ates barterlike arrangements, often giving its partners access to its 6,000-plus mem-bers in exchange for exclusive studies, for example. “These relationships are in-kind exchanges of services or expertise,” explained Lisa Klein, CEW’s senior vice president, who heads up the organization’s development team.

Klein points to CEW’s relationship with The NPD Group as a key way to dish proprietary information to its mem-bers. For the past two years, CEW has partnered with this Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm for its Hot off the Press event, which presents a first look at year-end sales results and trend interpretations. In return, NPD discloses this elite info at a CEW Beauty Insider event. These expositions are in such demand that this year, for the first time, NPD showcased this data for West Coast CEW members in Los Angeles.

“These presentations are the only way many of our members have access to NPD data, since NPD does not typically reveal this information to non-paying clients,” Klein said.

CEW’s affiliation with The Future Laboratory was masterminded to provide even more targeted infor-mation to members. The U.K.-based trend forecaster conducted a proprietary marketing study for CEW

on “the flat agers,” the over-50 market that refuses to admit its age and stop working, according to The Future Laboratory. It is viewed as one the most im-portant beauty demographics both in numbers and buying power.

The Future Laboratory presented its findings at a CEW event called Future Focus: Game Changing Insights on Trends & Talent, held at New York’s Union Club on May 1, which also featured a double

bill. In addition to The Future Laboratory, another CEW partner — the Boston-based global management consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group — held court. BCG presented the results of its beauty indus-try-driven study on the talent, skills and technology the industry will most need to successfully navigate the future.

But sometimes, it is “all about the money.” So CEW has joined forces with 24 Seven, the New York-based talent acquisition firm, producing the second annual Beauty Industry Job Market and Salary Survey, which

details job market and hiring trends based on the feedback of leading industry professionals and talent in the community.

Still, an organization cannot live by information alone, and so CEW has developed strategic partner-ships designed to spread the CEW word and broaden its membership base.

To help romance some of the more elusive beau-ty companies, this year CEW has joined forces with

Cosmoprof North America, with the spe-cific goal of catching the eye of smaller, spa, salon and indie brands. Courting ritu-als will include hosting a CEW cocktail party, conducting a Beauty Insider Panel and manning a booth at the July trade show in Las Vegas. For its part, CEW will promote Cosmoprof on its CEW Beauty Insider Web page.

Klein cites CEW’s relationship with QVC as another way to increase awareness and membership. Since 2009, the at-home shop-ping channel — 100 million viewers strong — has been one of the event’s sponsors and has aired the CEW Beauty Insiders’ Choice Awards Show that showcases and sells a se-lection of prestige award winners.

The show, airing this year on July 10, also features the Beauty Quest Award, which goes to one indie brand selected by QVC buyers from the CEW Beauty Awards demonstration. This year’s winner was Dr. Macrene Skin Results 37 Actives. Klein said the Beauty Quest Award has directly

impacted its membership base, noting that since the accolade’s inception, CEW has seen a 41 percent in-crease in indie entries for its Beauty Awards.

Claudia Lucas, QVC’s director of beauty mer-chandising, noted that CEW and QVC share the goal of raising the visibility of the beauty industry to consumers and that their marriage has been a suc-cessful one. She said, “We have found that products that receive a CEW award offer the QVC beauty consumer an extra level of trust when deciding her beauty needs.”

Forging New Bonds

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Lisa Klein

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John Demsey

60fl awless&

We Congratulate CEW on 60 Years of fl awless Vision, Knowledge and Leadership.

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By JULIE NAUGHTON

ASK ANYONE at Cosmetic Executive Women who is one of the driving forces behind the organization, and CEW chair-woman Jill Scalamandre’s name will im-mediately come up.

However, a modest Scalamandre, who is also senior vice president of Philosophy and Coty Prestige Skin Care, deflects the praise to the CEW’s board and staff.

“The board is a great group of senior executives,” said Scalamandre, who joined CEW’s board in 1997 and became its chair in 2007. “We have 60 members who are from every facet of the industry. About 50 percent are prestige and mass beauty manufacturers, while the balance are consultants, research companies, p.r. firms and such. These are people with broad experience and valuable points of view. Many of us are competitors, but we put that aside in the boardroom to learn from each other.”

One of CEW’s more innovative practic-es is to have the board members arrive an hour early before the quarterly meetings to enable them to acquaint themselves with each other and the issues.

When pressed, Scalamandre noted that she believes that her broad business background is what she brings to the table for the organization. Scalamandre’s back-ground includes a stint as chief marketing officer at Chrysallis Inc., a management arm for the private equity firm Catterton Partners. While at Chrysallis, she over-saw the StriVectin and Nia24 skin-care brands, as well as the sale of Frédéric Fekkai hair care to Procter & Gamble Co. in 2008. She has also served as senior vice president of global beauty brands at Avon Products Inc., where she oversaw an $8 billion beauty portfolio. Before joining Avon, she was managing director at Prada Beauty, where she launched the beauty division and served as managing director. She began her career at Revlon Inc. in the Eighties, and during her 16-year tenure there, she helped to launch the ColorStay and Age Defying franchises.

“My purpose is to bring another busi-

ness perspective to the organization,” said Scalamandre. “I work with Carlotta [Jacobson, CEW president] and her staff to frame CEW’s strategic plan, establish metrics against our goals, to develop the organization as I would a business — and Carlotta’s team does all the heavy lifting.”

Scalamandre chronicled the organi-zation’s steady growth. “I joined CEW in 1985, back when you still needed to be sponsored for membership and have spent three years in the beauty industry,” she reflected. “It’s been so gratifying to be part of the evolution of the organization. We have CEW branches on the West Coast as well as in the U.K. and France, so it’s become a global force. We now have more than 6,000 members, a balance of senior executives as well as midlevel and ju-nior executives, and men. I’m proud that not only have the membership numbers grown, but retention and satisfaction rates are steadily increasing.”

In fact, Scalamandre is proud of CEW’s bold decision to allow men to join the group. “Bringing men into the organization isn’t something we decided upon lightly,” she said. “When CEW was founded, it was considered perfectly reasonable to exclude women from the ranks of industry organi-zations, and that’s one of the reasons why CEW came to be. However, more recently, we’d begun noticing that men comprised about half of every event we did, and it no longer felt appropriate to deny member-ship to them. The board’s vote was unani-mous on that point. Men now comprise 12 percent of our membership, and they’ve been admitted for just two years.”

Scalamandre is also very proud of her part in leading CEW’s digital charge. “I’ve seen the engagement of members grow tremendously over the years, and the digital space is a big contributor,” said Scalamandre. “We have interac-tive tools, we have online mentoring, we have our beauty insider column,” said Scalamandre. “And now we’re launching CEW Connect, an interactive social hub where our members can talk to each other and network. And you’ll continue to see the organization getting more involved in the social spheres online.”

Another thing Scalamandre enjoys is advising others through CEW’s men-torship program. “You put yourself into our system with your key strengths, and mentees are able to choose mentors who can best help them,” she said. “I’ve been closely involved with the program for years now, and it’s truly rewarding to teach and to learn from the women in the program. I have such a love for learning — and no matter where you are in your career, you can always learn. I walk away from every CEW program or event with great takeaways.”

Nurturing the FoundationRallying the Board

’’’’

My purpose is to bring another

business perspective to the organization. I work with Carlotta

[Jacobson, CEW president] and her

staff to frame CEW’s strategic plan, establish

metrics against our goals, to develop the

organization as I would a business.— JILL SCALAMANDRE,

COSMETIC EXECUTIVE WOMEN

FOR HEIDI MANHEIMER, chief executive officer of Shiseido Cosmetics America, giving is a beautiful thing, especially in an industry devoted to making women feel their best.

Manheimer, who became chair-woman of the Cosmetic Executive Women Foundation in January, works on the foundation’s signa-ture project, Cancer and Careers, which began operations in 2001. “You make time for the things that matter,” said Manheimer. “Helping other women get through incred-ibly hard times in their lives is so rewarding. Many people talk about the cosmetics industry being a place where everyone comes to-gether, and I think CEW has con-tributed greatly to making our in-dustry a tight-knit one.”

While the CEW Foundation — founded in 1993 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to helping women — and CEW are two separate en-tities, Manheimer sits on both boards, and has been on the ex-ecutive committee of CEW since 2002. Since February 2006, she has also been a member of the ex-ecutive committee of the Personal Care Products Council, and since January 2007 has served on the Industry Advisory Board for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing and Management graduate pro-gram. In addition, she sits on the boards of two corporations: Burton Snowboards and Herman Miller.

“Both Shiseido and I have been devoted to Cancer and Careers since it was started,” Manheimer said, extolling the program’s mission of empowering and educating people with cancer to thrive in their workplace by providing expert advice, interac-tive tools and educational events.

“We have a comprehensive Web site, free publications, career coaching and a series of support groups and educational seminars for employees with cancer and their health-care providers and coworkers,” Manheimer noted.

“Cancer and Careers strives to eliminate fear and uncertainty for working people with cancer. One of the things I like to believe I do well is bring teams together, and for this program it’s easy because

I’m extremely passionate about it. I believe in it so much.”

That team-building includes rallying members from compet-ing organizations, something that doesn’t faze Manheimer. “While we’re all fierce competitors, when we get together, it’s to give back as a team, in a hub that makes us stronger as a group. There are can-cer survivors on the board, and we are all fiercely devoted to this cause. We want to keep the indus-try engaged in this program and the foundation,” she said.

Donations fund the founda-tion’s programs — both with mon-etary contributions from major beauty companies and other do-nors, as well as products that are donated and sold on QVC during CEW’s Beauty With Benefits seg-ments. The foundation hosts the Beauty of Giving luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan

every December, as well. In 2013, more than 291,000

individuals perused the in-formation and resources on cancerandcareers.org and cancerandcareers.org/espa-nol, and 2,400 people attended in-person and online events. In 2013, Cancer and Careers speaking engagements in-cluded the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the OMG Cancer Summit for Young Adults, American Brain Tumor Association Conference, Colon Cancer Alliance Conference, International C a n c e r E d u c a t i o n Conference, Association of Oncology Social Workers, Gilda’s Club Nashville and National Women’s Survivors Convention.

Manheimer noted that Cancer and Careers is enter-ing a “new level of growth” with a five-year plan de-signed to “elevate the brand and the issue, embedding

the issues in the minds of the public, using our organization as a thought leader. We are the only industry organization that focuses solely on cancer and how it affects work issues. And it’s not just limited to people in our industry — Cancer and Careers is for anyone in any field to get help with work challenges while battling cancer. This program is one of the beauty industry’s great legacies.” — J.N.

’’

’’

While we’re all fierce competitors,

when we get together, it’s to give back as a

team, in a hub that makes us stronger

as a group.— HEIDI MANHEIMER,

COSMETIC EXECUTIVE WOMEN FOUNDATION

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Heidi Manheimer

Jill Scalamandre

CONGRATULATIONS

ON YOUR 60TH

ANNIVERSARYFROM ALL YOUR FRIENDS

AND BEAUTY EXPERTSAT HSN


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By CARA KAGAN

FOR JUST THE FOURTH time in its accolade-giving history, the CEW is be-stowing a Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual Achievement Awards Luncheon in October. And this year it will go to — a man. Leonard A. Lauder will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award 25 years after his mother, Estée, garnered the very first one.

“The Lifetime Achievement Award was created for Mrs. Lauder. It was the first and only industry award she accepted, establishing CEW as a cred-ible and important organization,” said Carlotta Jacobson, CEW’s presi-dent. “She helped put us on the map. Leonard has helped keep us there.”

Estée received her award in the Hall of Ocean Life at New York City’s Museum of Natural History in a strik-ing navy Pierre Cardin gown, looking marvelously fit to the approximately 900 people in attendance. Called the

Ball of the Decade, the event was the first black-tie industry event CEW ever held. Prior to that evening, CEW honored outstanding women at the Industry Achiever Awards Luncheon. Leonard, then chief executive officer of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., and Estée’s other son, Ronald, a mayoral candi-date at the time, made the introductory remarks. As she accepted her award, Estée regaled the audience with how she placed her very first order with Neiman Marcus, traveling to Dallas by train. “I never went anyplace except by train,” she explained. “I felt if I was gonna make a lot of money, I might as well be here to use it.”

Said this year’s honoree, Leonard Lauder, “My mother always said, ‘I know what women want.’ She had a vi-sion and didn’t have to depend on mar-ket research. She knew that her intu-ition, which was the foundation of [our] company, was all she needed, and her vision has lasted through today.

“When I entered the cosmetic in-dustry, it was a business run by men for women. That didn’t work. Estée Lauder was founded by a woman, and we made an effort to hire women, women, women,” Lauder continued. “And that, I believe, is the root of our success.”

To date, Estée Lauder’s Jeannette Wagner and Avon’s Susan J. Kropf have been the only other recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards — in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

“Jeannette was one of the first women to be appointed to her job [as president of International], not only [at] Estée Lauder, but in the whole cos-metics industry,” Lauder said. “She set the pace for the world. She worked hard and was tireless. She mentored everyone and was proud not just of the

business she was able to develop, but of the people in the company that she brought up to a level of greatness.”

Said Jacobson about Kropf, “Susan made a real difference to women all around the world by making them fi-nancially independent, which in turn built self-esteem. She gave them an opportunity that they otherwise would not have had.”

So with just a rare few women being singled out for a woman-centric orga-nization’s highest honor, where does Lauder fit in? Jacobson explained it isn’t much of a stretch: “Leonard al-ways is and always was a champion of women in the industry.”

Meanwhile, over the last several years, men have been playing an ex-panded role in CEW as the former hen house has added more roosters to its ranks. In 2010, CEW counted just 170 male members; today there are 720, representing 12 percent of its constituent base.

Still, this year’s Achiever Awards’ spotlight will shine brightly on women, with makeup maestro Laura Geller, Drybar’s Alli Webb, Dermalogica’s Jane Wurwand and Urban Decay’s Wende Zomnir all receiving Achiever Awards.

Launched in 1975, the Achiever Awards were created to honor a lead-

ing woman executive who has contrib-uted significantly to the growth of the beauty industry and the advancement of women. These achievers are select-ed annually by the CEW board of gov-ernors for a total of 110 recipients from 1975 to 2014. And as the number of award recipients has mounted, atten-dance has increased. The first Achiever Award was presented in front of an au-dience of 200. This year’s festivities are expected to draw a crowd of 1,100.

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Awards, throughout the years, other special recognition awards also have been created. In 2003, Evelyn Lauder received the Inner Beauty Award for her philanthropic contributions. In 2011 and 2012, salon owner and hair-care product inven-tor Ouidad, aka the Queen of Curl, and Bond No. 9’s Laurice Rahme took home the Great Idea Awards, respec-tively. The Corporate Empowerment for Women Award has been conferred upon Johnson & Johnson (2010), P&G Beauty & Grooming (2011) and L’Oréal USA (2012).

“[Being honored] is terrific,” Lauder said. “But I’m really here as a repre-sentative of the women, and men, who continue to give their hearts and minds to maintaining our success.”

Honor Society

AS IF THE HONORS and Lalique statuettes weren’t enough, for the last several years, the CEW has been intent on transitioning its trademark Insiders’ Choice Beauty Awards from coveted industry accolades into practical advantages at the point of sale. This means get-ting the word out — in-store, in-print, on TV and in cyberspace.

Created two decades ago, CEW president Carlotta Jacobson saw the awards as a means to put the industry in a better light. “Everything [back then] on TV was about the product and how cosmetics weren’t safe,” Jacobson said. “I thought we should be doing something that’s positive for the industry and that we could then bring it to the consumer.”

For its maiden voyage, the Beauty Awards drew 35 prod-uct entries from seven catego-ries. But through CEW’s vast efforts to recruit new mem-bers, add categories, recognize niche brands and publicize the event, this year’s competition elicited a staggering 760 en-trants across 31 categories.

As part of its quest to create awareness and put more win-ning products into the hands of consumers, CEW created the

Beauty Awards Seal in 1998. “When a shopper purchases a beauty product, she is looking for performance and value,” Jacobson explained. “The CEW Beauty Awards seal helps con-sumers cut through the clutter so they can make an informed decision about the best prod-ucts the industry has to offer.”

Finalists and winners can affix the seal to product pack-aging and use it in their mar-keting materials, including advertising, in-store signage/displays, Web, e-blasts and social media.

Not content with just being featured in traditional news media outlets, CEW went viral in 1998 when it set up a Web site showcasing the 180 Beauty Awards entrants with product descriptions, technological in-formation and usage data. One year later, Excite Inc., one of the event’s sponsors, posted the winners on the Lifestyle Channel section of its Web site, excite.com. It was the first time the winners were pre-sented in cyberspace.

And as the speed limit on the information superhighway has risen, CEW has raced to keep up. In 2011 it partnered with foursquare.com/cew_ny,

showing where winning prod-ucts could be purchased. Presenters also encouraged attendees to tweet during the ceremonies (this year’s awards trended nationally on Twitter). Meanwhile, the organization started actively pursuing the industry’s most sought-after online influencers in 2012 when it invited 12 beauty blog-gers to present trophies to award winners.

“Every year we look for new ways to reach the consumer with the story of the awards,” Jacobson said. “Bloggers are today’s superconsumers. They are viewed as credible experts on beauty.”

To create additional online exposure for finalists and win-ning products, that year CEW also added its first consumer-focused Facebook presence with a custom Beauty Awards tab on its page. It offered cu-rated content directing con-sumers to retailers carrying the winning products.

Acting as a presenting spon-sor, this year Meredith Corp. partnered with CEW to reach the media company’s 100 mil-lion consumers through its mul-tiple platforms, which include magazines, TV and digital.

Jacobson will also make her annual appearance on NBC’s “Today” show, where she has been highlighting the win-ning products since 1998 on a special CEW Beauty Awards segment. Then there’s CEW’s relationship with QVC, which has aired its CEW Beauty Insiders’ Choice Awards pro-gram since 2009.

Throughout the years, CEW has worked with other retail-ers — both online and brick-and-mortar — to promote and purvey winning products.

Last year, CEW signed its first retail partnership with Amazon.com to sell the win-ning products, while Birchbox sold two limited-edition boxes and CVS designed an incen-tive to highlight winners to its

loyalty cardholders.The organization’s efforts

have not been for naught. When CEW started tabulating media impressions in 2004, the Beauty Awards garnered 135 million. This year’s media im-pressions catapulted past the 200 million mark.

“We believe the beauty awards have a positive ef-fect both internally and ex-ternally,” said Karen Fondu, president of L’Oréal Paris at L’Oréal USA. “Internally, they give our team a sense of pride, and externally, they reinforce our credentials as the number-one beauty brand globally. Lastly, our retail partners appreciate the in-cremental endorsement they bring to our offerings.” — C.K.

Creating an Award-Winning Experience

King of Swing Benny Goodman with Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Estée Lauder, Carol Phillips and this year’s Lifetime Achievement

Award winner Leonard A. Lauder at a CEW

Lunch in 1986.

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Lifetime Achievement Awardee Jeanette Wagner and Inner Beauty Awardee Evelyn Lauder in 2002.

Karen Fondu

Jane Lauder accepts an award for Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Night Health Bedtime Spray in 2010.

THE NEW WAVE photographed by Peter Gabriel

International Flavors & Fragrances congratulates Cosmetic Executive Women on 60 years of developing and inspiring women and men in the beauty industry.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.

©2014 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. All rights reserved.


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By JENNIFER WEIL

CEW FRANCE DREAMS BIG. Created in 1986, it now boasts 440

members whose good works resonate widely.

“CEW worldwide is unique be-cause there is no other nonprofit women’s organization in our indus-try,” explained Françoise Montenay, president of CEW France, who is also president of the supervisory board at Chanel SAS. “We share the same val-ues. We share the same objectives, but we don’t do it in exactly the same way. We have a different organization ac-cording to our culture.”

When CEW France was established, the beauty industry had a reputation for being “futile,” Montenay noted.

“We used to hear, ‘Oh, it’s just for money, for France, like Champagne. It’s not useful,’” she added. “We decided that we wanted to regroup as women.”

Former Quest International pub-lic relations executive Michèle Meyer learned about CEW in the U.S., and a licensing agreement was inked with the association.

Five years after its founding, CEW France had about 160 members. They’d already staged seminars and organized a trip to Japan to meet with local retailers, agents, press and man-ufacturers, but decided they needed to do more.

“We thought we were very, very lucky to work in the beauty industry — and that we had to share that luck,” Montenay said.

A CEW France member, who pre-fers to remain anonymous, worked at Institut Gustave-Roussy, a leading cancer-research institute and oncol-ogy health care center located outside of Paris, and noted the need for beauty programs for its patients.

Meyer proposed that CEW offer pa-tients free beauty treatments, includ-ing relaxing massage, manicures, pedi-cures, hair removal, facials and beauty advice, either bedside or in the hospi-tal’s beauty center.

“We went to [talk] with the head of that hospital and he believed in us at once,” said Montenay. “We began very small, with one beautician three days a week. The nurses used to take the appointments. After one year, it worked so well that they gave us two rooms; we had two beauticians five days a week.”

In 1998, after several beauty cen-ters had been developed in numer-ous hospitals, the group decided to create a sister association, called Les Centres de Beauté de CEW, with its own board that was entirely dedi-cated to the project. Today, it has 24 free beauty centers with 31 top-tier beauticians who are paid by the orga-nization as well as holding down other jobs. Montenay serves as Les Centres’

president, as well.“In hospitals, you cannot put pa-

tients in inexperienced hands,” she said. “We have developed our own pro-cesses, because the beauty problems are different when you have cancer.”

She noted that people with cancer often have extremely dry skin or can lose their eyebrows, eyelashes and, not infrequently their nails, for example.

CEW France’s beauticians work not only with hospitalized patients, who are being treated for 20 dif-

ferent types of illnesses — most of which are cancer, but also in resi-dences for older people, called établissement d’hébergement pour personnes âgées dépendantes, and shelters for young women.

Some beauticians work in patients’ sterile rooms; Montenay recalled a ter-minally ill woman who recounted fond memories of her beauty treatments during a period when she had only two visitors. The patient said one was “my

Parlez-Vous CEW?

PHOT

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Françoise Montenay


C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S T O C E W

For supporting women in the beauty industry for

60 years without a wrinkle

CONFIDENT

EMPOWERED

WOMEN

CONGRATULATIONS TO CEW

on 60 years of inspiring & supporting generations of women!

~ T H E L A U R A G E L L E R B E A U T Y T E A M

SECTION II WWD.COM


WWDMILESTONES

By MARCY MEDINA

THE WEST COAST has long been a fertile ground for new ideas, and the beauty industry there is no exception. CEW’s West Coast membership is now 700 and counting, thanks in part to its networking events like last month’s Beauty Insider Series panel discussion about success in-store featuring Cos Bar founder Lily Garfield, C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries president Ian Ginsberg and Nordstrom’s executive vice presi-dent and general merchandise man-ager of cosmetics, Gemma Lionello. Beauty Insider Series events typically draw 300 attendees each time, but Tina Thomson, a member of CEW’s board of governors and its West Coast commit-tee, recalls how different it was when the left coast branch of CEW formed nearly six years ago.

“I lived in New York for many years when I worked at Estée Lauder and when I moved out here 22 years ago and started my own business [Tina Thomson Communications] there was just a void,” she said. “Carlotta [Jacobson, president of CEW] con-tacted a handful of us and said we were getting a lot of feedback from our membership who wanted us to extend CEW to the West Coast, so I was the first West Coast chair. That was in 2009, and there were 109 members here.”

The first West Coast event was held at the Beverly Hilton hotel with Pamela Baxter of Dior. Subsequent gatherings, which take place in Los Angeles several times a year, have also become a draw for members based in San Francisco and San Diego because they combine knowledge, camaraderie and connections.

“They want the information and the networking — there’s lots of man-ufacturers, entrepreneurs and indie

brands from the West Coast,” said Thomson, mentioning Glam Glow, Kate Somerville, Radical Skin Care, Too Faced Cosmetics and NuFace

among the members in attendance last month. “So, these events have grown and we’ve had to extend our networking hour because people re-ally want to network and go out to din-ner. We end up finishing at 11 o’clock at night,” she laughed.

Thomson stressed that the West Coast group is not a separate chapter, but an extension of CEW in New York. “We work very closely with New York. I’m on the board of governors but I represent them here.”

Often members have switched companies and locales, like Mary Van Praag, general manager of OPI.

“I joined on the West Coast when I worked for Neutrogena six years ago, then I moved to New York, then Toronto, and I just moved back in January,” she said, adding, “[CEW] is a very powerful and supportive network, particularly for women. It’s an oppor-tunity to really develop talent on our teams and to give people what I call safe benchmarking, an opportunity to expand their minds and ideas and get exposure to the great talent that exists in the industry. I also like the fact that

it’s not just manufacturers, it’s retail-ers, suppliers, everything from packag-ing to fragrance companies.”

Thomson also pointed out that the growing number of editors and beauty media based on the West Coast has helped to shine a light on companies based here.

“When I first moved to L.A. there were no West Coast editors, but now there’s a whole group and you do press events on both coasts,” she said. “I feel like we are a lot more unified because the world is more global. I’ll be at a board meeting in New York with Nordstrom and a lot of West Coast people.”

Apart from Los Angeles and Orange County (which is home to Too Faced, Arbonne, Urban Decay and Mio), North San Diego has emerged as a new beauty hub. Thomson cited New Face, Coola, SkinMedica and Minx among prominent North San Diego brands. “I don’t feel like we’re in Switzerland anymore,” she said.

The laid-back West Coast attitude adds a different flavor to the West Coast membership than its East Coast counterpart. “This is more casual and

much more entrepreneurial. Most of the companies that existed out here were entrepreneurial to begin with, and then perhaps were bought by larg-er companies,” Van Praag said.

Scott Friedman, chief executive of-ficer of NYX Cosmetics, which was just acquired by L’Oréal, added, “It’s in-teresting when you compare the West Coast to the East Coast. I have always lived here, and there’s a tremendous amount of structure and organization, but there’s also a tremendous energy that I feel in many of the brands. It’s actually a much larger community than people realize.”

Go West

mother, who was always weeping, and the beautician, who was like sunshine for me.”

In 2003, a professor at Raymond-Poincaré, a hospital specializing in rehabilitation in Garches, outside of Paris, asked for CEW’s assistance.

Often with brain trauma, people lose memories, but their olfactive center is nestled very deep, and so even after severe accidents it often remains intact.

“This professor asked us if we could, with our knowledge of perfume, odors and flavors, help those young people,” said Montenay, explaining most of the patients in the hospital are under 30 years old.

CEW France worked with an olfactory teacher from Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de L’aromatique Alimentaire and two perfumers from International Flavors & Fragrances to help patients conjure up memories through scent. The team composed dif-ferent thematic presentations of three

to six odors associated with various life events. A birthday party scenario, for example, may involve the scents of candles and chocolate.

“It is just for the imagination. Even if they don’t recognize what they smell, it’s not a problem,” said Montenay. “What is important is they are speaking. It works very well, and now we have 13 workshops in differ-ent pathologies.”

CEW France is overseen by a board whose members each oversee a com-mittee of volunteers. All of the people working in the association have anoth-er job in the beauty industry.

CEW France has just one salaried employee, its secretary. And the orga-nization interfaces with both the asso-ciation’s U.S. and U.K. branches. As in all CEW chapters, the French arm sets out to aid members in their profession-al lives — and to help them feel com-fortable as leaders and know they have a network. Conviviality, said Montenay, is a key part of CEW France.

Among its activities, the organi-zation holds conferences. Some are

open to members only, and these begin at 6:30 p.m. with a glass of Champagne. This year 16 such gath-erings are planned, with speakers including the founder of Beauty Couture, a sampling concern.

CEW France also hosts a handful of art-related happenings, with women attending the likes of the Centre

Pompidou or Musée Rodin accompa-nied by a curator, followed by dinner, twice annually.

Professional trips have includ-ed visits to Russia, India, the U.S.,

the U.K. and, in France, Grasse and Bordeaux.

“Our main challenge in the com-ing years is to get more members,” said Montenay, adding that expand-ing its younger membership base is top priority.

“We need to have more people, more representatives from all of the profession and of all ages because the more we are, the more effective we are,” she explained. “We should be 1,000.”

Today, the oldest CEW France member is about 86 years old and the youngest, 24.

Ultimately, it is possible that more people will be paid on the associa-tion’s staff and that men might be able to join.

Montenay said among the things she loves at CEW is how the members “laugh a lot — and specifically, when we have difficult times.” The beauty centers are a strong common cause.

“What I’m really proud of at CEW and at the centers is everything that we make happen is because we dream. We dream all the time,” said Montenay. “I am very proud of the members who are able to give their time, and I am very proud of this com-plicity between women.”

Parlez-Vous CEW?

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We thought we were very, very lucky to work in the beauty

industry — and that we had to share that luck.

— FRANÇOISE MONTENAY, CEW FRANCE


Lily Garfield

Tina Thomson

Mary Van Praag

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SECTION II WWD.COM

WWD MILESTONES

26

The London ConnectionBy SAMANTHA CONTI

THREE YEARS AGO, on a mild October evening, Joan Collins — draped in an emerald silk dress — took to the stage at a London hotel and happily accepted a Lifetime Achiever Award from Cosmetic Executive Women U.K.

“I’m a poster girl for makeup, a post-er girl for base. I believe in the power of cosmetics,” the actress said, her bright red lips breaking into a smile.

Later that evening at dinner, a fel-low guest asked about her makeup mantra, and she didn’t skip a beat: “The more the better.” It was an im-portant night for Collins — and not just because of the award. After dinner at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge, fellow award winner George Hammer, the beauty entrepre-neur and founder of Urban Retreats Ltd., went over to Collins’ table and the two started chatting.

“He sat with me, and he admired my look, and asked, ‘Why don’t you have your own line [of makeup]?’” Collins told WWD. She recalled saying to Hammer that nobody had ever come up with something she thought would really be right for her. He asked her to lunch the following week.

“And off we went,” said Collins. “It’s amazing what can happen when you just meet someone.”

Earlier this year, with support from Hammer, the 81-year-old actress launched her first color cosmetics line, Joan Collins Timeless Beauty, which she sells on QVC, joancollinsbeauty.com and at Urban Retreat in Harrods.

While Collins may have been amazed at what happened that night, those familiar with the CEW U.K.’s work wouldn’t have been so surprised. The can-do energy, collegiality and good vi-brations in the room during the organi-zation’s annual events are palpable.

CEW U.K. members are primed for success via networking events, busi-ness breakfasts, mentoring sessions, fund-raising initiatives and inspira-tional talks from high-profile speak-ers and award winners, including Jo Malone, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kylie Minogue, Isabella Rossellini, Carolina Herrera, John Frieda, David Tang and Paloma Picasso. In May, Biba’s founder and interior designer Barbara Hulanicki, a recipient of the 2005 CEW U.K. Lifetime Achiever Award, cre-

ated a limited-edition print for the 2014 CEW Beauty Awards and gave a brief speech that ended with a shout of “Viva London!”

“We have never really moved far away from our original remit of em-powering women by giving them knowl-edge about the industry,” said Caroline Neville, the organization’s president, who has been on board since the group was founded in 1992.

“You have to join CEW through the mentoring and the networking, and you meet other people, share experi-ences and find new ways to do things,” said Neville, who founded the London public relations company Neville McCarthy in the early Sixties.

Neville said the beauty industry is different from many others in that there’s no clear professional road map.

“If you’re a designer, you can go to a fashion college and you could learn to cut and sew. If you’re in beauty, there is no formalized program for most girls. Maybe you get in as the junior — and you work

your way up. But it can take quite a lot of time to do that. There are women who have been at companies for 20 years who are not reaching where they want to be. I saw this as a forum for women and as a way for them to have more formal training.”

Neville now works full time running the organization that was founded by Glenda Bailey, the editor in chief of U.S. Harper’s Bazaar, who was then editor of Marie Claire in the U.K. Neville became president in 1996. She said that while there is a formal mentoring program in place, she’s still doing one-on-one sessions, especially with the entrepreneurs. “I have so many new young brands come through the door. They come through every week, and they always seem so pleased that there is this first point of call to talk.”

The CEW U.K. also advises on busi-ness strategies such as exports, and last summer hosted a reception at the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament, for 140 gov-ernment and industry leaders, called “The Shape of Things to Come — The Importance of the U.K. Cosmetics Sector.” The organization has also scheduled a meeting with Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, later this year.

“We continue to bang the drum for beauty because we put so much into the economy,” she said, adding that the latest figure is 17 billion pounds, or $29 billion, according to HSBC and Ernst & Young.

The CEW fights battles on a vari-ety of fronts, ranging from the chal-lenges of e-commerce to marketing to women over 50.

“The CEW gives the platform to the brands to debate and argue. Recently, we had Feel Unique [the beauty Web site] and Harrods on stage together tell-ing us about bricks and clicks and how you kept up with what your consumer wanted and how you got inside your con-sumer’s mind. The industry is moving at such a quick pace that we have got to have those issues on the stage,” she said.

As for the over-50 set, Neville said one of the biggest changes she has wit-nessed over the years is the acknowl-edgement — finally — that there is a woman out there who has crossed the half-century mark.

“We are now into a period where more of us are working longer. It’s not about being beautiful, it’s about having confidence — and makeup, skin care, grooming gives you confidence.”

She said Botox was a game changer, and since it’s arrived on the scene, she has had scientists take to the CEW stage to debate the cosmetic surgery is-sues of the day. “This is what keeps our membership growing,” she said.

One of the organization’s longest-standing members, Liz Earle, founded her namesake skin-care company just a year after the CEW U.K. was born, and has won 11 awards from the group over the years.

“We grew up together, and I have benefited so much from public aware-ness they gave me,” she said.

Earle added that the CEW U.K. was visionary with its early focus on net-working — long before social media came to the fore. “They did so much to encourage collaboration, a sense of sharing and the exchange of ideas. And they have always recognized that all areas of the industry are important — design, retail, press, packaging — and not only product.”

Earle said one of the first things she has always done is to encourage her staff to become members of the organi-zation. “It’s a wonderful way to involve them in the industry.”

She said that among the future chal-lenges for CEW U.K. is “not falling be-hind with social media,” and building on its considerable charity work.

Giving back has always part of the organization’s DNA. “There’s nothing more beautiful than doing good,” Bailey told WWD. “I always thought there was an opportunity for the beauty indus-try to practice what it preaches. With CEW U.K., we produced a version of the “Look Good, Feel Better” program, giv-ing products and makeovers to women undergoing chemotherapy. We started our program at the Royal Marsden [can-cer hospital], and were even able to buy an ultrasound machine for the hospital. Now, it has been established throughout many hospitals in Britain. There’s no better look than that.”

Over the years, the organization

has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for ultrasound scanners and machinery to aid charity work, such as for The Eve Appeal, a charity that funds research into gynecological cancers. The CEW U.K. donates about 25,000 pounds, or $42,000, a year to the charity. CEW U.K. also publishes a free guide called Living & Working with Cancer, a national directory with infor-mation ranging from beauty treatments to disability rights.

Looking ahead, the challenges are numerous: Roisin Donnelly, chairwom-an of CEW U.K. and corporate market-ing director of P&G U.K. and Ireland, said the CEW U.K. needs to evolve as the industry evolves. “Historically, we have been a face-to-face people net-work. As we go ahead, we need to look at the potential of digital and global communication to help us communi-cate in the U.K. and globally without losing the human touch. We also need to help represent the British beauty in-dustry on a global stage,” she said.

Neville added the organization needs to keep fighting to help women at work — and at home.

“If you look at the top jobs, I think, the women are always number two or number three. There’s still a way for women to go. It’s a good industry for women, a great place for them to be, and not everybody wants to have the very top job. There are other things to engage us — like having a family. Even at the very top, women talk to me about the issues of child-care costs, and try-ing to get that sorted. The pressure is enormous,” she said.

Neville noted that she has tried to involve the families of award-winners as much as possible in the events. “I ask the achievers to bring their hus-bands and their children to the eve-ning, because I want them to see how proud we are of their mothers and what their mothers are doing when they are often about and traveling. This is what it’s all about: This is the industry, and they are part of an ex-tended CEW family,” she said.

In October 2011, Joan Collins was no exception: The Hollywood star wasn’t alone on the night she accepted her award, but attended with her hus-band, Percy Gibson, and son — one of her three children — Alexander Anthony Newley.

Caroline Neville

Roisin Donnelly

The invitation for CEW U.K.’s 2014 Awards lunch created by Biba’s Barbara Hulanicki.

A SPECIAL CONGRATS TO CARLOTTA JACOBSON! You’re the wow factor behind the CEW, and your leadership

and dedication continue to inspire us.

HERE’S TO THE COSMETIC EXECUTIVE WOMEN

ON 60 BEAUTIFUL YEARS

SECTION II WWD.COM


WWDMILESTONES

Trailblazers Tell Their TalesBy MOLLY PRIOR

COSMETIC EXECUTIVE Women saw an opportunity to bring the industry’s top brass directly to its members, and the idea for the Newsmaker Forum was born.

In January 1992, Edwin Artzt, chair-man and chief executive officer of Procter & Gamble Co., kicked off the series with a prophetic call for beauty firms to get closer to the consumer. He had already begun to see the lines be-tween mass and prestige blur. He told a crowd of 450 executives that he expected to see retail concepts “in which prestige and mass products are sold side by side.”

In the 12 years since its inception, the series, which is held twice a year, has featured stalwart figures in beauty, including Leonard A. Lauder, now chair-man emeritus of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., Lindsay Owen-Jones, former chair-man and ceo of L’Oréal, and Michael Gould, former chairman and ceo of Bloomingdale’s, among many others.

Carlotta Jacobson, president of CEW, said the thinking behind the Newsmaker series is simple: “Anything you can learn from the people who are leading these organizations is valuable.” For CEW, she added, “The objective is to make us relevant. To give us visibility.”

Below are quotes from keynote speakers of the Newsmaker series over the years:

September 2013Bloomingdale’s chairman and ceo Michael Gould and Shiseido Cosmetics America’s ceo Heidi Manheimer on strategies for profitability: “What makes Bloomingdale’s different? It’s the culture.…The more exciting the store is, the better the online business is going to be. The Dior account doesn’t need another transaction. It needs beauty advisers and beauty experts that have relationships,” said Gould.

On Millennials, Manheimer said, “When you look at younger consumers, all the research tells you that they can’t even tell you if they bought it in-store or online. They look at it all the same. They want it to be one experience.”

February 2011Carmen Bauza, vice president of beauty and personal care at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Muriel Gonzalez, executive vice president, general merchandise manager of cosmetics, fragrances and shoes for Macy’s Inc., on understanding the customer:Bauza talked about how, during the month of January, she lived on a $30 budget for consumable items since that’s what Wal-Mart’s average fam-ily of two lives on. “I put water in my shampoo” to make it last longer.

Gonzalez said of Macy’s Impulse Beauty concept, “About 40 percent of people shopping there were Macy’s customers that had not bought any color or treatment item in the store in the past 12 months. The remaining 60 percent that had bought color and treatment were buying more.”

January 2010Fabrizio Freda, president and ceo of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., on leading through change: “I believe incremental change is a way of changing that is relevant. Utilize reverse engineering, and ask yourself where you want to be in five years and figure out what you need to do. The mix of these two approaches normally provides com-panies with a strong advantage.”

January 2009Pericles Stamatiades, group chairman for beauty care at Johnson & Johnson, on maximizing global reach:“There are 50 percent of customers we have not met because we are not sold where they are [shopping]. There is another world out there. In China, you have to be sold in a department store. In Brazil, 60 percent of the market is door to door. I am a big believer of cus-tomized marketing.”

September 2008E. Scott Beattie, chairman, president and ceo of Elizabeth Arden Inc., on creating a two-tiered retail strategy:“Wal-Mart has 125 million people in its stores weekly. It has a $16 billion beau-ty department. It’s a major player, and if you’re in the beauty business, you have to have a Wal-Mart strategy.”

September 2007William P. Lauder, president and ceo of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., on buying a brand versus starting one from scratch:“In buying a brand, you spend a lot more money but at a substantially less-risk profile. Starting a brand means less money but greater risk.”

March 2006John Demsey, global president of the Estée Lauder and MAC Cosmetics brands at the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., on retail consolidation:“Channel consolidation presents a huge challenge, especially as we are committed to prestige distribution. But this consolidation is not the apocalypse that everyone is making it out to be.…We will have to market in new ways, but we’ve seen this challenge before.”

June 2003Jean-Paul Agon, president and ceo of L’Oréal USA, on his career in beauty: At the age of 24, Agon was handed what he later discovered was a dubious honor of becoming general manager in Greece of “a tiny business in trouble.” There, he became accustomed to doing everything from “top strategic thinking to stacking cartons to delivering prod-ucts from the trunk of the car.” As a re-sult, he had what his staff in New York

considered a “bad tendency to be too involved in everything.”

November 1996Leonard A. Lauder, chairman of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., on managing distribution: “Diversion has become almost a fact of life, because we’re living in the era of the megalaunch. Two or three million dollars is no longer enough to launch a fragrance. The megalaunches have un-leashed a whole new dynamic: How am I going to get my money back?” he said. “If your rankings don’t hold up, your [positioning] is moved, and if you can’t get the early part of your investment back early, you’re stuck with a loser.”

October 1992Lindsay Owen-Jones, chairman and ceo of L’Oréal, on global product development: “One way is once the product is in-vented, it goes all around the world. Others decentralize and let subsidiar-ies manage the brands in their coun-tries. Neither approach will work in the Nineties. We have to initiate a sys-tem in which each country contributes to the global product. We say, ‘What can you contribute?’ not ‘How can you modify it?’”

First event: January 1992Edwin Artzt, chairman and ceo of Procter & Gamble Co., on the changing consumer: “Our industry is moving rapidly in a di-

rection that is more technology-driven, more advertising-driven and more con-venience-driven. The consumer wants better products, better value, easier access to product information and no-hassle purchasing, especially repeat purchasing of her favorite products.”

Jean-Paul Agon

E. Scott Beattie

Fabrizio Freda

Carmen Bauza

Muriel Gonzalez

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SECTION II WWD.COM

By MOLLY PRIOR

ROBIN BURNS-MCNEILL had just stepped into her post as president of Calvin Klein Cosmetics Co. in 1983, when Cosmetic Executive Women came calling.

She recalled that Susan Hays, a prominent leader in the organization who at the time was executive vice president of Geoffrey Beene’s fragrance division, had ask her to join the CEW board. Burns-McNeill ac-knowledged, “I was quite reluctant, as I had just joined Calvin Klein and didn’t think I’d have the time [to de-vote to CEW].” But Hays persuaded Burns-McNeill to join by sharing her mission of developing CEW into a meaningful organization for women that attracted ex-ecutives across the entire beauty industry as members. Hays, said Burns-McNeill, envisioned an organization comprising executives from every aspect of the indus-try — from retailer to supplier, manufacturing to pub-lishing and editing to the financial world.

“She was a woman who you couldn’t say no to,” said Burns-McNeill, referring to Hays.

At the time, the small board was made up mainly of women from the public relations world, and its mission was centered primarily on networking and some charitable work.

Hays thought the organization could have a much

greater impact on female beauty executives and had designs to expand its reach — and its impor-tance. By the late Eighties, Burns-McNeill said more women were entering management roles. In 2000, Burns-McNeill took on the role of chairwoman at CEW — while president and chief executive officer at Victoria’s Secret Beauty — and held the CEW po-sition for four years. During that time, she recalled, there were more women occupying senior-level po-sitions, such as divisional vice president, at major beauty firms, but very few who held ceo posts.

CEW had been looking for strong leadership to help catapult its female members up the executive ranks, and Burns-McNeill said the group found it in Carlotta Jacobson, who became its president in 1999.

“Probably the most important decision we made was convincing Carlotta Jacobson to say yes,” said Burns-McNeill. “She commanded respect from men and women at all levels.”

With Jacobson at the helm, CEW defined its strate-gic plan around three key pillars — recognition, edu-cation and philanthropy — and membership began to flourish, said Burns-McNeill.

“CEW helped women maneuver throughout their ca-reer path and celebrate their achievements,” she said.

Burns-McNeill, who cofounded Batallure Beauty in 2006, pointed out that the beauty industry is cur-

rently populated by women in senior-level positions, and that hopefully more will take over the corner of-fice in coming years.

“CEW has continued to develop as an organization and more richly address the initial goals [that it laid out],” she said.

What’s more, Jacobson has managed to put the indus-try organization onto consumers’ radar by appearing on programs such as NBC’s “Today” to promote CEW beauty product award winners. In Burns-McNeill’s view, Jacobson’s TV appearances are showcasing CEW’s ability to “impact the revenue side of this industry.”


WWDMILESTONES

The New WaveTalent Scouting

By JAYME CYK

WHILE IT MAY BE turning 60, Cosmetic Executive Women is looking to get younger every year.

In April, CEW started recognizing the cosmetics industry’s younger play-ers by adding another annual leader-ship award. Called Beauty’s Top Talent

Awards, the accolades spotlight emerging executives making their mark on the industry.

“We asked every board mem-ber to identify one person they felt should be recognized for their con-tributions to their company,” said Carlotta Jacobson, CEW’s presi-dent. “It exposed us to another level of people in the industry we weren’t aware of.”

For the debut awards ceremony, CEW selected 31-year-old Katia Beauchamp, cofounder and co-chief executive officer of Birchbox, as its keynote speaker.

“Get comfortable with uncer-tainty,’’ she advised. “We knew very little about the industry when we started and instead of trying to understand everything, we drove forward.”

Selected by the CEW board of governors, the four honorees included Bal Adat, account man-ager of perfumery at Firmenich; Jen Daly, senior brand manager at TRESemmé; Jennifer Harbin, senior regional sales direc-tor Northeast/Mid-Atlantic at Christian Dior Perfumes LLC, and Colleen Scanlon, executive direc-tor of North America advertising at the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. The award recipients, who all had a minimum of eight years of indus-try experience, received grants for the executive leadership train-ing program from the American Association of University Women. They were chosen based on their business performance and exper-tise, leadership skills, drive for success and the impact they have on their companies.

Jacobson concluded, “The only way to keep [CEW] growing is by captur-ing young executives and entry-level professionals and let them know about what we do.”

By KRISTI GARCED

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO be a CEW member to attend Young Executive events,” said Lia Harris, director of human resources at L’Oréal USA and secretary of the Young Executive Committee.

And there’s no shortage of demand for the several annual events with nominal entry fees, which frequently sell out immediately after registration opens. Most are focused on career development for entry-level and middle-management executives in the beauty industry. Some recent panel discus-sions included guest speakers such as Katia Beauchamp, cofounder of Birchbox; Katina Mountanos, cofounder of Manicube, a service that delivers manicures to corporate offices; Erin Flaherty, beauty and health director at Marie Claire, and Britt Barney, a financial planning associate at LearnVest, a New York City-based financial planning compa-ny. Next month, they’ll host Cocktails & Connections, where executives from the recruitment agency 24 Seven and The Boston Consulting Group will reveal their career insights.

“We’ve had career coaches come in and talk about every-thing from emotional intelligence to how to ask for a raise,” said Ellen Friedman, executive vice president at RPG, a New York retail consultancy for brands, and the commit-tee’s board liaison. “There are a lot of things that you know intuitively, but when you have somebody that has had this long, successful career, they can remind you.”

Keeping things fun is also key for a younger audience. “We’ve worked on making networking a little less awk-ward and more fluid in a fun way, like encouraging peo-ple to exchange five business cards,” she said. “We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously.” (A few years ago, for example, they held an event that was likened to speed-dating, but for the purpose of résumé building — h.r. reps spent five minutes with each attendee critiquing their ré-sumés and dispensing tips.)

Networking, Friedman explained, is always the pri-mary goal of the event’s programming. But other crucial skills for attendees include knowing how to ace an inter-view, manage one’s finances, dress appropriately, manage up or manage down, speak in public, be a leader, ask for what you want and how to negotiate. “A lot of it is common sense, but for young people trying to break into the indus-try, it’s a lot of new information,” Harris said.

Mixing executives from all facets of the beauty indus-try can also be beneficial to young executives. Tiffany Proscia, beauty and luxury lifestyle director at Marie Claire, joined the committee in 2009 and is now chair-woman. (Marie Claire is a sponsor of Young Executive events.) “What was so great about joining the committee is that I got to have exposure to all of these women — whether they were p.r. or manufacturing or retail [execu-tives] — that I didn’t normally have exposure to on the

publishing side of beauty,” she said. “We’ve had great sto-ries of people telling us that our workshops gave them ac-cess to certain people in h.r. that they wouldn’t have made that connection [to otherwise].”

Of course, there’s also a desire among committee members to recruit uninitiated members into CEW. “It’s all about grooming these people to be professionals,” Friedman said. “We love to see every single person who is a member continue to be a part of CEW’s big picture.”

Robin Burns: At the Turning Point

Katia Beauchamp

Robin Burns and Michael Gould at a CEW reception

in 1986.

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Cancer and Careers: Making It WorkBy ALEV AKTAR

TARA CERNACEK was just six weeks into her new job as an executive as-sistant at a Brooklyn-based nonprofit when she was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer, triple positive. A former CEW employee, she knew about Cancer and Careers, a CEW Foundation pro-gram, and immediately consulted its Web site to get tips on how to inform her employer.

“It’s only stage 2, don’t worry,” a boss short on sympathy told her. “You’re not that sick.”

Cernacek underwent 12 grueling months of chemotherapy, schedul-ing her intravenous sessions at 6 a.m. so she was only half an hour late for work, then staying late to make up the minutes. She never asked for time off beyond her vacation and paid sick leave. Although the fatigue was mostly manageable, there were days when she was exhausted and in pain from radiation therapy.

Five months before the end of her treatment, Cernacek heard rumblings of a reorganization and layoffs at her office. She turned to Cancer and

Careers again for legal advice as well as job searching tools. She also joined the Cancer and Careers support group. “It was so comforting,” said Cernacek. “I didn’t think that I needed it, but I did. People share stories, tips and ad-vice and you feel that sense of you’re not alone in this.”

In April 2013 she was laid off. Without the distraction of work, Cernacek found herself at home wor-rying about money and the next treat-ment. “I realized how much I wanted to work to maintain normalcy,” she says.

Cernacek’s hair has grown back thicker and she feels strong, apart from treatment-induced side effects, such as neuropathy in her fingers and toes and some lingering memory and con-centration issues, commonly referred to as “chemo-brain.” She has landed

a few temp jobs since then, which she credits to Cancer and Careers’ résumé review service. She’s actively looking for a full-time job.

“I’m not working, but it’s not by choice. I want to work.”

Indeed, work is a lifeline for most people with cancer, and a 2012 survey from Cancer and Careers and Harris Interactive confirmed this.

“Seventy-nine percent [of the survey respondents] felt that their recovery from can-cer was aided by work,” said Kate Sweeney, executive di-rector of Cancer and Careers. “It reaffirmed why we do what we do. In the top three rea-sons why cancer patients want to continue to work, it wasn’t financial and insurance. More impor-tant was that when people felt well enough, they wanted to keep things as normal as possible and they wanted to feel productive.”

REACHING OUTCancers and Careers is dedicated ex-clusively to serving people who work

during and after cancer treat-ment. It was founded in 2001 after the CEW board realized that five out of some 40 board members, or 12.5 percent, had been diagnosed with cancer. All faced the same difficult decision tree of whom to tell at work (if anyone); how and when to tell them; how to bal-ance treatment and work, and all the other considerations that cancer patients face after diagnosis, no matter their job or level. Sweeney was the first hire, charged with creating a Web site for working women with cancer. The goal: to edu-cate and empower them.

Thirteen years later, Cancer and Careers has evolved into a multimedia clearinghouse, reaching men and women through its com-prehensive Web site, print publications, in-person con-ferences, support groups, Webinars and teleconferences. It holds speaking engagements for health care professionals, patients, survivors and can-cer organizations, and trains health care professionals at cancer centers and online. And every document, service

and program is free.In 2013, it provided essential infor-

mation and resources to almost 300,000 people on cancerandcareers.org and cancerandcareers.org/espanol and dis-tributed publications in English and Spanish to more than 40,000 people. Those numbers will be even higher this year, said Sweeney. The program publishes a bimonthly newsletter that reaches more than 8,100 subscribers.

Meanwhile, Cancer and Careers has trained more than 1,600 oncology nurses, social workers and health care professionals.

Cancer and Careers is always on the lookout for new ways to improve its reach, content and initiatives. The organization recently teamed with Oberlander Group, a Cohoes, N.Y.-based print and digital design agency,

to develop an advertising and market-ing campaign with the tag line “Be The Boss Over Cancer.” The digital cam-paign will be launched this year.

Geographical outreach is a priority for the program. “We’re going into un-derserved areas in Hawaii, the Deep South and Alaska,” Sweeney said. “We’ll go to those regions and have an all-day in-service to educate their health care professionals and hold a patient event.”

To cover the country, the organiza-tion’s full-day National Conference on Work & Cancer, held annually in New York, is rolling out to other cities. The first Midwest conference was held in Chicago in April, and next year a Los Angeles event will be added. Both will be annual events.

RESOURCE CENTERRésumé review was introduced in January, and so far about 150 people have taken advantage of the service. A user fills out a short questionnaire and uploads his or her résumé. After the submission has been vetted by someone from the Cancer and Careers team, it is forwarded to Julie Jansen, a résumé and LinkedIn profile writer, career coach and consultant, who goes over the résumé and sends her feedback. (She does not rewrite it.) The process takes seven to 10 business days.

Jasan Zimmerman, a 38-year-old molecular biologist-turned-nonprofit administrator, recently revamped his résumé with her help. Zimmerman has lived with cancer his entire life, after being diagnosed at six months with neuroblastoma and then at 15 with thyroid can-cer that recurred between col-lege and grad school. He works at a large family foundation in the Bay Area, and his aim is to find a position in a cancer-related nonprofit.

After studying his résu-mé, Jansen suggested that Zimmerman switch the focus from sci-ence to his nonprofit work by leading with his nonprofit experience, remov-ing the dates from the science part and adding a bulleted “key word section” listing his skills and expertise. She also recommended that he move his scien-tific publications to an addendum.

“I think it looks a lot better and it’s a lot more focused on what I want to do,” said Zimmerman, who lives in Palo Alto, Calif.

Zimmerman was given the program’s

new 60-page workbook, “Job Search Tools.” “It’s a great resource now and it will definitely be a touchstone for me in the future.”

The workbook can be downloaded or ordered free of charge from the Web site, along with publications about other topics, including a “Chronic Illness Survival Guide” and “Cancer on a Shoestring Survival Guide.”

Finally, Cancer and Careers is in-troducing a news hub within the next six months. “It’s a one-stop shop for all the news and research on work and cancer,” said Sweeney. “We’re trying to bring everything together to move the conversation forward.”

COMMUNICATION PARTNERMitria Di Giacomo had left her adver-tising and marketing job in 2007 and was starting her own agency in New York when she got a breast cancer diag-nosis. Desperate for more information, she researched cancer-related topics online. “I was out of control,” she says. “I was constantly doing a search.” One night, she Googled support groups and came upon one at Cancer and Careers. She e-mailed and asked to join.

The organization has been a boon to her professionally, financially and emotionally. “You’re making some of the most difficult decisions during one of the most traumatic times of your life,” Di Giacomo explained. “So much comes at you. During that time, when it was all so new, it took the edge off of how to approach this. I felt like I had a map on how to handle or disclose or if a question came up. I found my way through the support and the group and the business coach.”

Much of the practical advice came in handy, including tips on negotiating doctor’s rates. “[Cancer] definitely af-fects your income. You could go from a six-figure income to making a third of that,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you can actually negotiate with your doctors.” She did, and they came to agreements.

She has also made some “wonderful friends” through Cancer and Careers and still attends the monthly meetings. “I’m so connected to it.”

Seven years after her diagnosis,

she’s building her marketing and com-munications agency, Nexus Plexus, with renewed vigor. Her aim is to have a boutique consultancy — not more than 20 clients — focused on luxury lifestyle categories. And preferably in-ternational accounts so she can maybe spend summers in Italy.

“When I had my mastectomy, I was like, that’s it. I’ve been afraid to move forward,” she said, adding, “You don’t give up on your ideal vision. It’s still there. It took a little while.”

Kate Sweeney

Attendees at April’s Midwest Cancer and Careers conference in Chicago, here and below.

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Target and Sonia Kashuk congratulate CEW on its beautiful milestone. Thank you for always supporting and championing us through the years.

Here’s to another 60 years of brilliant insider beauty.

Happy 60th!

24 SEVEN IS HONORED TO CELEBRATE

CEW’S BEAUTIFUL YEARS.60

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We value our partnership with CEW, the premier professional organization in the beauty industry, and are proud to co-sponsor our 2nd Annual Salary & Job Market Study for the beauty industry with them.

Visit www.24SevenTalent.com/salary-trends to request your copy.SALARY & JOB MARKET REPORTBEAUTY

2014

C R E AT I N G R E S U LT S

O N E S A M P L E AT A T I M E

As a continued partner of CEW,

Arcade is proud to

recognize this wonderful milestone.

Congratulations to CEW for 60 fabulous years...

and not looking a day over 20 !

On 60 Years Of Driving Ideas Into Action

CEW

Kaplow Congratulates

As Agency Of Record

Proud Sponsor of the CEW Insiders’ Choice Beauty Awards

As the leading media and marketing company dedicated to inspiring and empowering 100 million women,

Meredith salutes Cosmetic Executive Women on 60 years. Your valuable contributions have made a lasting impact on the beauty industry.

Congratulations CEW

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