How to Hire a Haircare Brand Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHiring haircare leadership means finding leaders who understand the category’s mix of science and efficacy, styling and aesthetics, professional and salon heritage, and shifting consumer needs across diverse hair types. The best haircare leaders combine genuine category feel with brand and commercial strength, matched to […]
Beauty Retail Leadership: Hiring for the Retail Channel
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBeauty retail leadership is about winning where beauty is sold — mastering the specialty and department-store retail relationships, the merchandising and in-store experience, and the growing overlap with digital and direct channels. Leaders need deep retail relationships and execution alongside brand and commercial strength, because […]
Prestige vs Mass Beauty Leadership: What’s Different
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerPrestige beauty leadership centres on brand desirability, experience, and premium positioning, often through selective distribution; mass beauty leadership centres on scale, value, broad distribution, and winning at retail. The instincts and models differ enough that strong leaders in one do not automatically succeed in the […]
How to Hire a Fragrance Brand Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHiring fragrance leadership means finding people who understand the category’s distinctive blend of creativity, craft, and commercial reality — the role of scent creation and the perfumer relationship, the storytelling and emotion that sell fragrance, and the commercial and retail dynamics of the category. The […]
How to Hire a Wellness Brand Leader
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a wellness brand leader who combines authentic credibility in health and wellbeing with genuine commercial and brand capability. Wellness consumers are discerning and values-driven, so leaders need real conviction and category understanding alongside the discipline to build a durable business — a balance close […]
Leadership for Beauty M&A and Integration
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBeauty M&A succeeds or fails on leadership as much as strategy. Whether preparing a brand for sale, leading through a transaction, or integrating an acquisition, the right leaders — who can hold the business steady, protect the brand, and deliver the value case — are […]
Hiring Leadership for a Beauty Startup
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA beauty startup needs builders — leaders comfortable with ambiguity, speed, and doing more with less, who can create structure where little exists. Pedigree from a big beauty house does not guarantee this. Hire for genuine startup temperament plus brand sensibility, and be honest about […]
DTC Beauty Leadership: Hiring for Direct-to-Consumer
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerDTC beauty leadership means owning the direct relationship with the customer — e-commerce trading and growth, the data and CRM behind retention, the digital experience, and the economics that make direct-to-consumer profitable. Hire for the rare blend of commercial trading instinct, data fluency, and brand […]
Hiring Leadership for a Clean Beauty Brand
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerLeading a clean beauty brand demands both genuine credibility on ingredients, sustainability, and values, and the commercial discipline to build a real business. The rare leaders who combine authentic conviction with rigour — and can protect the brand’s integrity while scaling it — are what […]
How to Hire a Beauty CHRO
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a beauty CHRO when informal, founder-led people practices can no longer carry a growing organisation. Look for a genuine commercial partner who can attract and keep the breadth of talent beauty demands — creative, commercial, and operational — and build culture through fast growth, […]
