What Does a Chief Brand Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Brand Officer owns the brand itself — its identity, positioning, and consistency across everything a business does — as a strategic asset, distinct from the demand-generation focus of a CMO. In brand-led categories like beauty and luxury, it is a role about protecting […]
How to Hire a Managing Director
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a Managing Director when a business, market, or division needs a single accountable leader to own its performance end to end. Define exactly what the MD owns versus the CEO or parent, and hire for commercial and operational leadership plus, in international businesses, credibility […]
How to Hire a Private Equity Operating Partner
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a private equity operating partner for the specific value they will add across the portfolio — deep functional or sector expertise that supports management teams and value-creation plans. Define whether you need a generalist, a functional specialist, or a sector expert, and hire someone […]
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, […]
How to Hire a Beauty CMO
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a beauty CMO who pairs genuine brand and creative instinct with commercial discipline — someone who builds desirability and owns marketing’s contribution to revenue across brand, performance, and digital. In a category defined by brand, the creative-commercial balance is decisive and the hardest thing […]
How to Retain Your Leadership Team
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerLeaders stay when the work is meaningful, the mandate is real, they are growing, and they feel valued and trusted — not primarily because of money. Retaining your leadership team means giving strong people genuine ownership, honest development, and a reason to build their future […]
Building a US Leadership Team from Scratch
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBuild a US leadership team by starting with the leader who will own the market, then sequencing the team around them — commercial, marketing, and operations — as the business establishes itself. Resist the urge to hire broadly and fast; a strong first leader who […]
When to Make Your First C-Suite Hire
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerMake your first C-suite hire when a function becomes too important and too complex for the founder to lead part-time — and when the business can define the role clearly and support a senior leader properly. Hiring too early wastes a senior salary on a […]
How to Hire a Hospitality CMO
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a hospitality CMO when brand and demand become too important and too complex to lead in fragments — and remember that in hospitality the role owns commercial levers most sectors keep separate: direct booking, distribution, and loyalty. Hire for the ability to grow direct […]
How to Hire a Fashion CEO
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire a fashion CEO who can lead the brand and the business at once — protecting creative identity while delivering commercial performance across wholesale, retail, and direct channels. In fashion, the ability to partner with creative leadership while owning the numbers is decisive, and often […]
