Practical, non-promotional guides on executive search, leadership hiring, C-suite roles, executive compensation, governance, and building leadership teams — with deep focus on beauty, personal care, and the broader consumer sector. Start with our hubs: C-Suite Roles, Executive Hiring Guides, Beauty Leadership, Executive Compensation, and the Glossary.
What Makes a Great CMO?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerGreat CMOs pair brand vision with commercial accountability — building brands that drive demand and owning marketing’s contribution to revenue, not just awareness. They lead across the modern marketing stack, partner well with the rest of the C-suite, and are fluent in both the creative […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
What Is a Fractional Executive?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA fractional executive is a senior leader who works with a business part-time, on an ongoing basis — bringing C-suite expertise for a fraction of the time and cost of a full-time hire. They suit businesses that need senior capability but not yet a full-time […]
What Does a VP or Head of Sales Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA VP or Head of Sales owns revenue generation — building and leading the sales organisation, winning and growing customers and accounts, and delivering the numbers the business depends on. In consumer businesses this spans retail and wholesale accounts, channel strategy, and the field team, […]
What Does a Chief Innovation Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Innovation Officer owns how a business creates new value — new products, models, and ideas — and builds the capability and culture to do it repeatably. It is broader than product development or R&D, spanning the whole pipeline of the future, and it […]
What Does a Chief Sustainability Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Sustainability Officer leads a business’s environmental and social strategy — from responsible sourcing and packaging to reporting and the credibility of the claims a brand makes. In beauty and consumer, where sustainability is closely tied to brand trust, it is increasingly a commercial […]
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 […]
