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.
How to Hire a Homeware & Tableware Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire homeware and tableware leaders who combine genuine design and product sensibility with a feel for how people live and entertain at home, and strong retail and commercial capability. The category spans function and beauty across everyday and special use, so the best leaders understand […]
How to Hire a Home Fragrance & Candle Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire home fragrance and candle leaders who combine a genuine feel for scent, design, and mood with brand and commercial strength, and an understanding of the category’s gifting and self-purchase dynamics. Sitting between beauty and home, it rewards leaders who understand how scent and ambience […]
How to Hire a Stationery & Gifting Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire stationery and gifting leaders who combine genuine design and product sensibility with an understanding of the category’s emotional, occasion-driven nature and its distinctive retail and seasonal dynamics. The best pair a feel for beautiful, desirable products and the moments they mark with the commercial […]
How to Hire a Toys & Games Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire toys and games leaders who combine genuine creativity and a feel for play with strong commercial capability, and who can navigate the category’s distinctive dynamics — intense seasonality, licensing and IP, fast trend cycles, and rigorous safety. The best pair an instinct for what […]
How to Hire a Luxury Watch Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire luxury watch leaders who combine a genuine appreciation of horological craft and heritage with luxury brand and commercial expertise. The category is built on centuries of tradition, mechanical artistry, and prestige, so the best leaders respect and protect what makes watchmaking special while building […]
Board Evaluation and Effectiveness
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBoard evaluation is the process of assessing how well a board is functioning — its composition, dynamics, processes, and contribution — in order to improve its effectiveness. A genuinely effective board, with the right people, dynamics, and focus, adds real value to a business; evaluating […]
How to Hire a Wine & Spirits Executive
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire wine and spirits leaders who combine genuine brand and marketing strength with an understanding of the category’s craft, heritage, and premiumisation, and its distinctive route-to-market and regulatory dynamics. The best pair the ability to build desirable, premium brands with commercial and channel expertise in […]
Men’s Grooming Leadership: Hiring for the Category
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerHire men’s grooming leaders who understand the category’s distinctive, evolving male consumer, the shift in how men engage with grooming and self-care, and the blend of functional and increasingly aspirational positioning. The best combine genuine insight into the male grooming consumer with beauty and personal […]
Beauty in Travel Retail: Leadership for the Channel
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBeauty travel retail leadership takes an understanding of the distinctive duty-free and travel channel — its unique consumer moment, retail environment, and dynamics — combined with beauty brand and commercial strength. The best leaders understand the traveller as a shopper, the channel’s particular retail and […]
How to Leave a Leadership Role Well
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerLeaving a leadership role well means departing with professionalism, grace, and care — ensuring a smooth handover, supporting the transition, protecting relationships and reputation, and going out with integrity rather than acrimony. How a leader leaves is remembered and shapes their legacy and future, so […]
