Beautycounter, which continues to grow its business and advocate for clean beauty, earlier this year hired Kara Trousdale as it new chief commercial officer.

Trousdale joined the clean beauty brand after nearly an eight-year tenure at Amazon where she served as chief marketing officer for Amazon fashion and, prior to that, held a leadership positions at Amazon grocery and personal care and supply chain and private brands.

Her arrival comes at what company officials are calling a pivotal period in the brand's growth. Beautycounter was valued at $1 billion in April of 2021 as part of its partnership with The Carlyle Group, and, more recently, saw the changing of the guard in the c-suite. In February, Marc Rey was appointed as CEO and Founder Gregg Renfrew stepped into a new role as executive chair.

Beautycounter was founded in 2011 and was ranked No. 32 in Happi’s 2021 Top 50 Report.

In partnership with the executive leadership team, Trousdale will focus on scaling the retail, e-commerce, field and partnerships channels to further Beautycounter's mission to get safer products into the hands of everyone, while leading and defining the future of the global beauty industry.

As CMO for Amazon fashion, Trousdale was responsible for elevating and activating consumer engagement around Amazon's fashion brands, as well as building and scaling emerging businesses and retail customer experiences.

Committed to the Consumer

A graduate of Texas Christian University, Trousdale earned an MBA from Harvard in 2013.

Rey called Trousdale “an exceptional business strategist” with an “impressive track record of growing brands, having a deep, nuanced understanding of the needs of the modern consumer.”

Trousdale’s time at Amazon has no doubt shaped her skillset and insight, and she’s bringing that Beautycounter.

“At Amazon, I learned how to start with the customer and work backwards. I’m committed to doing that same thing with Beauytcounter, to elevate the customer experience. We already have products that customers love and trust, we’ll continue to raise the bar there,” Trousdale told Happi.

Amazon, she added is a “great training ground for how to operate efficiently.”

Amazon opened its beauty store, in beta (test), back in 2004, offering skin care, fragrance, makeup, hair care and men’s grooming. The retail giant continues to invest in the fashion unit (where Trousdale was CMO before her departure). It recently added virtual try-on for shoes and opened its first-ever physical store for apparel in Glendale, CA.

Beautycounter’s mission around product safety and its advocacy work in Washington, DC were draws for Trousdale. For example, Renfrew has testified in front of Congress. More recently, in April, Beautycounter led a lobby day in Washington, DC where 225 brand advocates held meetings with lawmakers.

“Those values really attracted me to the company and I feel honored to be part of carrying that forward,” Trousdale told Happi.