During the past three and half decades, Richard Pietz has been involved in the development of, and marketing support for, more than 1,800 product formulas, working on all sides of the market— retailer, brand, manufacturing, across professional, mass, natural, organic and clean. Today, he’s leveraging his passion and expertise in wellness, beauty and personal care as head of R&D, Arbonne Inc., a subsidiary of Groupe Rocher.

Based in Los Angeles, CA, he oversees the operational aspects of product innovation to develop new formulations in addition to sourcing and testing sustainable, plant-powered ingredients. In this role at Arbonne, Pietz also partners with business divisions across the organization supporting consumer, field and marketing education initiatives to help drive global market appeal.

HAPPI: Is the beauty business where you envisioned yourself when you were a student?  Was there an experience when you realized or recognized that this would be your career path or business where you would want to be?.

Pietz: My career in beauty began when I was 16 working in a large discount drug store as a stocking clerk. I stocked the hair care and cosmetic aisles daily which then led to a hair care accessories company, Goody Products to hire me as their local representative for their Northern Ohio territory. By having this day job at the age 19, it gave me the inspiration to pursue my degree in marketing via night school. In hindsight, working at Goody for seven years was the best schooling I ever had. That then propelled me further into a career at Sebastian International, a professional hair care brand in NYC. Listening to the co-founder talk on how she created such iconic hair care products opened my mind. From that point – there was no turning back.

HAPPI: What do you love about the team at Arbonne and the work that your group does?

Pietz:  When I came to Arbonne, I was so impressed with the experience of my colleagues who have been with the company for many years. It was their love of the products, the brand and the company’s mission that truly captivated me. From that point – I knew I was where I needed to be. In looking at all the duties that my team does on a daily basis is truly a reflection of what I’ve touched upon over the 35+ years in the industry.

HAPPI: Is there a specific Arbonne product or a new product that you have worked on that you are most proud of and why?

Pietz: Yes, our new DermResults Soft Focus Veil SPF 30  has me very excited. It will certainly be a game changer for us in terms of delivering a high quality and more conscious product, delivering upon enhanced performance in a sunscreen as well as the brand promise our consumers expect.

HAPPI: As the head of R&D, how do you view “clean” beauty? Do you have a rulebook or guideline for how you want to formulate cosmetic products in this respect?

Pietz: While I oversee the R&D team, we work together to view the ingredients themselves and how they ladder up to deliver the results we expect. At Arbonne, we believe it’s both what IS and what ISN’T in our products that make a difference. And how we can leverage sustainably-sourced, plant-powered ingredients in ways we never thought possible. We began by leading the clean beauty movement in 1980 and have continued to evolve in terms of ingredients, high-performing formulations and our top-ranking B Corporation score.

HAPPI: What are your thoughts on MoCRA?

Pietz: Arbonne has always upheld a very stringent ingredient policy, honestly one of the strictest I’ve seen over the past 10 years. Our “not allowed” list includes over 2000 banned ingredients prohibited in other countries that we’ll never include in our formulations. We also align with our parent company’s Ingredient Policy that stems from the latest in EU regulations or guidelines. Over the years, we’ve always ensured each and every ingredient is thoroughly vetted and tested with the supporting documentation that’s now a heavier focus with MoCRA. Therefore, I believe that we’re poised to ride this wave very well. Now is the time for brands to be prepared in advance and implement processes to ensure compliance and execution.

HAPPI: Let’s talk about the relationship between R&D and marketing, and in your opinion, how it has evolved over time?

Pietz: Over my career, I’ve seen friction between R&D and marketing teams that caused unnecessary disruption. To be successful in today’s environment, both teams must have that synergy between each other, learn to listen and play off ideas. Then you can truly see the left brain/right brain dynamics at play, which then brings forth greater things. I see that synergistic approach with the teams at Arbonne, which is another reason why I am here.

HAPPI: You have had roles with different companies over your career. Are there benefits of being inside different organizations?

Pietz: In hindsight, all of the roles I’ve held ladder up to where and what I do today. I’ve been across the retailer, brand, manufacturing side. Professional, mass, natural, organic and clean – you can see the evolution here of the knowledge base that I’ve gained. And now I balance between both brand and manufacturing sides here at Arbonne. The exposure and learned from years prior allowed me to fill in many gaps at companies over the years. All very positive – hold no regrets.

HAPPI: What inspires you at work? 

Pietz: Everyone around me – stemming from expertise coming from our chemists, packaging engineers, CSR, quality, regulatory, marketing cross-functional teams to name a few. Plus our most loyal sales consultants who truly love Arbonne and constantly remind me how much they love the products and our mission.

How do you see your role in developing the next generation of cosmetic chemists?

Pietz: I think it is very important to mentor, sharing my challenges and success stories from my past to help give inspiration and direction. Over the years, I’ve helped several seek this dream of working in the cosmetic industry and now I just admire how they made a name for themselves. For example, a few started as bench chemists, only to graduate their skill set into Product Development, then to Marketing and finally creating their own brands or companies years later. Their persistence and willingness to grow beyond their boundaries truly makes me smile.

More on Pietz

Over his 35 years in the industry, he has played roles at many brands, influencing product development and packaging.  Prior to Arbonne, Pietz worked at Beautycounter, championing the brand’s mission through his thoughtful leadership of the sourcing and packaging teams. He’s also worked with Kora Organics, where he redefined the certified organic skin and body care brand, working closely with visionary brand owner Miranda Kerr to oversee the end-to-end product development process, QA/QC, manufacturing and global distribution programs for the US and AU divisions. He also served as global director of product development at Jurlique where he played an instrumental part of strategizing its organic farming methods of various botanicals. His resume also includes time at Cosmetic Laboratories of America, a manufacturing division of Alberto Culver and Aware Products (now Voyant Beauty) where helped establish the development of innovative body and hair care products exclusively for salons, celebrity stylists, infomercials and specialty retail brands.