Beauty’s best came together at the Waldorf-Astoria last month as the Cosmetic Executive Women honored seven accomplished women in beauty at its 40^th annual Achiever Awards luncheon that took place in New York City. The event attracted industry luminaries nominated by CEW’s Board of Governors and selected by the Achiever Awards committee, for their outstanding leadership and career achievements in the beauty industry.
 

Coty's Jill Scalamandre, chairwoman, CEW, welcomed attendees, saying, “Last year we honored Leonard Lauder for his lifetime achievement, and today, he will help honor Lynne Greene, group president, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., for her exceptional contributions to the beauty industry and continuous support of CEW.”
 

Scalamandre reiterated CEW’s mission, saying, “Our goal is to support the advancement of women and today we are supporting their professional achievement.”
 

In keeping with the theme of the day’s event, the keynote presentation, delivered by Mary Dillon, CEO, Ulta Beauty, highlighted the importance of women’s accomplishments in business. Dillon noted that Ulta had succeeded in opening 100 stores each year, and since her tenure began in 2013, had added 5,000 jobs, with 95% of those positions filled by women.
 

As a relative newcomer to beauty, Dillon said that she drew not only on her leadership experience as the former president of Quaker Foods Division (a unit of Pepsico), but also on the strong work ethic and curiosity instilled in her as a young woman.
 

“I have had leadership lessons throughout my career,” she said. Dillon emphasized that “bringing the magic to deliver an exceptional guest experience,” was among her most important goals. “Lead with a clear set of values. Work collaboratively and drive collaboration by creating a sense of belonging, and always improve,” she said.
 

Lifetime Achievement Award
 

Professional achievement was enthusiastically acknowledged this year, as CEW presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Lynne Greene, group president, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. The honor was especially poignant in light of Greene’s recent announcement that she will retire in June, after nearly 40 years at Estée Lauder.
 

Before providing a glowing introduction to his longtime colleague and honoree, Lynne Greene, Estée Lauder Chairman Emeritus Leonard Lauder gave his thoughts on women.
 

“I love women! I love the way they think,” said Lauder. He discussed a woman’s perception of doing a good job and doing it right. “A woman’s mind is a different mind. They think differently and for my purposes, they think far better (than men),” he said.
 

Lauder continued, “We made the decision that women will change the face of the industry. Beginning with my mother, Estée Lauder, it was women who built this industry. Empowerment is what we are all about. What’s right with America is that we give people opportunity. Each one of you has the opportunity to build a great career for yourself.”
 

Lynne & Lauder


Lauder noted that he and Lynne Green worked together for 40 years. Green took over the Lauder Educational Program at Vassar. She became president of Origins, working with William Lauder. She later became president of Jo Malone and Crème de la Mer.
 

“Lynne has courage and guts. She had the courage to bring distribution into control when others did not. Managers do things right,” said Lauder, “but leaders do the right thing.”
 

He reminded attendees that Greene launched the Chubby Stick, among many other successful products.
 

“She had a vision and stayed the course. I’m proud of Lynne and I’d love to have her receive the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Lauder, presenting the honor to his colleague.
 

Greene accepted graciously, noting however, that when she had told Carlotta Jacobson that she was retiring, she decided to create a new word to re-frame her decision.
 

“I used the word re-firing, to signify new beginnings. This chapter is one of those new beginnings,” said Greene.
 

She thanked Jacobson for always encouraging her and being a great mentor. To Leonard Lauder, Greene said, “You are such a professional, visionary human being. Leonard and his family have built one of the largest beauty companies in the world, and they built it on these foundations: integrity, intelligence, quality and style.”
 

Greene also thanked William Lauder, who pioneered freestanding cosmetic stores, and Ronald Lauder and the family. Acknowledging the milestones and her personal credo, Greene said, “I always knew I would drive my own car and wind my own clock.”
 

She said that everyone needs a forward resume and asserted the importance of identifying white space opportunities and having the courage to launch, using guts and intuition.
 

Greene quoted Edith Wharton, who said there are two ways of spreading light. “You can be the candle or the mirror. I’ve been both the candle and the mirror, however, reflecting others’ strengths has been my greatest pleasure.”
 

She reminded the audience that people’s best is a standard they set for themselves.  Thanking CEW for the honor, Greene said that she hoped CEW also recognized her advocacy for women.
 

“I hope that I and many others have made the pathway for success easier for many women. I have loved what I have done, but at some point I wanted some white space for living. There’s beauty, energy and high quality professionals in this industry. Dom Perignon said, ‘I have bottled the stars.’ That’s how I feel. Enjoy the electricity. The sign on my desk says, ‘No Regrets,’ and that is how I feel,” Greene concluded.
 

Achiever Award Honorees
 

The 2015 Achiever Award honorees included Lorraine Coyle, senior vice president, US sales, L’Oréal Paris; Shannon Curtin, formerly Walgreen’s group VP; Sandra Main, global brand president, La Mer; Rita Mangan, senior vice president, sales, education & retail strategies, Shiseido Cosmetics America; and Kathy O’Brien, vice president, skin and marketing services, North America, Unilever.
 

In addition, Sylvie Ganter, creator and founder, Atelier Cologne, received CEW’s Great Idea Award for Fragrance Innovation for creating Pure Perfumes, inspired by the legendary eau de cologne, that carved out a new olfactive family: the cologne absolue. The award was presented by International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.
 

CEW also honored LVMH with the Corporate Empowerment for Women Award, for its commitment to the advancement of women within the organization.
 

“We should be on the forefront of empowering women,” asserted CEW President Carlotta Jacobson. “We produce products that actually do empower women, and this empowerment needs someone to take a role, which takes us to the Corporate Empowerment Award. We are thrilled to recognize all that this year’s honorees have accomplished in their careers, and to inspire the next generation of leaders. This year we are delighted to also recognize LVMH for developing programs and initiatives that aim to propel its female employees to top leadership positions within the organization.”
 

In the US, 50% of brand presidents are women at LVMH.
 

“At LVMH there is that faith, faith in women,” said Jacobson who presented the award to Pamela Baxter, president and CEO, Perfume and Cosmetics, America, LVMH, and president, Christian Dior Couture.
 

Baxter cited LVMH’s women’s mentoring programs, belief in gender equally and diversity that drives innovation, and the leadership roles of women at LVMH.
 

“Women make up a significant portion of the leadership roles at LVMH,” said Baxter, citing both Terry Darland of Christian Dior, and Alina Roytberg of Fresh. “LVMH is extremely honored to accept this award and thanks CEW for its continuing support of women in the industry,” said Baxter.
    

Each of the honorees exemplified the character and leadership qualities emblematic of CEW’s Achievement Awards; however, Heidi Manheimer, in presenting the honor to Rita Mangan, senior vice president, sales, education & retail strategies, Shiseido Cosmetics America, struck a chord for everyone in attendance when she promoted the idea of Omotenashi.
 

“At Shiseido, we honor the concept of Omotenashi, a philosophy of service and ideals,” Manheimer explained. “Value the thoughts and openness of others in leading, allow others to feel valued; listen, watch, and try to help those you meet along the way.”
 

Caring, empathy, and collaboration were clearly integral to celebrating professional achievement at this year’s awards.
 

Sponsors of the Awards program this year were InStyle, International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., Arcade Beauty, DSM Personal Care, Nordstrom Beauty, Mana, Amazon Luxury Beauty, The Emerson Group, Conair, Beauty Inc, Wells Fargo Securities, HSN, Links of London, Edelman, Geometry Global, P&G Beauty, Elizabeth Arden, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., WWD, Depicture, Suite K, Consultancy Media, and Kaplow Communications.