Retail Reinvented: Placing a Strategic Leader to Spark Growth and Modernization

The Client

Our client is one of the world’s largest wholesale and retail distributors of hair and beauty products, operating more than 4,500 stores across the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Headquartered in Denton, Texas, the company has built a global footprint by ensuring beauty is accessible, inclusive, and expressive for every community they serve.

With decades of success behind them, the organization remains focused on transformation—both in their physical footprint and in how they deliver customer value through innovation, M&A, and long-range strategic planning.

The Challenge

As the company looked to redefine its future in a rapidly evolving retail and consumer landscape, leadership identified the need for a senior strategy executive to drive innovation, long-term growth planning, and market analysis.

The newly created Vice President / Senior Director of Corporate Strategy & Innovation would be tasked with:

• Partnering across the business to develop and implement growth programs
• Exploring and justifying new business opportunities—including M&A and partnerships
• Establishing long-range strategic planning processes and success metrics
• Leading cross-functional strategic initiatives and competitive market analysis
• Building and mentoring a high-performing strategy team

The role required both classic strategic skillsets and a bias toward innovation—a rare blend of consulting discipline, creative thinking, and practical execution.

Our Approach

We focused on top-tier management consultants who had transitioned into senior strategy or innovation roles at consumer-facing organizations. Our search prioritized candidates with experience in M&A, business development, and launching new initiatives within complex organizations.

We evaluated for strong leadership and storytelling skills, cross-functional influence, and the ability to align stakeholders across functions and seniority levels.

Preferred backgrounds included:

• Top consulting firms (BCG, Bain, McKinsey, etc.)
• Experience in innovation, product development, or strategic partnerships
• Demonstrated comfort with ambiguity, ownership, and rapid problem-solving

The Placement

We placed a seasoned strategy leader and former BCG consultant with more than 15 years of experience across Fortune 100 companies and high-growth tech ventures. His experience spanned strategy, innovation, product management, and partnerships—making him uniquely qualified to drive long-term value creation.

He brought:

• Deep experience leading innovation and new business development
• A track record of cross-functional leadership and stakeholder alignment
• A history of launching transformative initiatives and building strategic capabilities
• Sector breadth across consumer, financial services, technology, and advertising

With a clear passion for long-term value creation and customer-centric growth, he stood out for his ability to rally cross-functional teams around forward-looking initiatives.

The Outcome

The client selected this candidate for his rare ability to balance structure and creativity—and to energize stakeholders around strategy without formal authority.

With his placement, the company gained a trusted strategy leader to help shape the business’s future trajectory—leading key initiatives in innovation, planning, and transformation, and helping reimagine what growth looks like in a global beauty business.