
Beauty leader Tracey Woodward on sustainability and the future of the industry
Tracey Woodward just stepped down as the global CEO of Aromatherapy Associates and The Refinery last month. It’s the latest move in her 36-year career in the beauty industry, which began on beauty counters. Tracey made strides through the industry, working her way up with brands like Estée Lauder, Clinique and Aveda. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and an extremely thorough understanding of what it takes to create a successful brand in a time when consumers are so educated about things like sustainability. We chatted with Tracey about sustainability, balancing her career with her personal life, and what it takes to make it in an always-evolving industry. On her current moves I’m working with Equi Botanics, Kalmar Lifestyle, and a brand called Lebon Toothpaste, which is a beautiful toothpaste brand that is all about sustainability and clean ingredients. I’ve been on the board of Cosmetic Executive Women for the last eight years where I specialise in niche brands. I’m an executive director there and we are all about mentoring, future-proofing the industry, helping people and identifying cool brands. On clean beauty Clean beauty is the future. People keep saying to me ‘How do you feel working in a niche market?’ But I’m not actually specialised in a...