Beacon Awards

Meet the Expert Committee

  • Jill Scalamandre

    CEO,

    Beekman 1802

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  • Lisa Price

    President & Founder,

    Carol’s Daughter

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  • Wende Zomnir

    Founder,

    Caliray, Urban Decay

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  • Ju Rhyu

    Co-Founder & CEO,

    Hero Cosmetics

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  • Hind Sebti

    Co-Founder,

    Waldencast, Founder Whind

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  • Carol Hamilton

    Group President, Acquisitions,

    L'Oreal

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  • Nini Zhang

    Managing Director (Investment Banking),

    Bank of America

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  • Kecia Steelman

    President & CEO,

    Ulta Beauty

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  • Brooke DeVard

    Host & Creator,

    Naked Beauty Podcast

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  • Divya Gugnani

    Angel Investor + Founder,

    Wander Beauty

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  • Carla Ruiz

    Sr. Vice President, Global M&A,

    Shiseido

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  • Jennifer Goldstein Sullivan

    Co-host,

    Fat Mascara

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  • Cristina Nuñez

    Co-Founder & Partner,

    True Beauty Ventures

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  • AJ Addae

    Chief Executive Officer & Chemist,

    Sula Labs

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  • Melissa Niebes

    CEO,

    FP Labs

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  • Michelle Leblanc

    VP, Beauty, Personal Care & Hispanic Strategy Team,

    CVS

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  • Mona Kattan

    Founder & CEO,

    Kayali

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  • David Chung

    Founder & CEO,

    iLabs

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  • Lynda Berkowitz

    Senior Advisor,

    Famille C, Sandbridge Capital

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  • Tish Poling

    Co-Founder & President,

    International Products Group (IPG)

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  • Sasha Radic

    Managing Director,

    Jefferies

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    Jill Scalamandre

    CEO,

    Beekman 1802

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    Lisa Price

    President & Founder,

    Carol’s Daughter

    Who They Are

    Lisa Price’s journey begins like that of many entrepreneurs—with curiosity and determination mixed with moments of panic and a resounding belief that products that were made with love and delivered on their promise would find their following. It was a company born of Price’s love for fragrance and a passion for scent alchemy that formed the foundation of her high-performing products. More than a quarter of a century later, even amid massive industry disruption, new company leadership, and acquisition by L’Oréal, Carol’s Daughter continues to thrive and remain relevant in an industry where brands come and go as quickly as trends change. Carol’s Daughter began in Price’s Brooklyn kitchen. With a career in TV production, mixing up fragrances, perfume sprays, and creams served as a creative outlet. It wasn’t long before Price began dabbling in aromatherapeutic oils, educating herself on their healing properties.

    In 1993, Price, with the gentle nudge from her mother Carol, began to sell her products. With $100 in cash and a cramped kitchen, she crafted a collection that would become the foundation of a beauty empire. Selling her homespun concoctions at flea markets, and later out of her living room, favorable word-of-mouth began to spread for early iterations of Almond Cookie, Hair Milk, and Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie—all of which retain their cult-status today. “To name my company, I listed everything I was, and wanted to be, and realized the most special thing that I am, is Lisa, Carol’s daughter.”

    Over the next few years, word spread, with celebrities like Jada Pinkett-Smith, Erykah Badu, Rosie Perez, and Halle Berry becoming loyal customers. Joining the L’Oréal family in November 2014, Carol's Daughter widened its extensive footprint, selling its hair, body, and skincare solutions nationwide at key retailers. During the Obama administration, Price was appointed to the National Women’s Business Council, an independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, on economic issues that face female business owners. Price mentors female entrepreneurs and works closely with an array of organizations to give back to the community.

    Price was featured in the film She Did That (2019) and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Black MBA Association's Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2000), the Working Woman Magazine’s Entrepreneurial Excellence Award (2001), and a Cosmetic Executive Women Achiever Award (2010). She is also the author of “Success Never Smelled So Sweet,” a memoir that chronicles her transformation from a young Black woman deep in debt to president of a paradigm-changing business.

    Price and her husband, Gordon, have two sons and a daughter and still live in Brooklyn.

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    Wende Zomnir

    Founder,

    Caliray, Urban Decay

    Who They Are

    With her first brand, Urban Decay, Zomnir ushered in a new era
    of makeup centered of edgy, playful color cosmetics-- it's Naked Pallette became a smash success. L'Oréal purchased Urban Decay Cosmetics from Castanea Partners in 2012. Taking a second bite of the entrepreneurial apple, Zomnir launched clean color and skinbrand caliray in 2021 which quickly received investment from True Beauty Ventures and is sold in Sephora nationwide.

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    Ju Rhyu

    Co-Founder & CEO,

    Hero Cosmetics

    Who They Are

    Rhyu co-founded Hero Cosmetics in 2017 with one product, Mighty Patch, which quickly became its hero SKU. The brand is now selling a product every 3 seconds. With Rhyu at the helm, Hero has increased its revenue by 3-4x year over year, and has been profitable since year one. Hero Cosmetics' investment deal with Aria Growth Investors was named the 2021 Beacon Awards Indie Deal of the Year.

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    Hind Sebti

    Co-Founder,

    Waldencast, Founder Whind

    Who They Are

    Sebti has 20 years of dedicated beauty experience, building brands across categories at P&G and L’Oréal where she had various marketing and general management positions in brands like L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline and Redken. She also founded Whind, a beauty and lifestyle brand developed as part of Waldencast Brands.

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    Carol Hamilton

    Group President, Acquisitions,

    L'Oreal

    Who They Are

    During her 35-year tenure at L’Oreal, Carol has been responsible for building the L’Oreal Paris flagship brand from an indie brand in the 80’s into the number 1 global beauty brand worldwide, behind the iconic phrase celebrating women’s worth “Because I’m Worth It”.

    In 2008, she took over the helm of the L’Oreal Luxury Division overseeing all Luxe brands including Giorgio Armani, Lancôme, Kiehl’s Since 1851, Yves Saint Laurent, Viktor & Rolf, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Clarisonic, Urban Decay, and the fragrance license of Proenza Schouler. During her 10 years running L’Oréal Luxe, she has moved from a $1B business to a $1.8B business, gaining market share and increasing its profitability in a strong and regular way.

    In January 2016, Carol Hamilton was promoted to Group President L’Oréal Luxe USA where she began to delegate the operational animation of the USA business and focus more on the animation of the existing US beauty brands DMIs, the search and evaluation of new acquisitions as well as their integration into L’Oréal, and contribute to the global division’s strategy with an American perspective. Carol has led the successful acquisitions of Clarisonic, Urban Decay and It Cosmetics, she went on to run these brands - along with Kiehl’s Since 1851- globally.

    As of August 2018, Carol was placed in charge of acquisitions for all divisions of L’Oreal.

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    Nini Zhang

    Managing Director (Investment Banking),

    Bank of America

    Who They Are

    Zhang is a Managing Director at Bank of America's Consumer and Retail investment banking group, where she focuses on beauty, personal care, and DTC coverage. Prior to this, she spent 9 years at Credit Suisse with her latest position being Investment Banking Director of Luxury, Beauty and Apparel.

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    Kecia Steelman

    President & CEO,

    Ulta Beauty

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    Brooke DeVard

    Host & Creator,

    Naked Beauty Podcast

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    Divya Gugnani

    Angel Investor + Founder,

    Wander Beauty

    Who They Are

    Divya Gugnani is a serial entrepreneur and investor. She brings 20+ years of investment and entrepreneurial experience to her role as Founding Partner of Concept to Co. She is the Founder and CEO of 5 SENS, a sensory experience in fine fragrance. She also serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of Wander Beauty, which creates effortless essentials you reach for every day, wherever you wander. Prior to Wander Beauty, Divya co-founded Send the Trend, an e-commerce site focused on personalized fashion and beauty, and sold it to QVC, where she focused on digital innovation.

    Divya started her business career in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs and then moved on to private equity and venture capital at Investcorp International and FirstMark Capital. A self-proclaimed ‘accidental entrepreneur,’ she later left the finance world after selling her first business, and, bitten by the startup bug, went on to become a serial entrepreneur. She has appeared regularly on several shows on CNBC, NBC and MSNBC and has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, BusinessWeek, TIME Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Deal, and Crain’s. She is the author of the book Sexy Women Eat: Secrets to Eating What You Want and Still Looking Fabulous, published by HarperCollins. In addition to a B.S. from Cornell University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Divya attended the French Culinary Institute.

    Through Concept to Co, Divya has invested in over 76 companies over the past two decades. She is passionate about helping fellow entrepreneurs build and scale their businesses. She provides mentorship through various groups including HeyMama, Female Founder Collective, Fashion Mamas, and more. She also guest lectures at Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Cornell, Columbia, and NYU throughout the year.

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    Carla Ruiz

    Sr. Vice President, Global M&A,

    Shiseido

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    Jennifer Goldstein Sullivan

    Co-host,

    Fat Mascara

    Who They Are

    Jennifer Goldstein is the co-host of award-winning beauty podcast Fat Mascara and a journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most recently as beauty and health director of Marie Claire. Her writing has been featured in numerous publications, including Elle, Esquire, InStyle, Men’s Journal, and Health, and she’s appeared as a beauty expert on Good Morning America, Today!, The Dr. Oz Show, and Live with Kelly & Ryan.

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    Cristina Nuñez

    Co-Founder & Partner,

    True Beauty Ventures

    Who They Are

    Cristina has spent over ten years investing, operating, and advising in the consumer products industry, having dedicated the last seven years exclusively to beauty and wellness. She is currently a Partner and Co-Founder of True Beauty Ventures, a recently launched fund focused on finding, partnering with, and scaling brands exclusively in beauty.

    Prior to joining True Beauty Ventures, Cristina was the General Manager and COO of Clark’s Botanicals, a clean botanical skincare brand, held various operating roles at Laura Geller Beauty, a prestige makeup brand, and developed new business growth opportunities for Equinox, a luxury fitness and lifestyle brand. Prior to her operating roles, she was a Senior Associate at Tengram Capital Partners, an Associate at L Catterton, and an Analyst in the Consumer & Retail Investment Banking group at UBS. Cristina graduated magna cum laude from Duke University and holds a B.A. with Highest Distinction in Public Policy Studies

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    AJ Addae

    Chief Executive Officer & Chemist,

    Sula Labs

    Who They Are

    AJ Addae is a chemist dedicated to leveraging chemistry for inclusion and analytical precision in cosmetic science. She is also the founder of SULA LABS, a skincare R&D formulation lab addressing inclusivity gaps in the beauty industry by developing and testing skincare products for melanin-rich consumers. The clientele of SULA LABS includes retailers such as Target, Sephora, and Credo Beauty.

    With a background in clinical research and formulation chemistry, Addae has first-author publications in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology and Accounts of Materials Research.

    Currently, she is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow pursuing a PhD in Chemical Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, focusing on the functionalization of zinc oxide via green synthesis for use in sunscreens.

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    Melissa Niebes

    CEO,

    FP Labs

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    Michelle Leblanc

    VP, Beauty, Personal Care & Hispanic Strategy Team,

    CVS

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    Mona Kattan

    Founder & CEO,

    Kayali

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    David Chung

    Founder & CEO,

    iLabs

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    Lynda Berkowitz

    Senior Advisor,

    Famille C, Sandbridge Capital

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    Tish Poling

    Co-Founder & President,

    International Products Group (IPG)

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    Sasha Radic

    Managing Director,

    Jefferies

2024 Nominees

The 2024 Beacon Award nominees attest to the breadth and depth of the independent beauty community.

  • Best Social Media Nominee
    SHAZ & KIKS
  • Brand Launch Nominee
    Medalist
  • Best Packaging Nominee
    Baude NY
  • Industry Icon Nominee
    Paula Begoun
    Founder
    Paula's Choice
  • Inclusivity Champion Nominee
    OCOA
  • Product Launch - Wellness Nominee
    Best of Berberine
  • Assortment Innovator Honoree
    Ayla
  • Entrepreneur Nominee
    Mario Dedivanovic
    Founder & CEO
    Makeup By Mario
  • Sustainability Champion Nominee
    Nolé Care
  • Product Launch - Haircare
    Moisturize + Shine Shampoo & Conditioner Set
See All Nominees

We think the name captures the spirit of our community. A beacon shines so brightly that it can’t be ignored. It’s an example for others to follow and a symbol of possibility.

–Rachel Brown, Editor In Chief, Beauty Independent

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