Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) hosted their first members-only Women in Beauty Series event with Jane Lauder, global president and general manager of Origins and Ojon, in New York City on June 9.

Ms. Lauder, called a “new industry leader” by CEW president Carlotta Jacobson, discussed her innovative strategies and shared her insights on what has driven the success of the brands she leads.

“With so much competition in the cosmetic industry, it’s not an easy task to make individual brands stand out amongst the rest, but Jane Lauder does that time and again,” said Jacobson. Ms. Jacobson then looked at Jane and said, “I knew your grandmother [Estée Lauder] well, and she would be so proud to see you emerging as a leader in the company she founded.”

Since joining The Estée Lauder Companies in 1996, Ms. Lauder has held a variety of different positions across an array of brands including Stila, Flirt!, American Beauty and Clinique. Excited by the idea of “plant medicine,” Jane was eager to get involved with the brands she’d always loved and respected, which led to her repositioning and current role at Origins and Ojon.

“Over 80% of the world uses plants as primary medicine and there is a lot of unexplored opportunity there,” said Lauder. “Our target customer is health-conscious and wants to read labels to make sure products are free from harmful ingredients, so we create products that are good for their body and the environment, but also good for their wallet. Efficacy is most important.”

As the first beauty brand to feature an open-sell environment in the retail sphere, Origins transformed the traditional shopping experience into that of a “discovery”—training beauty advisors to act as “guides.” Recently, the brand unveiled a new store design, “nature’s laboratory,” hoping to make the brand more visible while still retaining the original sense of discovery and natural feel.

“We thought it was important to maintain the earthy feel and sense of community within the store, while making other changes like adding more natural light,” said Lauder. “You can click to buy anywhere now, but nothing replaces the one-on-one shopping experience.”
Not only does Origins develop efficacious beauty products, but they also give back to the community in exponential ways, literally.

“We’ve planted over 150,000 trees in the last year, and increased our recycling initiative using our trade-in programs,” said Lauder. “Giving back to the environment is fun and can be translated in all languages. Last year our trade-in project handed out 97,000 units in one day within stores in 11 countries.”

Ms. Lauder also shared her insights on the aspects of the job she loves the most.

“I really love listening to what consumers want and creating products that they will love,” said Lauder. “It’s not about the dream job, it’s about who you’re working for.”

CEW’s Carlotta Jacobson with The Estée Lauder Companies’ Jane Lauder and
Jill Scalamandre of Chrysallis.

The Estée Lauder Companies’ Jane Hudis,
Lynne Greene and Marianne Diorio.

Robertet’s Pierre Wulff, Olivia Jezler and Jérome Epinette.

The Estée Lauder Companies’ Beth Spruance, Thia Breen and Catherine Barber.

Firmenich’s Jerry Vittoria and Cheryl Morano.

Clinique’s Janet Pardo and CeCe Coffin.

InStyle’s Tim O’Connor, Lynne Dominick
and Juliet Reichman with Terry Darland of
Dior Beauty (2nd l.).

Revlon’s Rachael Nichol and Alison Kolterjohn.

Birchbox’s Katia Beauchamp and
Elizabeth Eckardt with Laurie Dowley
of Elizabeth Arden (c.).

Arcade Marketing’s Debra Leipman-Yale with Jennifer Lacks Kaplan of Monitor Group.

Origins’ Jamie Dwyer, Leona Pineda and
Tara Boss with Carmela Blackman of Clinique.

Arcade Marketing’s Sonia Milfort and
Alice Sciortino (r.) with Stephanie Bruno and Susan Tendler of The Estée Lauder Companies.

The Estée Lauder Companies’ Janet Pardo,
Karen Flinn and Caroline Geerlings.

Origins’ Alysha Brown and Erin Kritzer with Orly Sigal of Clinique.

Dior Beauty’s Terry Darland and Lisa Hawkins.

Korres’ Alexis DiResta and Erin Cotter (r.) with Natasha Coté and Catherine Lee of Givaudan.

Iredale Mineral Cosmetics’ Sarah Steven
with Alain Alchenberger and Marypierre Julien of Givaudan.

mark.’s Dawn Speller, Kathleen French and Paige Edmonds.