Leaders from Estée Lauder, Sephora, Sol de Janeiro and VMG Partners Join The Business of Beauty Global Awards Jury

Today, The Business of Fashion is delighted to reveal the all-star jury of top industry leaders for The Business of Beauty Global Awards, honouring the entrepreneurs shaping the future of the beauty industry.

Shana Randhava, The Estée Lauder Companies’ New Incubation Ventures senior vice president, Priya Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer at Sephora, Heela Yang, co-founder and CEO of Sol de Janeiro and Robin Tsai, general partner at VMG Partners, will join Imran Amed, BoF’s founder, CEO and editor-in-chief, and Priya Rao, executive editor of The Business of Beauty to identify the winners of our inaugural awards based on the following criteria:

Creative Execution: Entrepreneurs with unique brand concepts based on the creativity of their products, packaging and marketing strategies, creating a demonstrable source of competitive advantage.

Business Innovation: Entrepreneurs with innovative business models, demonstrating clear business momentum supported by strong financials.

Social Impact: Entrepreneurs that have a positive net impact on their communities: the people working in their supply chain, the customers they serve and the environment.

The Business of Beauty Global Awards seek to connect high-potential beauty entrepreneurs with industry leaders, retail partners and investors who can help them take their businesses to the next level.

To that end, shortlisted finalists will be invited to attend The Business of Beauty Global Forum in Napa Valley, California from June 3-5 to present to our jury. Last year, attendees included leading investors, executives from the world’s best-known beauty companies and entrepreneurial founders.

To apply for The Business of Beauty Global Awards please click here, submissions cost $500 and applications close Tuesday April 30, 2024 at 11:59pm EST.

Learn more about our expert jury

Shana Randhava, senior vice president, The Estée Lauder Companies’ New Incubation Ventures

Shana Randhava is the senior vice president of New Incubation Ventures, The Estée Lauder Companies’ early-stage investment and incubation arm. Randhava and her team are responsible for building a distinctive capability for ELC to invest in and create a pipeline of next-generation brands for the conglomerate’s portfolio like Haeckels, Vyrao and Melt Season. Prior to creating NIV, Randhava led the New Business Development team and was responsible for shaping and executing ELC’s mergers and acquisition strategy for Deciem, Dr. Jart+, Forest Essentials, By Killian and Too Faced. She previously worked in investment banking and consulting, and holds an MBA from the Chicago Booth School of Business.

Priya Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer, Sephora

Priya Venkatesh is the global chief merchandising officer for Sephora. In her role, Venkatesh is responsible for leading the merchandise strategic planning, as well as the makeup, skincare, fragrance, hair and wellness categories. While overseeing the full scope of Sephora’s merchandising teams globally, Venkatesh works to curate differentiated assortments for each region. In her 18-year tenure at Sephora, Venkatesh has focused on category development, as well as the initial introduction of K-Beauty in prestige retail. She is also behind the launch of Skin IQ, an instore skincare solutions diagnostic tool.

Heela Yang, co-founder and CEO, Sol de Janeiro

Heela Yang is the co-founder of Sol de Janeiro, a body care and fragrance label. Under Yang’s leadership, the brand has grown its assortment to over 30 products, many of which have gone viral on social media, and reached an estimated global retail sales of $1 billion in 2023. In 2021, L’Occitane acquired a majority stake in the business. Prior to founding Sol de Janeiro, Yang worked with brands like Lancôme and Clinique. Yang holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a master’s degree from Yale University.

Robin Tsai, general partner, VMG Partners

Robin Tsai is a General Partner at VMG Partners. Tsai joined VMG in 2009 and works closely with founders and leaders of branded consumer product companies. At VMG, Tsai has been responsible for spotting mega-brands like Drunk Elephant, K18 and Briogeo, and previously served on their boards. His proven eye for beauty and wellness labels with high growth potential has made him a sought-after advisor and investor, having also identified Kosas, Shani Darden and the beverage brand of Spindrift, all of which currently count Tsai as a board member. Prior to VMG, Tsai was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group with a focus on consumer products and retail, and worked as a middle school history teacher at The SEED Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Tsai graduated from Stanford University and received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Imran Amed, CEO and editor-in-chief, The Business of Fashion

Imran Amed is the Founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion. He is based in London and shapes BoF’s overall editorial strategy and is the host of The BoF Podcast. Amed holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a B.Com from McGill University and an honorary doctorate from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. Previously, Amed was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co.

Priya Rao, executive editor, The Business of Beauty

Priya Rao is executive editor at The Business of Beauty at BoF. She is based in New York and oversees BoF’s beauty and wellness coverage. Previously, Rao covered beauty, wellness and podcasts at Glossy and created the narrative skin-lightening podcast Unfair. She has a Bachelors in English and Finance from The University of Texas, Austin.

The Business of Beauty Global Awards 2024 are made possible by our Awards Partners The Estée Lauder Companies’ New Incubation Ventures and Sephora.

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For The Business of Beauty Global Awards terms and conditions, please click here. If you have any further questions, please email beautyawards@businessoffashion.com.