GCI
Beauty Business, Brand Impact

20 to know
It takes a lot of creative, capable people to build and power the exciting dynamic beauty industry. Presented here are 20 who captured imaginations in 2009

Karen Young, CEO, The Young Group

Experience, a deep knowledge of trends and an interesting, complementary and on-target combination of interests is the recipe
for a true asset to an industry. Karen Young is that combination, and—like icing on the cake—she is an insightful, engaging and
timely speaker.

Before opening The Young Group in 1999, Young was vice president of marketing,advertising, product development and sales promotion for Lancome. Before that, she spent 17 years at Estee Lauder,where she held a variety of executive positions, including executive director of color cosmetics. Since opening The Young Group, Karen has worked extensively in all categories of the beauty industry. She has developed concepts and products for RoC, Bath & Body Works, Neutrogena, Crabtree & Evelyn, Vichy, 3M Products and Canyon Ranch. Young has also worked with numerous established brands—including Christian Dior Beaute, Shiseido, Parfums Givenchy, Coppertone and Avon, As a certified personal trainer and nutritionist. Young has noted that she is drawn to projects that combine beauty, health and wellness—and projects such as these are right in step with where, it is clear, much of the beauty industry is going.

Young is also an adjunct professor at The Fashion Institute of Technology, teaching product development in the masters degree program in cosmetic and fragrance marketing and management, and partnered to form Leading Edge Innovations LLC—a strategic alliance with several technology centers to bring a think-tank approach to personal care formula and delivery system innovation toward the goal of creating truly differentiated products.