SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Herbivore Botanicals, the 100% natural, prestige skincare brand with an assortment of non-toxic, millennial-favorite products, today announced the appointment of Sandy Saputo to serve as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2020. For the past three years, Ms. Saputo was Chief Marketing Officer of KENDO Brands, the beauty incubator engine within the LVMH family of global luxury brands. Ms. Saputo will become a member of Herbivore’s Board of Directors.
“We are so incredibly grateful to have Sandy Saputo as our new CEO. Her vast knowledge of the industry combined with her positive and unstoppable attitude will no doubt carry Herbivore to great new heights,” said Alex Kummerow and Julia Wills, Co-Founders of Herbivore Botanicals.
Under Ms. Saputo’s leadership, KENDO’s portfolio of 6 beauty and skincare brands were transformed with digital and social-first integrated marketing that captured the hearts and minds of consumers, making the brands truly unavoidable in the beauty space. Most notably, Ms. Saputo led her team to deliver a game-changing industry launch of Fenty Beauty in 2017, making the case that inclusive marketing drives business results. In addition, she tapped into deep consumer insights for the Ole Henriksen skincare brand to create meaningful growth strategies, helping to more than double the business during her tenure.
Prior to joining KENDO Brands in 2017, Ms. Saputo spent 5 years as Chief Marketing Officer of Shiseido’s Bare Minerals brand, and before that, had an 8-year executive term at Procter and Gamble, leading global professional and mass haircare brands from Geneva, Switzerland, then Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Sandy Saputo has long held a flawless reputation in the beauty industry, thanks in part to her proven track record leading and building beauty brands through periods of significant growth and breakthrough innovation. We’re thrilled to have someone with Sandy’s experience leading the Company during its next phase of expansion,” said Brian Thorne, Partner of Silas Capital, a venture and growth equity firm responsible for the $15M Series A funding the brand received in August 2019, with participation from Stage 1 Fund.
Well-known for her fierce and compassionate leadership, Ms. Saputo is a dedicated mentor to her teams and for young women in the industry. Her inventive and results-driven approach to brand building has resulted in her being twice-awarded as one of San Francisco Business Times' Most Influential Women.
“I am honored to join the Herbivore team,” said Ms. Saputo. “Alex and Julia have created iconic products that are as efficacious as they are beautiful, with a differentiated brand essence that has built a devoted social community. I am honored to partner with them and the board to expand the brand’s impact globally within the clean, sustainable beauty space and beyond.” She adds, “I love the beauty business; the creativity, the chaos, the consumer we serve - I’m inspired to take Herbivore to another level of accelerated growth and secure the brand’s long-term place within the skincare industry.”
Ms. Saputo, was born in Beirut, Lebanon, raised in California, where she earned her degrees from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She began her career as a film and editorial makeup artist, then built an impressive corporate career in beauty. Ms. Saputo speaks several languages including French and Arabic, and currently resides in Belvedere, California with her husband, Brian, two children, Rocco and Brooklyn – and Bruno, her beloved American Bulldog-Mastiff.
ABOUT HERBIVORE
Founded in 2011 by Julia Wills and Alex Kummerow, Herbivore Botanicals is a prestige skincare brand offering an assortment of non-toxic, therapeutic products crafted with its iconic minimalist aesthetic. The company's line of 35+ SKUs ranges from skincare to bath & body, formulated with pure, active, highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and botanicals. For more information, visit www.herbivorebotanicals.com
ABOUT SILAS CAPITAL
Since 2011, Silas Capital has been an active emerging growth equity and venture capital investor that partners with consumer brands, in order to help them achieve significant revenue growth and profitability, improve operational efficiency, and increase brand recognition and value. In addition to Herbivore Botanicals, previous and current investments for Silas include Bare Snacks, Bellroy, Boll & Branch, Casper, Chief, Dos Toros, Dr. Roebuck's, HATCH, ILIA Beauty, Naadam, Lord Jones and Summersalt to name a few. Learn more at www.silascapital.com
ABOUT STAGE 1 FUND
In partnership with Stage 1 Financial, the leading Accounting, Finance & Business Intelligence service provider to emerging consumer brands, Stage 1 Fund provides investment capital alongside world class consumer venture capital & private equity partners. Current investments in addition to Herbivore Botanicals for Stage 1 Fund include HATCH, Lemon Perfect, Ellis Brooklyn and Spudsy. Learn more at www.stageonefinancial.com