Our Platform

We aim to be the chosen partner for beauty brands.

 
 

We understand the value of our expertise and ecosystem for many new founders and are prioritizing ways to make some of that accessible at a larger scale. Our goal is to continuously expand our true beauty platform, as the beauty industry is at the core of everything we do.

 

Our Strategic Partnerships

 

As an extension of True Beauty Ventures, we have partnered with key resources to support our partner brands in critical areas, such as organizational design and distribution. These strategic partnerships and exclusive collaborations further support our unique point of differentiation.

 

  • Cassie Cowman, Retail Strategy - View from 32

    Cassie’s innate affinity to all things aesthetic brought her to the luxury fragrance world in 2006, laying down the foundation of a remarkable 18-year career in beauty. She continued to cultivate her merchant’s intuition at Sephora helping brands develop innovative and impactful strategies that were also financially sound and profitable. After an enriching 6+ years there, she moved to NY to be the Skincare Director for Tarte Cosmetics while simultaneously working with other brands of the parent KOSÉ group in Japan.

    In 2018, she became VP of Strategic Marketing at Briogeo Hair Care until she co-founded View from 32 while working as a Senior Consultant for Sephora.

  • Gabriella Giron, Retail Strategy - View from 32

    Gaby has navigated her way through various areas in the beauty industry for over 15 years . Her rise in the industry began at Sephora where she worked her way up from an assistant position to a buyer in the skincare category. During this time, she worked directly with brands like Farmacy and Youth to the People, collaborating with them at every growth stage and expanding the retailers’ Clean Beauty and Wellness category.

    After 12 years at Sephora, she worked as Digital Lead for Estée Lauder Companies in Paris. Her key areas of expertise are buying, e-commerce, business leadership, visual merchandising and brand development.

  • Lindsay Ullman, Retail Strategy - View from 32

    Lindsay started her career as a buyer for Bloomingdale’s, which coincided with the nascent stages of online shopping, giving her a valuable front row seat to the inevitable rise of e-commerce. Sephora came next, where she spearheaded the Clean Beauty movement through a digital lens as Senior E-Commerce Merchant, developing and executing digital strategies for over 90 brands.

    In the past few years, she has held senior positions at brands such as MAC and The INKEY List. Lindsay’s leadership skills, proven track record and extensive understanding of technologies help improve the consumer online experience to help enable brands to win.

  • Colleen Walsh, HR Consultant

    Colleen Walsh is a seasoned Human Resources Executive with a deep emphasis in the beauty industry. With over 15 years of experience at both global CPGs and smaller founder-led brands, she has played a pivotal leadership role in brand growth and acquisitions. Colleen is committed to crafting thoughtful HR strategies that prioritize talent management, resource allocation, and fostering positive and productive organizational cultures.

    Through her partnership with TBV, Walsh provides support around key areas for our partner brands. Some examples include: talent planning & management, evaluating current and identifying future roles required for growth, succession planning to fill key open positions, resource allocation with a review of costs, budgets and benefits packages, review and creation of performance evaluation and bonus plans and much more.

Our Advisors

 

We have assembled an advisory board with deep beauty industry knowledge and experience to further support our partner brands and help them navigate all stages of growth.

 

  • Elana Drell Szyfer

    Elana Drell Szyfer is the CEO of ReVive Skincare, a Tengram Capital Partners portfolio company. ReVive is the second portfolio company that Elana is leading for Tengram. From July 2014-June 2017, Elana led Laura Geller Beauty. Elana is also an Operating Advisor at Tengram, and currently serves on the Board of Algenist Skincare and Cos Bar, the specialty retailer. She previously served on the boards of Nest Fragrances and This Works Skincare. Elana’s previous roles include senior leadership positions at Ahava, Estee Lauder and L’Oreal. Elana is on the board of Cosmetics Executive Women, and is an advisor to the Stern School of Business Fashion and Luxury M.B.A Program and an inaugural member of the Columbia College Alumnae Legacy Circle. Elana and her husband Claude Szyfer have three daughters and live in New Jersey.

  • Emily Dougherty

    As a writer and editor for ELLE, NYLON and Harper's Bazaar, Emily Dougherty has been covering the beauty, wellness and luxury industries for over 20 years. She's tested anti-gravity creams at Cape Canaveral and has gone undercover as a makeup artist and hair stylist backstage, at film festivals, and on movie sets. Her award-winning articles have been read by millions of readers around the world. She graduated from Yale University, and lives in NYC with her husband, her son and a very, very small dog named Ed.

  • Edgar Huber

    Edgar Huber is a multifaceted leader who thrives on creating shareholder value for fast-paced Fortune 500 consumer facing apparel, beauty, and lifestyle brands. He currently sits as the CEO of NEST New York. Prior to NEST, Edgar led the COTY integration of the $12.5B acquisition of P&G’s Luxury Beauty business, rebuilding global business teams to support the reorganization, and transferring headquarters from Geneva to Paris and building market leading e-commerce and Go To Market capabilities on a global scale.

    Most recently, Edgar joined Blackstone as an advisor (M&A and operations) and became a Director at Supergoop, a Blackstone portfolio company. As a board member for several public and private companies in the apparel and cosmetics industries, Edgar leverages his years of experience as an industry executive to represent management’s and shareholders’ best interests and bring a fresh perspective to the boards he serves. Edgar is fluent in English, German, and French. He lives in New York City area with his wife and daughter.

  • Janna Ronert

    Janna Ronert is the Founder of Image Skincare, a recognizable, efficacious, and affordable international company with over 25,000 customers and is best known for changing the health and vitality of skin for women in more than 60 countries. Janna is also the Co-Founder of Hush & Hush, a line of luxury beauty supplements. Janna, an international health and wellness speaker and female empowerment advocate, is active in several organizations. She is also the recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 and Florida Business Journal’s CEO of the Year in 2016. She and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Marc Ronert, are the Co-Founders of Care for Skin Foundation, and live in Palm Beach County with their twin children.

  • Joel Palix

    Joel Palix is a seasoned beauty executive with 30 years of international experience, both on the brand and retail sides. Previous roles include CEO of Feelunique, a leading international beauty e-retailer based in London, CEO of Clarins Fragrance Group, CEO of Thierry Mugler, MD Europe of Yves Saint Laurent Beauty.

    In 2019 Joel Palix started his own consultancy, Palix Unlimited, advising beauty brands and beauty financiers on new ventures and acquisitions, DTC and omni-channel strategies, brand positioning and international expansion.

  • John Elmer

    John Elmer is a dynamic and experienced executive with expertise in spearheading initiatives to drive business and bottom-line growth in the consumer products, media and entertainment sectors. John has extensive experience in deploying critical business systems (ERP/POS/CRM/E-Comm/WMS), cutting costs out of businesses, and improving organizational efficiency in both high growth and stable environments. He currently sits as the CFO, COO at Révive Skincare, a Tengram Capital Partners portfolio company, and previously was CFO, COO at Laura Geller Beauty. John was also an instrumental figure at Carol’s Daughter, driving the brand’s growth, resulting in its sale to L’Oréal in 2014.

  • Kelly St. John

    Kelly St. John brings 25+ years of proven results and a people first approach to help beauty brands of all business life cycle stages. Her deep understanding of the beauty industry results in a true 360-degree perspective, forward thinking, and proactive point of view. Her distinguished career includes rising to executive positions both at Estee Lauder Companies and Neiman Marcus, where she was Vice President of Beauty, the company’s largest category of business. In 2018 she founded KSJ Collective, a beauty consultancy that mentors and collaborates with beauty brands in defining their optimal growth potential.

  • Sarah Lee

    Sarah Lee is the co-founder of Glow Recipe.

    Glow Recipe creates clean, cruelty-free, fruit-forward, clinically-effective skincare for glowing skin. Glow Recipe pairs antioxidant-rich fruits with gentle yet powerful actives to create unique and innovative products that have achieved cult status amongst beauty consumers.

    A seasoned expert on the global beauty consumer, Sarah boasts a deep and unique cross-functional resume that spans product development, business strategy, and global marketing. Sarah began her career at L’Oréal, leading product development and retail partnerships with a global lens.

    Sarah blends her deep understanding of product formulation science with years of successfully bringing brands to market to drive strategy and execution of Glow Recipe’s vision.

  • Christine Chang

    Christine Chang is the co-founder of Glow Recipe.

    Since inception, Glow Recipe has paired first-to-market innovations with education to empower consumers to bring out their ‘glow’, while remaining hyper-focused on the Company’s core values of community, real skin acceptance, inclusivity, and sustainability. These values have allowed Glow Recipe to build an engaged community of Gen Z and Millennial consumers who have embraced the brand’s core pillars.

    Combining her passion for skincare with an extensive background in marketing, brand & business development, sales and product development, Christine Chang maintains a wealth of knowledge when it comes to international beauty. Christine’s foray into beauty started at L’Oreal where she spearheaded global business development, retail, marketing and digital strategy.

    Christine's expertise in skincare formulations paired with her strategic experience in launching and growing brands is invaluable to Glow Recipe's mission.

From Our Community

  • “We’ve wanted Rich Gersten as an investor for years given his savviness at building meaningful beauty brands, we first stalked him at the WWD CEO Beauty Summit. We are beyond thrilled that the timing aligned for us to work together at last, when he started True Beauty Ventures along with his partner Cristina Nunez just when we were also launching our interruptive K18 Biomimetic Science brand and products. Together Rich and Cristina bring a wealth of knowledge and know-how, they have unique insights and actively roll up their sleeves to help execute on critical path objectives.”

    Britta Cox
    Co-Founder, AQUIS & K18 Hair

  • “True Beauty Ventures defines what it means to be a real investor in this moment: Diligent and additive forward-thinkers with deep operational and industry knowledge, unwavering commitment to evolve opportunities for BIPOC and female founders, and the fortitude to be unconditional partners helping their portfolio companies navigate growth. The future of consumer investing will undoubtedly be shaped by their incredible vision and trailblazing approach.”

    Eva Goicochea
    Founder & CEO, maude

  • “Cristina, Rich, and the True Beauty Ventures team have created something truly special. I’ve connected with more than a hundred investors over the couple years as we’ve raised capital for Crown Affair, and within the first meeting I knew they were unique in their expertise and approach to this category. Their depth of experience and knowledge made it clear that they would be an incredible investor and partner to guide our business into the next phase of growth. Cristina and Rich are not only thoughtful and smart, but they’re compassionate and understand the importance of a founder’s vision. They love the beauty category and they care about the people behind the brands. I’m honored to build with True Beauty Ventures and to be included in their remarkable portfolio of brands and founders.”

    Dianna Cohen
    Founder & CEO, Crown Affair

  • “The collaborative relationship Rich forges with his CEO’s is one based on respect, trust and confidence in their ability to lead and perform. Rich’s unique approach is a mixture of deep strategic involvement and alignment, coupled with remaining “hands off ” on tactical execution...He has a fierce sense of loyalty and is the rare investor who actualizes his own professional accomplishments by helping his brands and teams realize their personal and professional goals...He is a rare mix of “head and heart” and has been the ideal partner.“

    Elana Drell Szyfer
    CEO, RéVive Skincare and Laura Geller Beauty

  • “Rich Gersten has proven again and again that he has a crystal-ball ability to predict the market. But with his keen intelligence, unique insights, and deep industry relationships, he doesn't simply predict the future of the beauty, he shapes it. ”

    Emily Dougherty
    Former Editor-in-Chief, NewBeauty and Elle

  • “True Beauty has truly played an outsized role in the evolution and rapid growth of the K18 business. Rich and Cristina believed in the K18 opportunity much before the launch of K18. Not only that, Rich has mentored us through the vital foundational pillars in our growth journey - the crucial role and need to laser focus on nurturing a business that embeds profitability and distribution productivity in its DNA ; building great teams early on, instill trust, confidence and autonomy into their work lives and also getting out of their way has been one of the most significant lessons we have learnt as founders. True Beauty was also instrumental in partnering us and successfully negotiating our series C financing and also creatively structuring our working capital financing needs. True Beauty continues to be our sounding board even as we gain critical scale in the beauty industry and our learnings and accomplishments are simply a testimony to their incredibly deep understanding of the entrepreneur ecosystem, the unique drivers of each business and also their ability to partner founders through every stage of evolution. Thank you Rich, Cristina and the entire TBV team for the impact you have had on our lives and the K18 business.”

    Suveen Sahib, Co-Founder and CEO K18

  • “TBV has been a great investment partner for BeautyStat. They celebrate our wins as well as help us solve challenges and are accessible almost 24/7. They regularly share insights and data that help our business. They create an environment where we can share and learn from other brands and partners in their portfolio. I have and continue to highly recommend them to other indie brand founders.“

    Ron Robinson CEO and Founder of BeautyStat

  • “During the fundraising journey, my co-founders and I received a crucial piece of advice: "Choose someone you’d start a business with.” Securing investments shouldn't be purely about capital. So much worth lies in gaining access to brilliant minds, strategic insights, and seasoned industry veterans. True Beauty Ventures has proven to be just that—an invaluable ally to Dieux. Not only by facilitating meaningful introductions, but also by fostering an environment that prioritizes long-term success, not simply what is profitable right now. Consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have partnered with a team that is witty, kind and makes us better.”

    Charlotte Palermino, CEO and Co-Founder Dieux Skin

  • “I am wholeheartedly supportive of the nomination of the True Beauty Ventures team for the Beacon Award. My skincare brand ROSE Ingleton MD was part of the 2023 Mentorship program with True Beauty Ventures and Beauty Independent. The instruction and the guidance that we received as part of this 6-month intensive was beyond compare. As an early stage brand we were instructed on the best practices to ensure that our brand would be “investor ready.” To have open access to these masters of the beauty investment industry was priceless. I am so grateful for their honesty, support, and encouragement. I can confidently say that TBV is world class in supporting early stage businesses. The positive influence of my engagement with them will continue to impact my brand for years to come.”

    Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, ROSE Ingleton MD Skincare

  • “I have a long history in the beauty industry, and have had the opportunity to work with so many great investment partners during the growth and acquisition chapters at Urban Decay. But working with TBV to launch and scale Caliray has been my best partnership experience. They immediately recognized the potential for my new brand, and dove in completely as partners, providing advice, insight, and resources when I needed them. They don’t just point you in a direction and give guidance, they actively get involved to help innovate solutions and solve problems. Rich and Cristina completely understand the mindset of the entrepreneur and I know they 100% have my back and are committed to the success of Caliray.”

    Wende Zomnir, Founder of Caliray and Urban Deca

  • "Cristina and Rich have been so instrumental and helpful for Youthforia's growth. Having met TBV through the Bridge Mentorship when Youthforia was only a few months old, Cristina and Rich gave me valuable advice on how to think about becoming funding ready and setting up the key pillars for the brand so that we could scale. This was instrumental for me because I didn't come from the beauty industry. TBV led our Series Seed and we've accelerated our growth. TBV has a great understanding of what makes a great brand, while also being mindful of challenges in the early days of growing a brand. But most importantly, I love that they're very aligned on founders' visions."

    Fiona Co Chan, Founder of Youthforia