An interactive and curated event to dive into the need-to-knows for starting a beauty brand. A full-day e-conference, this event happened Dec 3rd, 8 am-4 pm ET.

REPLAY IS NOW LIVE! Watch it here!

A common critique of industry conferences is that they are either too expensive for attendees, geographically exclusive, close their eyes to misinformation, or all of the above. We put this event together to demonstrate how accessibility makes a difference. This is our attempt to democratize accurate information for the cosmetics industry. Interested in supporting our free e-conference initiative? Please share.

Interested in becoming an event sponsor? Reach out to us directly at info@theecowell.com

Event Agenda - A Series of Need-To-Know Presentations with live Q&A.

Formulation. Presented by AJ Addae from Sula Labs.

Regulatory. Presented by Simmone Swafford DRSc from Vogue Regulatory Consulting.

Business Success. Presented by Marie Drago PharmD from Gallinee Skincare.

Packaging. Presented by Allison Turquoise Kent-Gunn @allisonturqoise.

Claims. Presented by Craig Weiss from Consumer Product Testing.

Legal. Presented by Avril Love from K&L Gates.

Fragrance. Presented by Pia Long from Olfiction.

Working with a CM. Erica Douglas from @sisterscientist and mSEED Group.

Safety. Presented by Mo Kanadil PharmD @moskinlab

Sustainability. Presented by Jen Novakovich from The Eco Well. 

Marketing. Presented by Eber Bodmer  from Independent Beauty Association.

Closing Panel: The Future of Indie Beauty. Panelists include Akemi Ooka PhD from Independent Beauty Association, Kelly Kovack from BeautyMatter, and Dr. Robb Akridge from Opulus Beauty. Moderated by Jen Novakovich.

Stay tuned for the official summit schedule.

Speaker Biographies

AJ Addae is the founder of SULA LABS, and an award-winning cosmetic chemist, clinical researcher, and chemical biology PhD student at the University of California, Los Angeles. When AJ was a clinical researcher and formulator in the medical-grade skincare space, she immediately saw how underserved and under-considered Black consumers are in the R&D process, and sought out to build SULA LABS - a research-forward product development & testing laboratory that develops and tests products for Black-owned brands and dark skinned consumers, with customers in retailers including Sephora, Credo Beauty, and Ulta Beauty. AJ's dermatologic research is published in the Journal of Drugs and Dermatology, and she is a Future Laboratory Future Innovators awardee. She is ultimately driven by her innate passion for using chemistry and clinical research as a means of change for the health of skin of color.

Simone Swafford, DRSc is the CEO and Founder of Vogue Regulatory, LLC.  Before establishing Vogue Regulatory, Dr. Swafford worked for small to large-sized companies in the personal care, consumer healthcare and dietary supplement industries.  She earned both her master’s degree and the only one of its kind doctorate in Regulatory Science from the University of Southern California.  Dr. Swafford has given the cosmetics lecture in the Introduction to Medical Product Regulations course at USC and has also written the Cosmetics chapter in the USC regulatory textbook, “An Overview of FDA Regulated Products: From Drugs and Cosmetics to Food and Tobacco”.

Marie Drago, PharmD, is a Doctor in Pharmacy and the founder of Gallinée Microbiome Skincare. The brand was launched in 2016 following Marie’s discovery of the importance of the skin microbiome in beauty. Today the brand caters to sensitive skin, scalps and vulvas with 23 products and 4 patents. Gallinée was acquired by the Shiseido Group at the end of 2022 and Marie Drago is now Chief Creative Officer in charge of innovation.

Allison Turquoise Kent-Gunn started in B2B sales 6 years ago, working for a skincare laboratory that emphasized science-based skincare formulating and marketing. She then expanded into B2B packaging sales, and currently works as a Sales Director at Berlin|Jansy where she collaborates with brands ranging in size from indie to international. Working in the cosmetic packaging industry has fueled her passion for sustainability, which she pursues by teaching a college level cosmetic packaging class at FIDM, as well as using her Instagram presence to help educate consumers and brands alike on the nuances of sustainable packaging.

Craig Weiss received a B.S. in biology for Monmouth College, prior to arriving at Consumer Product Testing Co. Craig held technical positions at Del Laboratories, Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals (Proctor and Gamble) and Roxane Laboratories. Craig began his career with Consumer Product Testing Co., Inc. as the Vice President of the Analytical Service Division, which was composed of the Microbiology and Analytical Chemistry departments. In 1999 he became the President of Consumer Product Testing Co., Inc.  Craig is active in many trade organizations and is a member of IBA board of directors, serving as the chairman of its technical, regulatory committee. Craig is also a member of the SCC and has served on the Committee on Scientific Affairs (COSA) and PCPC serving on its Scientific Advisory Committee.  Additionally, Craig sits on numerous international expert panels, ICCR and JCCT for example.

Avril Love is counsel at K&L Gates’ Los Angeles office, where she is a member of the Commercial Disputes practice group.After spending years defending medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, particularly in the context of recalls, Avril has considerable knowledge of FDA’s regulatory regime and enforcement activities. She has defended companies in numerous industries facing consumer and e-commerce claims based on products liability, advertising, marketing practices, website accessibility, consumer contracts, data security, and privacy issues. She also has defended clients facing regulatory enforcement over quality and import/export issues, as well as business-to-business disputes involving antitrust, fraud, trade secrets, and other torts. Avril has developed significant expertise serving personal care and consumer product companies facing these very issues. She acts as both a coach and a line of defense, observing clients’ field position to anticipate and identify risks, training internal teams to independently navigate legal and reputational risks in their daily decision-making, and proactively developing regulatory compliance and risk mitigation strategies that position clients to defend lawsuits long before they reach the courtroom.

Pia Long is a London College of Fashion graduate. Her perfumery career started as an in-house junior perfumer for a well-known global cosmetics brand, after which she worked for a UK-based fragrance trader and supplier as a technical manager and perfumer, and moved on to join a fragrance consultancy as a training manager and perfumer. In 2016, she set up Olfiction Limited with Nick Gilbert. They provide perfumery for fine fragrance, home fragrance and cosmetic product categories - plus range evaluation, training and marketing support to suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and brands. Pia has created fragrances for global and niche brands, as well as product and ingredient manufacturers. Her recent wins include La Montaña, Beaufort, Zoologist, Les Senteurs, Ghost and Olfiction's own brand Boujee Bougies. She is full member of the SIPC (International Society of Perfumer-Creators) and a committee member of the British Society of Perfumers. As part of her commitment to better communication about perfumery, she has arranged and participated in a number of public events; given lectures to cosmetic science students about the topic, and regularly contributes to the media.

Erica Douglas has managed to find a creative niche in the beauty industry as a cosmetic chemist who also has a proven track record in marketing and brand development. She built her career using her passion to push for innovation in stagnant areas of product development and is a globally recognized expert in the beauty and personal care space. Erica earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and spent the first decade of her career working for leading manufacturers as a product formulation chemist, quality manager and regulatory specialist. Her desire to understand the full scope of building successful brands in the beauty space led her to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where she earned her MBA. She spent most of her career working on the Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) brand, where she worked her way up the ladder to Director of Research & Development. While there, she made significant contributions in developing new and innovative hair and skin care products across the company’s most successful global brands, helping the startup company to achieve over $100M in revenue. In 2014, Erica became the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of mSEED group – a product development, contract manufacturing and business/marketing management company, focused on providing strategic growth solutions to aspiring entrepreneurs and established businesses in beauty and personal care. While most of Erica’s time is spent as the “brains behind the brands,” managing this multi-million dollar B2B full-service company, Erica’s public persona as “Sister Scientist” has grown into a globally recognized brand through social media, educational workshops and fun social media videos. As Sister Scientist, Erica travels the world educating beauty enthusiasts about the science side of beauty, and using this platform to motivate and encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) related fields. She is a proud Chicago South-Sider, by way of Evanston, Illinois.

Mojgan Moddaresi, PharmD, is a regulatory expert and director at Personal care Regulatory Ltd, a testing lab with extensive International experience based in Cambridge, UK. Dr Moddaresi is also a pharmacist in training (PharmD) with a PhD in cosmetic science. She is the honorary treasure and a member of the council of Society of Cosmetics Scientists, UK (SCS), Chartered Biologist, Member of British toxicology Society and a Fellow of Royal Society of Biology UK.

Jen Novakovich is a cosmetic scientist, science communicator and founder of The Eco Well. She started her career as a formulator and science writer, and has transitioned to technical consulting, sustainability substantiation and science communication. She hosts free e-conferences and a weekly podcast where she highlights interdisciplinary scientists about all things cosmetics. Through her sci-comm work, she’s interviewed over 1000 subject matter experts. Jen holds two bachelors of science degrees, a diploma in formulation chemistry, a grad certificate in the policy of climate change, and a masters of science in environmental sciences, which she focused on chemical management in cosmetics. She’s currently doing a PhD at the University of Ottawa studying how misinformation is impacting sustainable development in cosmetics.

Eber Bodmer, Vice President Marketing & Communications at the Independent Beauty Association, is an immigrant from South Africa. Eber believes in change leadership and celebrates diversity. With a background in the prestige cosmetic industries, she has worked for LVMH, L'Oreal, Estée Lauder, Shiseido, AmorePacific, L'Oreal, and Malin + Goetz in marketing, sales, events and communication capacities. Bodmer has a Graduate Degree in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing Management and a Cosmetology License. She dreams of helping build great beauty brands and is passionate about anything consumer product goods-related!

Kelly Kovack, CEO at BeautyMatter, is the quietly loud renegade of the beauty industry with 25 years of experience and an ability for intuiting emerging trends. Leaning right but fueled by left-brain thinking, her career is the culmination of identifying white space, developing category defining strategies and building brands from conceptual startups to tactical cleanups. She started her career in beauty as a member of the original executive team of Bliss and the Managing Director of the seminal Bliss catalog and product division, Kelly took on the way women bought beauty. This venture fundamentally changed the way cosmetics and personal care were merchandised, developed and presented to consumers creating waves of change in the industry landscape that are still felt today and led to the successful acquisition of Bliss by luxury conglomerate, LVMH. Joining MD Skincare (Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare) in its nascent stage she was responsible for the foundational branding and marketing strategies that positioned the brand as one of the premier cosmeceutical brands in both the retail and professional arenas. In addition, she launched Dr. Gross’ book Your Future Face, which helped establish him as a leader in the field of dermatology. Her relationship with the brand has come full circle, with Kelly currently serving on the business's Board of Directors.As an advisor and strategist, she has consulted dozens of organizations of all sizes, from emerging startups to iconic institutions, including multi-billion dollar brands like Old Navy, Banana Republic, Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder, and Mattel to notable independents like Carols Daughter, Zirh SoCozy, Loli Beauty, One Love Organics, Jimmyjane and many others. She advises Venture Capital and Private Equity on beauty transactions, executional and operational strategies. Always entrepreneurial, Kelly has also created and built her own brands. The most recent among these ventures is the award-winning fragrance brand, Odin, co-founded in collaboration with the New York fashion brand. Kovack’s projects have been featured prominently in the media, and her work as a creative director and brand architect has been recognized with numerous awards, including a Pantone Color Award and Pentaward for packaging design, a FiFi and numerous Allure Best of Beauty awards. Kelly launched BeautyMatter in the Fall of 2016 with the firm belief that in a fast-moving world, information is knowledge, but context matters. And more importantly, innovation comes from the cross-pollination of industries and expertise. She set out to use her experience building brands and scaling businesses to offer a new perspective and holistic approach to B2B content that filled a void in the beauty industry.

Akemi Ooka, Ph.D is the Head of Supply Chain and Sustainability Resources at the Independent Beauty Association. With over 20 years of CPG experience, from Fortune 500 companies to small startups, Akemi’s experience ranges from product development to sourcing and supply chain transformation.  Akemi has worked at The Clorox Company, method, and was most recently VP of Product at J.R. Watkins, overseeing development, quality, regulatory compliance, claim support, and third-party manufacturing oversight for hand care, personal care, home care, and OTC remedies. She now heads up the Independent Beauty Association’s (IBA) global supply chain and sustainability programming, supporting small to medium-sized businesses in the beauty and personal care sector. Akemi holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Robb Akridge, Ph.D. (aka Dr. Robb), founder/CEO of Opulus Beauty Labs. In addition to creating and managing his latest venture, Opulus Beauty Labs; Dr. Robb has had an exciting career.  Co-founder of Clarisonic, Dr. Robb helped develop clinically proven sonic devices that make a clear difference in skin health and appearance.  While at Clarisonic, Dr. Robb held several positions: initially as VP of Clinical Research and later as Global Brand President and Global Brand Representative. Robb obtained his BS in Biology (UT, Austin), MS in Botany/Mycology (Texas State), and his Ph.D. in Microbiology (Immunology and Infectious Disease, Texas A&M). With over 25 cumulative years in medical and global health, including 10+ years spent on HIV/AIDS research at the FHCRC/UW network. He was also a senior scientist in oral healthcare during the early days of sonicare®. Robb is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Academy of Dermatology, and the Independent Beauty Association (board member).

Thank you to our sponsors for helping us make this e-summit free and accessible to anyone!

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