Amanda Baldwin Shares the Secret to Gaining Management’s Trust, the Difference Between No and Not Now, and Why Passion for a Role Can Set You Apart
Amanda Baldwin never considered herself an entrepreneur because she's technically not a founder. But her mindset shifted when she won Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2022. Amanda earned this distinction as a first-time CEO of Supergoop! the first protective skincare brand that puts SPF at the forefront because she has been breaking boundaries and innovating in her role from day one. Supergoop!'s mission is to change how the world thinks about sunscreen through its clean, feel-good, highly innovative formulas that are fun and easy to use daily. She has taken the brand to places no other sunscreen category has gone before. Amanda was also recently named one of the top 25 Women in Consumer HealthTech and a Woman of Influence by the New York Business Journal.
Amanda is a veteran of the beauty and finance industries, but this role as CEO is her first. Under her leadership for the past seven years, the company has grown well over 20x, become highly profitable, and secured a majority investment from Blackstone Growth, Blackstone's platform backing the next generation of category-creating brands. Beginner's luck? No way. Her educational and experience pedigree has shaped who she is today. She oversees the entirety of the organization, setting its strategy for growth, building a world-class team, and leading the company's marketing, sales, product development, operations, and finance divisions.
Before joining Supergoop! Amanda was a member of the operating team at L Catterton with a particular focus on the beauty sector. Prior to L Catterton, she led the omnichannel marketing strategy of Dior Beauty at LVMH, Inc. and held several positions at Clinique, a part of The Estee Lauder Companies. Her career began in finance as a private equity investor at Apax Partners and an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs.
In this episode, Amanda spills the secrets to her success, and spoiler alert: it involves putting in the hard work. We discuss what it means to innovate in a category, her views on marketing and partnerships, and why one of the biggest challenges of entrepreneurship is that you can see the big, big, big, big picture, but that doesn't mean you can do all of it right away. We dive deep into what she attributes to her success in gaining management's trust to test, learn, and iterate. She shares how she thinks about leadership, the matchmaking process of hiring, and why it's not just about knowing how to do the job but LOVING to do the job and how candidates can stand out from the pack.
Books:
LEAVE YOUR MARK: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It In Your Career. Rock Social Media
ON BRAND: Shape Your Narrative. Share Your Vision. Shift Their Perception.
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