[Past Event] The Lonely CEO: How Leaders Are Handling the Stress of New Transitions

When she was younger, Beatrice Dixon suffered with bacterial vaginosis for eight months. One night, an ancestor gave her the ingredients to heal herself in a dream. From that insightful dream, she created the formula for a healthy, clean feminine wash. In 2014, Dixon launched The Honey Pot Company, a plant-based feminine hygiene line created with a goal to provide women with a healthy alternative to feminine care that is free of chemicals, parabens, carcinogens and sulfates. The rest is history.

With experience in pharmaceuticals, retail and natural foods, Dixon has the insight and expertise to bring the innovative concept of a plant-based feminine care system to the marketplace. Unlike mass market and conventional feminine care brands, consumers will be able to get all of their feminine care needs met under one brand as The Honey Pot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampons, pads, mommy-to-be products, and soon-to-be additional offerings in both the feminine hygiene and feminine care segments.

Today, The Honey Pot Company’s products can be found online and in stores nationwide at Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Bed Bath and Beyond, Wegmans and Whole Foods, among other retailers.

An empowering African American female entrepreneur, Dixon has been a recipient of the Sundial and Unilever’s multimillion-dollar New Voices fund; was 1 of the first 40 women of color to raise one million in venture capital; and has been featured in T-Pain’s School of Business, BuzzFeed’s Ladylike series, Today Show, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, ELLE, ESSENCE and Forbes, to name a few. 

Most recently, she was named one of Forbes top 100 Female Founder’s; her company won a 2020 ESSENCE Best in Black Beauty Award and a WWD Beauty Inc Wellness Award; and she received a CEW Indie 65 Award in 2019, honoring beauty’s independent companies. 

Through her diverse background and experience, Dixon continues to make a mark in the world of natural health and retail with a truly revolutionary approach to feminine health and sexual wellness.

Business icon, entrepreneur, mother, fashion enthusiast and self-proclaimed ‘accidental CEO’ are just a few ways to describe Mindy Grossman. One of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business and Fortune’s Business Person of the Year, Mindy is a high-energy, disruptive leader with over 38 years of experience in building and transforming consumer brands. 

In July 2017 Mindy joined WW (Formerly Weight Watchers) as President and CEO. Alongside an executive committee, Mindy leads a team of 18,000 employees in ten markets to serve the millions of WW members around the world. Upon joining, Mindy led the introduction of the Impact Manifesto, a strategic vision for the company that unveiled a new purpose to inspire healthy habits for real life. In addition to rebranding from Weight Watchers to WW to reflect the new purpose, Mindy has transformed the company through various initiatives including two different food program innovations, – Freestyle and myWW – strategic partnerships like those with Aaptiv and Headspace and expanding the tech and product capabilities to improve the digital app experience. In Mindy’s first year at WW, the company saw an increase of ~1 million members and has since reached a record high member retention rate of over 10 months.

Prior to joining WW, Mindy served as CEO of HSNi and a member of the company’s Board of Directors from 2008 to 2017 where she oversaw a $4 billion direct to consumer retail portfolio. She positioned HSNi as a leader in boundaryless retail, offering customers a seamless shopping experience across multiple channels. From 2006 to 2008, Mindy served as CEO of IAC Retail, the former parent company of HSNi, where she pioneered visionary, industry-changing innovations and positioned the company as a lifestyle network. Mindy successfully took the company public in 2008 and subsequently became CEO of HSNi.

Before joining IAC and focusing on retail, Mindy grew multiple brands in the apparel business. She served as a Global Vice President at Nike, Inc., where she oversaw its $4 billion apparel business, led the development and growth of the global women’s business and served as co-chair of Nike’s Women’s Leadership Council. Earlier in her career, Mindy served as President and CEO of Polo Jeans Company, Vice President of New Business Development at Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, President of Chaps Ralph Lauren, and Senior Vice President of Menswear for Warnaco, Inc. She also held senior positions at Tommy Hilfiger and Oxford Industries.

Throughout her career Mindy has been widely recognized for her work in health and wellness and in leadership being named to MM&M and PR Week’s Top 50 Health Influencer list (2019), TIME Magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in Health Care (2018), Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business (2014), Fortune’s Business Person of the Year (2014), Forbes Magazine’s The 100 Most Powerful Women (2016, 2013, 2012 & 2009), Financial Times Top 50 Women in World Business (2010 & 2011) and Corporate Innovator of the Year at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® Florida Awards (2011).

Mindy currently serves as Vice Chairman and member of Board of Directors for UNICEF USA and is a member of the Board of Directors of Fanatics, Inc. She frequently shares her personal stories and business and leadership advice, inspiring diverse groups of audiences around the world. 

Mindy and her husband, Neil, live in New York. They have one daughter, Lizzy and two granddaughters, Emma and Hannah.

Cate Luzio is the Founder and CEO of Luminary, a global collaboration hub for women who are passionate about professional development and expanding their networks. We are committed to advancing women through community and content. Luminary is the ultimate career advocate and inclusive membership community supporting both individuals and organizations including UBS, WW, JPMorgan Chase, Unilever, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Girls Inc., WPP, Blackstone, Verizon and many more corporate members. Every year, Luminary delivers thousands of immersive, professional programs, and experiences to thousands of members.

Cate self-funded and launched Luminary after two decades of leadership in financial services, leading global, multibillion-dollar businesses, and P&Ls. Previously, she was Global Head of Multinational Corporate Banking for HSBC, managing more than 2,000 employees worldwide and prior to that, she served as Head of Multinational Corporate Banking at J.P. Morgan EMEA based in London for 7 years. She spent her early years in Latin America with Bank of America across both consumer and wholesale banking. She started her career working in tech in China. Cate is committed to leveraging her extensive corporate experience to support and encourage women and push for gender equality and pay parity in the workplace. A long-time advocate for empowering women and girls, she serves on the National Board for Girls Inc., sits on the Advisory Board for Pomp & Whimsy, a woman-founded gin brand, and WaterAid.

Cate was named to American Banker’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking’ list multiple years in a row, and she’s a three-time Financial Times Global Diversity Champion, and a Yahoo Finance Diversity Hero x2. She was named a Top 100 Female Founder by Inc Magazine in 2019 and has been featured inBloomberg, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, CBS, CNN, WSJ, Forbes, Business Insider, Inc., Entrepreneur, Fast Company, InStyle, Worth, TheStreet, Now This, Women 2.0, Thrive Global, USA Today, New York Post, Bustle, Robb Report, American Banker, Women’s Health, Fortune, Linkedin News, and more. Cate also is contributing writer to Fast Company, Forbes, Business Insider and Worth. She acts as a WE.NYC mentor and was recently announced as University of Maryland’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Luminary: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook: @BeALuminary 

Cate: @CateLuzio (Instagram) / @KTLuzio (Twitter) 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cluzio/

Website: https://www.luminary-nyc.com/

Juliet currently serves as CEO for media brand Worth, responsible for leading its transformation from a print magazine to a content platform that focuses on ‘Worth beyond Wealth’ and inspires and informs an affluent, influential and successful community of individuals to be their best selves.

Juliet began her career as a management consultant, learning to code at IBM Business Consulting Services, before focusing on business strategy and organizational change, working with clients to solve complex business problems across a variety of sectors through the use of technology.

Her experience in this area took her to a role at Boxwood (now KPMG) where she worked as a senior consultant in strategy and business change, with a focus on the media and technology sector. After working as a consultant with Guardian News & Media on its print to digital strategy, in 2012 she was confirmed in a permanent role to lead strategy and operations for the Guardian Media Group’s commercial division based in London.

Juliet joined the Guardian’s executive committee in 2015 and, as chief delivery officer; was responsible for the strategic implementation of the global three year turnaround plan and subsequent transformation and growth for the Guardian’s US operation, relocating to New York in 2016.

She lives in Westchester with her husband and son, is a keen runner, yogi, and skier.