As the professional salon community rebounds, Wella Company has added three new executives to its leadership team to accelerate global growth and build upon the capabilities of its brands and business, which includes Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, Nioxin, Sebastian Professional and ghd. The company is led by Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR), a leading global investment firm that invested a majority-equity stake in 2020.

Virginie Costa joins Wella Company as Global Chief Financial Officer, making her one of only 7 women amongst a group of 25 CFOs leading global finance functions for a top 25 beauty company. She has more than 25 years of financial management experience which includes roles as Chief Financial and Operations Officer for Burberry Americas and CFO and COO of Hermes in France and Americas.  Most recently, Virginie served as CFO of Godiva.

Hugh Dineen will assume the newly created role of President of Global Brands and Global Chief Marketing Officer. Hugh joins from his former role as CMO of MetLife where he led high-impact marketing strategies including successfully leveraging digital to accelerate the growth of the business. Prior to that, he worked at Avon as Global Head of Beauty – Skincare, Bodycare, Haircare, Color Cosmetics and Fine Fragrances, and had a 16-year career at Johnson & Johnson leading their global consumer health brand portfolio.

Gretchen Koback Pursel will be the company’s Global Chief People Officer. She previously held the position as CHRO at Tiffany & Co. for two-decades. Gretchen is a passionate advocate of DEI and will be leading Wella’s Company’s efforts to become an industry leader in diversity, equity and inclusion.

The appointments are effective immediately. The Leadership Team is led by CEO Annie Young-Scrivner, who is one of only two women to lead a top global beauty company.

“Looking ahead, we feel confident that we’re well positioned across our big bets: product innovation pipeline, significant investment in digital, and reaching more customers and consumers across new geographies and channels – retail, ecommerce and professional,” said Annie. “With Virginie, Gretchen, Hugh and the rest of our Leadership Team, we are ready to unleash our ambition to be the best beauty company in the industry.”