A Culture of Sustainability: Aveda by Dominique Conseil

Dominique Nils Conseil became president of Aveda in 2000. The French cosmetics executive took over the reins of the immensely successful hair- and skin-care manufacturer from its legendary founder, Horst Rechelbacher, and was firmly committed to preserving Rechelbacher's original mission of bringing safe, environmentally friendly products to the market.

Aveda experienced tremendous growth during the 1990s, and in 1997 was acquired by Estée Lauder Companies Inc. for $350 million. It was just one in a string of notable acquisitions for the Lauder firm in that era, and Aveda joined a stable of high-end brands that included the makeup lines MAC and Bobbi Brown Essentials. Executives at Lauder brought Conseil on board to take over duties from Rechelbacher, who remained involved as a consultant. But as Conseil later admitted, he joined the company at a time when some at Aveda were still nervous about the new corporate parent. "A lot of my employees came to me and asked, 'Is it still okay to live up to the Aveda mission?'" Conseil told Sacks in the Fast Company interview. "I realized that people in the company needed to see that the mission of Aveda was still core to the company."

Conseil's first task was to improve Aveda's distribution network, and oversee an expansion plan into Asia and the Pacific. He was also firmly committed to ensuring that research into new products continued, and continued with Aveda's original goals at the forefront. "Some people say you cannot pursue naturalness and deliver cutting-edge results," he said in the Fast Company article. "That's just something petrochemical companies say. They have to discredit nature because they cannot take a patent on a plant."

Dominique was interviewed by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability at the Portland State University Business and Sustainability conference, November, 2010.

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• Sustainability
• Dominique Nils Conseil
• Aveda
• French cosmetics executive
• hair- and skin-care
• Horst Rechelbacher
• Estée Lauder Companies
• Aveda mission. research
• innovation