140. Cleaning Up an Industry: Annie Jackson

Annie Jackson has been a key player in the successes of the industry’s most prominent beauty companies. Annie began her career at Estée Lauder, where, after six years, she was recruited to be one of the early members of the team that launched Sephora USA and Japan. Later, she took on the role of Director of Global Product Marketing for Benefit Cosmetics and, in 2011, returned to her roots in merchandising for color cosmetics at Sephora within JCPenney. Her love of beauty and quest for cleaner options led her, alongside Shashi Batra, to create Credo Beauty. As Co-founders, they shared a vision to change the way people think about what they put in and on their bodies and skin, fostering a new generation of beauty brands—natural, organic, effective, clean, and sustainable—and to pioneer the clean beauty movement.

In today’s episode, Nada talks with Annie about the non-traditional path that led her to the beauty industry. Annie shares her ambitious jump into adulthood when she crossed the country without the benefit of family or a degree, but found herself with a dream job at Estée Lauder. After spending time at two global brands, Annie took a break to be with her children, and later, she returned to the beauty space when an industry friend lured her back with a new vision. She recalls her initial hesitancy when her soon-to-be business partner, Shashi, pitched the idea of Credo. She quickly discovered her passion for clean beauty and an opportunity to reshape the industry by offering consumers transparency and skincare alternatives that were good for them and the planet.

Check out credobeauty.com for brand and store information. Also, “The Dirty List” pdf can be found at credobeauty.com/pages/the-credo-clean-standard-1. Follow on Instagram: @credobeauty.

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