Beauty industry veteran Gina Boswell to join Bath & Body Works as CEO

Bath & Body Works, Inc. board of directors has voted unanimously to appoint Gina Boswell as the chief executive officer, effective December 1, 2022.

The company said in a release that Sarah E. Nash, who has served as executive chair of the board since February 2022 and interim chief executive officer since May 2022, will remain executive chair through the end of the company’s fiscal year on January 28, 2023, at which time she will transition back to chair of the board.

Commenting on the development, Nash said: “Gina is a proven leader of global businesses with decades of beauty and personal care industry experience and an impressive track record of driving profitable growth. Gina’s customer-centric mindset, multi-channel expertise and passion for building high-performance cultures make her the ideal leader for Bath & Body Works’ next growth chapter.”

Bath & Body Works names Gina Boswell as CEO

Boswel has more than 30 years of experience, including extensive beauty and personal care leadership roles at global companies such as Unilever, Alberto Culver Company and The Estee Lauder Companies.

Commenting on her new role at Bath & Body Works, Boswell said: “I see tremendous potential to leverage the company’s deep customer connections, significant product innovation capabilities and vertically integrated supply chain to advance Bath & Body Works’ growth and drive shareholder value.”

From 2011 to 2019, Boswell served in three distinct roles of increasing responsibility at Unilever. First as executive vice president, personal care North America, she led a multi-billion dollar portfolio comprised of hair care, deodorant, skin cleansing and skin care where she had responsibility for over 20 personal care brands, including Dove, Axe, Vaseline, Tresemme, Suave and Degree.

From there she was tapped to lead Unilever UK & Ireland, with full P&L responsibility across all personal care, home care and food/refreshment categories. Boswell joined Unilever through the acquisition and successful integration of Alberto Culver Company, where she served as president of global brands. Boswell held leadership and business development roles at Avon Products, Inc., Ford Motor Company and The Estee Lauder Companies.

“The board is confident that Gina’s industry knowledge and collective skills will help the company in continuing to enhance our omni approach, executing our merchandising initiatives, and accelerating growth across channels, categories and regions to ultimately drive enhanced value for shareholders,” added Nash.

Boswell has extensive public and private company board experience and has served as a board member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). She has been recognized as a “Woman to Watch” by Advertising Age and “50 Most Influential People in Beauty” by Women’s Wear Daily.