Changes are afoot at Procter & Gamble.

Colin Walsh, chief executive officer of Jen Atkin-founded hair care brand Ouai, has been appointed head of the private care giant’s Specialty Beauty division.

Walsh has been CEO of Ouai for near five years, during which he oversaw it being acquired by P&G in 2021. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Devacurl.

He succeeds Chris Heiert, a P&G veteran, who will retire in July after almost 25 years at the corporate.

“Chris’ decades-long contributions to P&G Beauty are simply remarkable, and I’m especially grateful for his leadership these past 18 months to successfully bring together our Specialty brands,” said Alex Keith, CEO of P&G Beauty.

“I’m likewise thrilled for Colin to tackle an even bigger role in leading Ouai and all of our Specialty brands to the following stage of growth,” she continued. “Colin brings a wealth of business leadership experience and proven results across different specialty beauty businesses and channels.”  

Heiert has led P&G’s specialty division as its CEO since its creation in March 2022 to deal with brands that operate in specialty and/or prestige retail channels across brick-and-mortar and direct-to-consumer.

Amongst them are three brands P&G snapped up in late 2021 for greater than $1 billion — the skincare lines, Farmacy and Tula Skincare, and hair care business Ouai, in addition to First Aid Beauty, which it bought in 2018.

On the time of the Ouai deal, although terms weren’t disclosed, industry sources said it was on target to clock in $50 million in net sales for 2021, and greater than $80 million for 2022.

Previously, Heiert was senior vice chairman, North America skincare and brand franchise leader where he spent years working on Olay. He began his profession at P&G in 1999 within the brand marketing division.

In his latest position, Walsh will play a key role in overseeing the expansion and development of all specialty beauty brands, working in partnership with each brand’s current CEO: Savannah Sachs for Tula, Mina Chae for Farmacy, and John Drake for First Aid Beauty. Walsh will remain the CEO of Ouai.

Inclusive of previous acquisitions Native and Walker & Co, these acquired brands proceed to grow disproportionately, with a collective sales increase of about 50 percent in 2022 versus a yr ago, in keeping with P&G. 

In Beauty Inc’s most up-to-date annual list of the highest 100 beauty manufacturers, P&G was named the fourth largest. Its beauty sales totaled $14.4 billion in 2022, down 1.3 percent from the prior yr.

Most recently, in 2023, P&G Beauty acquired Mielle Organics, a Black-founded textured hair care brand that’s sold at major mass retailers, including Walmart, Goal and CVS, for an undisclosed sum.