Growing up as a self-professed tomboy, Cara Sabin all the time thought the sweetness industry was frivolous. As a substitute of pursuing something near the traditionally female-dominated fields, she decided to go down a more practical route and leaned toward her interest in business. Paradoxically though, while pursuing her MBA, she learned the sweetness industry was more aligned along with her passion than she thought.

“As I entered the workforce, about five years after business school, is after I had my first beauty task at L’Oreal,” the Duke University graduate shared with ESSENCE. “And once I entered the industry, I just completely fell in love. It’s just all the pieces from how fast-paced and the way competitive the environment. And greater than anything, you need to use creativity to essentially change the world.”

Sabin built her profession leading global marketing strategy with firms like Clinique and NARS, eventually landing at Sundial Brands as their CEO in 2019. The leading company owns Black-founded SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker and Nyakio.

Then in July of this 12 months, she was tapped because the President of Beauty & Wellbeing at Unilever North America after they acquired Sundial in November of 2017, where she’s charged with amplifying consumer investment, namely SheaMoisture., where she’s charged with amplifying consumer investment, namely SheaMoisture. The brand has been a pivotal player within the Black haircare space for greater than 20 years and constantly makes efforts to take a position in the neighborhood it serves.

But before executing her vision for the long run as she acclimates to the brand new role, Sabin said it’s necessary to have a look back first.

“We’re incredibly pleased with what we’ve achieved, and that’s all outlined in our latest impact report,” Sabin said in reference to the exclusive preview shared with ESSENCE.

A couple of key highlights include $10 million being invested into Black communities, including $1 million in COVID-19 relief provided to Black-owned businesses and one other $1 million pledged for community resilience; 50,000 hours of education to Black entrepreneurs; 250 Black-owned small businesses invested in and 53,000 West African women receiving fair wages in our shea butter supply chain.

“Strong commitment to community is, and all the time can be, the heritage of this
brand,” Sabin said in a note inside the report. “Because the CEO of Sundial Brands, makers of SheaMoisture, I’m honored to proceed this legacy of ingredient-led products, deep entrepreneurial spirit, and investments that really make a difference. There aren’t many Black-founded businesses which have been acquired by a serious multinational corporation, and have continued to grow and thrive. I hope that by demonstrating our success and our growing reinvestment in communities, we is usually a beacon showing what that path can seem like for the following SheaMoistures on the planet. I’m excited to share the story of our journey and positive impact as we work towards our goal to grow to be a $1B brand, multiplying our capability for reinvestment in our community. Thanks for supporting us.”

The total impact report might be accessed after registering at bit.ly/sheamoistureimpact2022.