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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday. Gregg Renfrew is back. Four years after the entrepreneur sold her clean skincare and cosmetics brand Beautycounter to The Carlyle Group in a deal valued at $1 billionand more than a year after she and the private equity firm shut down the company amid falling salesRenfrew today is officially launching Counter, a new company built on Beautycounter assets she acquired from Carlyles lenders. A season of learning Counter, which has been quietly selling products online since June 25, shares its predecessors clean ethos and uses some of its formulations. Renfrew also secured data on all of Beautycounters customers. But Counter is an upstart compared with Beautycounter, which reportedly booked $400 million in annual sales at the time of the Carlyle acquisition. Despite her considerable experience as an entrepreneurshe previously cofounded a bridal registry site bought by Martha Stewart Living OmnimediaRenfrew is, in many ways, going back to basics, focusing on profitability and listening to customers and sellers. I come into this today with a level of humility, she tells Modern CEO. I dont claim to have all the answers. Im in a season of learning. Beautycounters demise was indeed humbling. (My Fast Company colleague Elizabeth Segran offers a thorough recounting of the companys rise and fall.) Sales foundered and the company struggled to service its debt. Efforts to revive Beautycounter, such as a deal to sell its products in retailer Ulta Beauty, and changes to leadership, including the return of Renfrew as CEO in 2022, ultimately could not save the business. Renfrew says buying back the Beautycounter assets instead of starting a new company from scratch wasnt just a way of kick-starting a business. It was an emotional decision, too. To let the old company completely go and die when it pioneered, created, and led clean beautyknowing that it had been a very successful entity at one point in timeI didnt want to let go of all that, Renfrew says. She adds: My daughter Georgie was literally bawling in front of me saying, You cant just let this thing die. Mom, you worked so hard for so long. Second chances and lessons learned Renfrew is not the first founder with sellers remorse. In 2023, Ben and Nate Checketts took back control of Rhone, the apparel brand they started, from investor L Catterton. Sprout Pharmaceuticals founder Cindy Eckert sold her company to Valeant Pharmaceuticals (now known as Bausch Health Companies Inc.) in 2015 for $1 billion, then bought it back two years later because the giant didnt make reasonable efforts to commercialize Sprouts female sexual health drug. At Counter, Renfrew is applying lessons learned the hard way from the Beautycounter collapse. She is not the majority shareholder, but she says she has a high degree of decision-making authority. Her backers are mostly individuals, most of whom invested with her before. The one institutional investor came in knowing that we were going to do things a little bit differently, such as prioritizing profitability over growth. Profitability gives you optionality, she says. One of the things Im very acutely aware of is you dont ever want to be in a situation where youre not profitable. And if that means the business is slightly smaller and it takes longer to grow, thats okay, because your customers then know that youre going to be around in five years. Shes doing teleconference meetings with customers and sellers, asking whats working and whats not. Im seeking to understand and learn, she says, adding that she recognizes that were here in service of others who will afford us the opportunity to build a great brand and a great community. Counters success is by no means assured. The clean beauty category Renfrew helped create is now crowded with competitors, and the demise of Beautycounter left employees, sellersthe company sold through its website but also through so-called ambassadors who earned a commission on salesand customers in the lurch. Counter may have to, well, counter lingering negative feelings. Those who continue to purchase from us in this new companywe owe a debt of gratitude, Renfrew says. We need to treat them with the respect that they deserve. For Renfrew, one way of showing them that respect is, this time, to build a company thats built to last. What’s your approach to business longevity? If youre a founder or work at a founder-led company, what are the ways that your business is ensuring its longevity? Share your insights with me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and well include some of the best reader feedback in a future newsletter. As a reminder, Im soliciting nominations for Modern CEO of the Year via this form. Submissions are due November 21, and well share our pickor picksin a newsletter at the end of December. Read and watch: entrepreneurial second acts Cindy Eckert on buying back sexual health company Sprout Pharmaceuticals Chipotle founder Steve Ells wants to shake up restaurants with his new concept, Kernel Mark Lore on what it takes to be a serial entrepreneur
Category:
E-Commerce
Over the past few years, business leaders have lived through a masterclass in volatility. A global pandemic, supply chain breakdowns, surging cyberattacks, economic whiplash, and now the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence have reshaped markets in unpredictable ways. For many executives, resilience once meant little more than business continuity planning: extra servers, backup systems, and insurance policies. But the world we lead in today demands more. Resilience is no longer just about defenseits about growth. The organizations that thrive amid disruption are not those with the strongest walls, but those with the most flexible foundations. They are able to absorb shocks, pivot quickly, and find opportunity where others see only risk. In a landscape defined by constant change, resilience has become the ultimate competitive advantage. From Recovery to Reinvention When the pandemic forced millions of people to work remotely overnight, some companies stumbled, scrambling to rewire systems and processes on the fly. Others adapted seamlessly, scaling their infrastructure, safeguarding data, and even uncovering new business opportunities. The difference wasnt foresightit was resilience. Resilient companies dont wait for crises to test their systems. They build for adaptability from the start. This means modern digital infrastructure that can flex with demand, decision-making processes that prioritize speed and clarity over bureaucracy, and leadership cultures that empower teams to act quickly. Crucially, it also means a mindset shift: The goal is not to return to a normal that no longer exists. Its to reinvent faster than your competitors. Resilience Across Three Dimensions Leaders often ask where to start. My experience points to three dimensions that define organizational resilience today: infrastructure, decision-making, and culture. 1. Infrastructure that bends, not breaksDigital infrastructure is the invisible backbone of every modern business. If it is brittle, the business is brittle. Legacy systems that cant scale or integrate force organizations to spend more time fixing problems than creating value. By contrast, companies with modern, cloud-enabled infrastructure can adapt quicklywhether to reroute supply chains, scale up for surges in customer demand, or safeguard data against emerging cyber threats. For example, when ransomware attacks spiked during the pandemic, companies with strong cyber resilience strategiescombining secure storage, rapid recovery, and smart automationwere able to restore operations in hours, not weeks. They didnt just avoid losses; they preserved customer trust. And when AI applications exploded onto the scene, those with flexible, well-governed data environments could test and deploy faster than rivals still wrestling with fragmented systems. 2. Decision-making at the speed of changeIn uncertain environments, resilience depends as much on how decisions are made as on the data that informs them. Traditional hierarchies slow response times, with insights stuck in silos and approvals delayed by bureaucracy. Resilient organizations create clarity about who decides what and empower people closest to the action to act. They ensure data flows across departments so that leaders at every level have a shared picture of reality. This approach marries speed with accountability. In my conversations with executives, I often hear stories of how front-line empowerment made the difference in moments of disruptionretail managers adjusting inventory strategies in real time, or manufacturing supervisors reconfiguring production on the fly. These shifts didnt happen because the CEO dictated every move; they happened because the organization trusted its people to act on data-driven insights quickly, and ensured the data they rely on is accessible, reliable, and available where and when its needed. 3. Culture as the engine of resilienceInfrastructure and processes matter, but ultimately resilience is human. It is defined by how people respond under pressureand whether they feel empowered to adapt and innovate. Resilient cultures are built on trust and psychological safety. Employees who feel trusted are more willing to experiment. Teams that feel supported are more likely to take ownership. Leaders who model adaptability create a ripple effect that normalizes flexibility across the organization. This human dimension is often overlooked, but it is what allows resilience to scale. Without it, even the most advanced systems and strategies will falter. With it, organizations can turn volatility into a proving ground for growth. Why Resilience Now Means Growth It may sound counterintuitive to equate resilience with offense, not just defense. But the connection is real. When uncertainty is constant, the ability to adapt faster than competitors is itself a growth strategy. Consider how cloud transformation, once viewed as a cost play, is now enabling new digital business models. Or how investments in cyber resilience not only prevent losses, but also unlock customer confidencea critical differentiator in trust-sensitive industries. Or how AI adoption, grounded in resilient data strategies, is enabling companies to innovate while others struggle with integration challenges. In each case, resilience doesnt just protect the enterpriseit expands its possibilities. It shifts the narrative from How do we recover? to How do we reinvent? The Leadership Imperative The challenge for leaders is to stop treating resilience as an insurance policy and start treating it as a core strategy. That requires moving beyond siloed initiativesone group working on cybersecurity, another on supply chains, another on cultureand instead weaving resilience into every layer of the business. The most effective leaders Ive seen approach resilience as a flywheel: Modern infrastructure supports faster decisions; faster decisions empower people; empowered people innovate in ways that strengthen the system further. Over time, resilience compounds into sustainable advantage. Resilience used to mean survival. Today, it is the strategy that separates those who stumble from those who soar. For leaders, the priority is no longer defense against disruption; it is building resilience as the engine of growth.
Category:
E-Commerce
Layoffs might make headlines, but the real measure is how leaders support the remaining employees. Layoffs are undeniably challenging for good reason. However, its what leaders do in the aftermath that determines whether a culture fractures or recovers. Ive led workforce complex reductions at Amazon, Microsoft, startups, and PE-backed firms. While every situation was unique, the same pattern appeared each time. It wasnt necessarily the layoff that broke the culture. It was the leadership response. Layoffs disrupt the culture and impact more than just headcount. Ive watched talented, engaged employees turn quiet and withdrawn after layoffs. Not because they stopped caring, but because they stopped feeling safe. The aftermath of layoffs can be unsettling for those who remain. Organizations expect survivors to absorb heavier workloads while they navigate shaken trust and mixed emotions. Layoff survivors often experience relief, guilt, grief, and anxiety about whats next. This is the leadership moment too few prepare for. Post-layoff culture recovery isnt automaticits intentional. In these moments, they need to communicate. Its a make-or-break opportunity to rebuild confidence, reinforce values, and heal a companys culture. Culture recovery hinges on many factors. Leadership must step up to manage the aftermath. Heres how to approach it: Lead with candor, not corporate speak Layoffs are typically a financial decision, but culture recovery is a leadership decision. Dont miss your moment. Layoffs dont kill culture. Neglect does. Leaders who avoid the hard conversations, hide behind jargon, and pretend its business as usual are the ones who lose the trust of their employees. After all, silence creates speculation. Thats why its important that leaders directly address and over-communicate early. I’ve introduced pulse checks, frequent town halls, and open forums. You cant rebuild morale through Slack updates or pizza parties. You need to do this in an authentic way. When my company had to conduct layoffs several years ago, it was a stressful experience. As the HR leader, I carried a significant emotional burden in conversations with employees who were impacted as well as those with those who remained. Our executive team met with staff to answer tough questions and provide updates. The first few sessions were a bit tense for both me and our leaders, as we faced some tough questions. We stumbled at first with too much corporate speak, and employees saw right through it. The room was tense. But eventually, that discomfort became a turning point when leaders stopped with the jargon and started showing real vulnerability. After that, the dynamic shifted. Acknowledging the emotional climate is important because it helps us reclaim performance and commitment. If we wanted to show our support for employees, we needed to address these issues head-on. Many companies carefully plan their layoff process, including announcements and severance packages. However, they often neglect what comes next. People don’t remember the slide decks or talking pointsthey remember how you showed up at this moment. Empty buzzwords do more harm than good. Speak to people on a human level and create space for honest conversations about what is certain and whats unknown. Be open about changes involving the business, team structure, available headcount resources, or ongoing uncertainties. Reaffirm what hasnt changed. At the same time, you also need to be clear about the path forward. Create safe spaces for emotion After layoffs, the workplace feels different, and pretending otherwise only deepens the sense of unease that employees feel. Leaders who acknowledge this reality set the stage for recovery. To help teams reengage, you need to take the time to listen to your employees. When you give people this kind of face, theyre more likely to adapt more quickly and regain momentum. Validating emotions doesnt weaken performanceit accelerates it. Employees who feel like youve heard them are far more likely to reengage, contribute, and collaborate. Weekly check-ins become vital for building connections. These conversations are not always easy, but theyre necessary for healing. Over time, that openness strengthens collaboration and restores trust. Rebuild culture from within Rebuilding from within starts with clarity. Employees need contextwhy you made certain decisions, and what resources are available moving forward. People want details that help them understand whats ahead and how their work fits the bigger picture. This is also the moment to reenergize the team. Reaffirm the mission and values so employees can reconnect to a shared purpose. Even in uncertainty, knowing the why behind the work helps people stay motivated. Leaders need to act. Retaining key talent, ensuring workloads are sustainable, and recognizing the additional effort required of those who remain all demonstrate that leadership is paying attention. A common mistake leaders make is assuming that the remaining team members will just pick up the slack. This assumption can lead to increased burnout or, even worse, the loss of valuable talent. A better approach is prioritizing tasks, eliminating low-value work, and having an honest conversation about the short-term trade-offs that are involved. Recognize that this is a cultural moment Layoffs test culture. They dont automatically destroy itwhat damages culture is indifference, silence, or meaningless lip service. When leaders respond with honesty and care, disruption can become a catalyst for renewal. You shape culture through daily choices: the courage to answer tough questions, the discipline to maintain consistent communication, and the humility to admit when youve compromised trust. Employees notice whether leadership avoids the hard truths or embraces them. Moments of disruption invite reflection. Leaders can use this time to reassess values, address blind spots, and strengthen practices that they might have overlooked. Openness about what needs to change prevents damaging back-channeling and reinforces inclusivity. Culture is the foundation on which every company rests. If it fractures, performance and morale follow. But a stronger culture can emerge when leaders step into this moment with honesty and courage.
Category:
E-Commerce
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