Henkel Beauty Care Appointments

Henkel: promoted Jens-Martin Schwärzler, currently corporate SVP and responsible for Henkel’s consumer goods business in North America, to the Henkel management board; he will also be responsible for Henkel Beauty Care, succeeding Pascal Houdayer, who left the management board to pursue other interests. Schwärzler joined Henkel in 1992.


Since 2015, he has been responsible for the Henkel Consumer Goods Business in North America. Under his leadership, Henkel successfully launched leading brands like Persil and Schwarzkopf in the North American market. Following the acquisition of Sun Products Corporation in 2016, he led the integration process as well as the relocation of Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business and the Beauty Care business to a new, combined site in Stamford, CT.


Between 2008 and 2014, Schwärzler was responsible for the global marketing of body, skin and oral care in the Beauty Care business unit. In addition, he was responsible for the Cosmetic Retail Business in Western Europe as well as International Sales at Beauty Care. Prior to that, he held various leadership positions within the Laundry & Home Care business unit.


Henkel also tapped Michelle Chandler to succeed president and founder Steve Goddard as the new general manager of Pravana. She will lead Pravana into its new chapter under Henkel Beauty Care. Chandler’s career in the professional beauty industry began in 2002. Her experience spans across both distribution and manufacturing divisions within the industry. She joined Pravana in 2006. In her most recent position as senior vice president of sales and education, her responsibilities included overseeing Pravana’s sales, education, show and customer experience teams, contributing largely to the financial growth and industry recognition the brand has experienced in recent years.


Henkel also revealed that the Schwarzkopf Professional Sales team in the US will take over the domestic distribution of Alterna Haircare. As a result of this business evolution, several organizational changes have been made.


John Fortunato has been appointed general manager for the Schwarzkopf Professional North American business and Alterna Haircare. He will continue to report directly to Stefan Mund, regional head of Henkel Beauty Care Hair Professional in North America.


Kathleen Cannon has been promoted to head of sales for Schwarzkopf Professional US and Alterna sales and education. She brings more than 17 years of a diverse background within both the salon professional and CPG industries that gives her the breadth of experience to lead teams responsible for iconic brands such as Schwarzkopf as well as developing brands like Alterna.


Vera Koch has been promoted to head of marketing Schwarzkopf Professional US. She has more than 13 years of experience in international and regional marketing, product development and innovation for professional, consumer and luxury brands in the beauty industry.