Gisou Names Sarah Watt New CEO

Luxury haircare company Gisou has appointed Sarah Watt as its new CEO. 

 

The company is also expanding its executive leadership team to include Melbert Visscher in the newly created role of chief finance and operations officer, alongside founders Negin Mirsalehi and Maurits Stibbe. These strategic appointments mark a pivotal moment in Gisou’s journey as it rapidly approaches annual global retail sales of $107.2 million.  

 

With over 20 years of beauty expertise, Watt joins Gisou as a dynamic leader with a background in global beauty brands. Having held strategic leadership roles at L’Oréal in general management, commercial, retail and marketing positions, and most recently, chief marketing officer at Charlotte Tilbury, Watt has consistently driven market-leading performance across hair, skin and makeup categories via consumer insight led, omni-channel brand building strategies.  

“Gisou is an extraordinary business experiencing impressive momentum, with boundless opportunity for future success,” said Watt. “With a 200-year family heritage in beekeeping and an incredible creative vision, Negin has created a brand that successfully blends irresistible luxury with nature.  The Gisou Honey Glow is distinctive, widely desired, indulgent and attainable, with a fanatically loyal and engaged community. It's a rare privilege to lead this impressive team, and the next level up for Gisou.”

Visscher will assume the role of chief finance and operations officer. Thanks to his stewardship, Gisou’s “astronomic” takeoff has been smooth, leading the business to a CAGR of 101%.  

 

“We are so proud to announce Sarah Watt as our CEO,” said company founder Negin Mirsalehi. “Sarah’s remarkable track record ensures Gisou is poised for yet another phase of accelerated growth, bringing bee-centered beauty with our proprietary Mirsalehi honey to our global community in a responsible way. With Sarah and Melbert’s leadership, along with our amazing team, we’re taking Gisou’s Honey Glow to the next level.”

 

For the past year, Watt has been working alongside Gisou's founders as chair of the supervisory board. As CEO, Watt will lead Gisou's expansion efforts, bringing what officials call her blend of “creativity and commercial acumen” to continue to build brand desirability, foster community, and amplify the brand's commitment to environmental sustainability, while fulfilling Gisou’s ambition to continue doubling the business year-on-year.

 

In 2015, Gisou introduced its iconic Honey Infused Hair Oil. This month, it released its Honey Infused Hair Repair Serum.

Since its expansion into retail, Gisou is driving growth, positioned in top premium haircare rankings with key partners. On social media, Gisou is a top-followed haircare brand on TikTok (480k followers, 130 million video views) and has 790,000 highly engaged Instagram followers. A favorite of Gen-Z and Millennials, Gisou consistently ranks in the Top 5 talked-about brands by Tribe Dynamics, according to the brand.