At last week’s Step Forward Summit we hosted three brow-raising women who redefined their respective industries, by bringing a new perspective and challenging the norms. Sarah Harbon, General Manager, Benefit Cosmetics UK & Ireland, joined the panel and spoke about how she steers a versatile and market-leading business. We sat down with Sarah, to dig a little deeper into how she orchestrates operations across diverse disciplines and channels, all unified by the brand's mission—to ignite joy,and empower women.

Benefit is the original indie brand, with a rich history as a female-founded, led and run business. How do you believe this heritage has influenced the brand’s identity and approach to the beauty industry?

I think there's something really special about brands who have founders at the heart of them, because they are really intentional from the beginning. Our founders Jean and Jane Ford, created the brand in 1976, in San Francisco, at a time when San Francisco, as a city, was very free spirited. Jean and Jane went against the grain about how women [wanted] to show up. There [was] a huge amount of activism going on at the time and they understood that some women did want to show up, to continue to wear makeup, and that they wanted to do that for themselves.

Benetint is hailed as the product that started it all for Benefit Cosmetics. How does its enduring popularity reflect the brand’s ability to resonate with customers across generations?

Benetint has been a real secret of ours for many years. It's been a bestseller for nearly 50 years and it's for everyone; it suits all skin tones, it's long lasting, it's really effective. With any product, it doesn't matter what the hype is around them. If they don't work, then no one will continue to buy them.

[Benetint] had theatre at its heart. It was created for an exotic dancer, and it's always been one of these stories that we have told with great mirth. Although [the story] explained a lot about where the product came from, I think it explains a lot about who the brand is.

How has Benefit’s tenacity in challenging norms and raising brows contributed to its continued evolution and growth?

Jean and Jane did not care what anyone thought. It was really baked into us that we should be unapologetically ourselves, so there's been lots of conversation about that. Especially, over the last five or ten years about women really wanting to be their authentic selves. That conversation's been really easy for us to have, because it's one that we've been having for years, for years before International Women's Day was a thing. We've always tried to think about what women want, why they want it, and why shouldn't they have it?

Benefit Cosmetics prioritises education and training for its employees. How does this focus on continuous learning contribute to the brand's ability to empower both its team members and customers?

What would be the point of any brand if we didn't do that? Because our teams are our brand, they're not just there to show you how the product works, because you can pick up a box and you can read the back of it. But the teams are there to break down barriers. They're there to make you feel warm about the brand and then to make you feel warm about the product, not scared. Women are still scared of beauty businesses. So, the more that we can do to break down those barriers, the better.

We hear from our customers whenever they write compliments about us on Google reviews, for example, it is often not about what they were sold, it’s things like “We had a real giggle”. “She really listened to me”. “I was going through a really tough time on that day and I felt really good because of the experience I had on the counter.”

Benefit Cosmetics is dedicated to empowering and supporting women through its products and services. How do you see this commitment reflected in the brand's mission statement and overall purpose?

Our mission is to create a beauty community for all dedicated to doing good and feeling good. What it means is that we have real, proper, authentic, respectful conversations with everybody who we touch, because that’s what builds great relationships. And when the tough stuff comes, and it will, you’re building off a base of something.

Our commitment to Bold is Beautiful, which is our philanthropy programme, is exceptionally important. We raise money every year for Look Good Feel Better, which is a cancer charity that deals with the physical effects of cancer, and Refuge, the domestic abuse charity, and also Daisy House in Ireland.

Since we started raising money, we’ll pass the two million pound mark this year. Since we started raising money for Refuge, we have raised the equivalent of three and a half years of a refuge staying open. The equivalent workshop spaces for Look Good, Feel Better, to filling the O2, which are statistics that we’ve just learned. We really intentionally meant to do that and I think business is a huge amount about intention and not just talking about things. We are really proud of that.

What are you most proud of in the work that Benefit does in the community?

I am really proud of Bold is Beautiful, but I'm really proud of the fact that we employ a huge amount of like-minded women and men supporting women, because we can't do it all on our own.

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£5 from every Benefit Brow Wax goes to local charities empowering women & girls through education & mentorship, economic self-sufficiency & access to wellness.