Helen Crawshaw reflects on placing three women into senior leadership roles – exploring what diverse leadership looks like in today’s fragrance and flavour industry.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of placing three outstanding women into senior commercial leadership roles within the global fragrance and flavour industry. Each one earned her place through talent, hard work, and sheer perseverance often while juggling a web of personal and professional challenges that would have stopped most people in their tracks.
These weren’t female appointments!
They were appointments of brilliant professionals who happen to be women. People who stayed focused when things got difficult, kept flexible when it would’ve been easier to say “no”, and went above and beyond to secure their dream role.
Recruitment gives you a front-row seat to the human side of leadership… the moments you never see on a LinkedIn announcement – the delayed flights, changing plans at the last minute, the late-night negotiations. The most impressive thing about them wasn’t just their capability, but their attitude. They met every challenge with professionalism, humour and discipline and like all great leaders they simply kept going.
In the global Flavour & Fragrance industry, women sitting in the CEO seat remain the exception. I had to look hard to find names like – Samantha Mane (Mane), Vanesa Martinez (Grupo Carinsa), Gillian Bleimann-Boucard (Berjé), Janis Sinton (TasteTech), Bangon Kietthanakorn (TCFF), Ewa Agnew (Lionel Hitchen), Maja Zippel (Frey & Lau), Monika Christlbauer (aromaLAB); these are the few who’ve carved a path to the top.
Samantha Mane, CEO Mane
Leadership doesn’t need redefining, it needs expanding. The future belongs to teams that embrace diversity. What I see in these women are leaders who hold themselves to the highest standards, expect the same of their teams, and deliver results through collaboration and accountability. That can only be a good thing for business.
Recent research continues to show a positive correlation between gender‑diverse leadership teams and stronger financial performance. For example, a study of over 21,000 publicly traded firms in 91 countries found that companies with more women in top executive positions recorded higher profitability (source: labusinessjournal.com). Additionally, a comprehensive analysis of firms in advanced economies by McKinsey & Company found that companies in the top quartile for board‑gender diversity are 27 % more likely to financially outperform those in the bottom quartile (source: mckinsey.com).
We talk a lot about talent shortages in the F&F sector, and the clients I work with are genuinely focused on finding the best person for the job, without bias or preconception.
So maybe the real question is: why does the gap in diverse leadership widen at the very top, and what can we do about it? I believe it starts here, at this level with support, sponsorship, and the willingness to effect change.
I’m incredibly proud of the women I’ve placed and grateful for the trust they showed throughout the process. Here’s to the leaders, both women and men who lift others as they rise. That’s what real leadership looks like.
Janis Sinton, Founder & CEO TasteTech
Keywords
fragrance and flavour industry, fragrance recruitment, women in leadership, diverse leadership, fragrance and flavour careers, female leaders in F&F, leadership in fragrance industry, F&F executive recruitment, fragrance talent, commercial leadership, recruitment insights, fragrance and flavour companies Europe, diversity in business, fragrance careers, talent and leadership
