Beauty Industry

Former Amazon & General Mills Executive Joins The Honest Company as CEO

As CEO, Carla Vernón will be focused on category growth and driving profitability.

December 14, 2022

Associate Editor

The Honest Company, a digitally-native consumer products brand founded by Jessica Alba, has tapped former Amazon and General Mills executive Carla Vernón as CEO, effective January 9, 2023.

Through this appointment, Vernón will become one of the only Afro-Latina CEOs at a U.S. publicly traded company. As CEO, Vernón will be focused on category growth and driving profitability behind the company’s core mission of inspiring everyone to “love living consciously.”

The move is part of a strategic leadership succession plan, as current CEO Nick Vlahos will step down from day-to-day operations after a near six-year tenure and remain on the Board of Directors at Honest.

“I am thrilled Carla is joining The Honest Company as our next CEO. She is a strategic, visionary leader who will continue to build Honest as the legacy brand for tomorrow’s generation,” said founder and chief creative officer Jessica Alba. “What makes Carla unique is her innate ability to drive product innovation and go-to-market strategies that captivate consumers’ imagination, strengthen brand loyalty, and significantly impact the bottom line. I could not dream of a better person to take Honest into this exciting new chapter. With Carla at the helm, I am confident Honest will continue to redefine category expectations and pave the way for others to follow.”

“Carla is widely recognized as a transformational leader and purpose-driven executive. She brings invaluable experience scaling and energizing businesses, developing and executing successful omnichannel strategies, and fostering diverse and inclusive workplace cultures. I am excited to welcome Carla as The Honest Company’s next CEO and I look forward to working with her to continue to bring Honest’s mission to life,” said Chair of The Honest Company Board of Directors James D. White.

About Carla Vernón

Vernón comes to Honest from her recent role as vice president of Consumables Categories at Amazon where she led the babycare, household products, food, beverages, health and wellness, and beauty categories to double-digit topline growth on Amazon’s $200 billion online stores.

She was also instrumental in invigorating Amazon’s beauty experience, including increasing the portfolio of emerging and prestige beauty brands, introducing a proprietary virtual lipstick try-on technology, and creating the first-ever seasonal beauty merchandising event: Amazon’s Holiday Beauty Haul.

Prior to Amazon, Vernón spent more than two decades at General Mills in various P&L leadership roles across the company’s portfolio, with a particular focus on the company’s purpose-driven brands. In her most recent role as Division President of its Natural and Organic business, Vernón was instrumental in guiding General Mills to become the second largest branded maker of natural and organic food in North America and the industry leader in regenerative agriculture and organic farming through a commitment to advancing regenerative practices on one million acres of land.

“As a leader of the clean lifestyle movement, The Honest Company is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of this era and I am thrilled to join Jessica and the leadership team with a fresh perspective as we enter a new chapter of innovation and growth,” said Vernón.

She continued, “This brand was built to bring a rumble of change across industries, leading the way to bring clean and ethical products to the mainstream. And, we will continue doing that with products designed in new and better ways that meet today’s and tomorrow’s needs.”