H2O+ Beauty’s CEO Joy Chen has been named the winner of a Gold Stevie Award for Female Executive of the Year in the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
 
Chen was recognized for her proven skill as a businesswoman, as well as her vision for leading H2O+ Beauty through a sweeping strategic shift in its business model and company culture. Under her leadership, the company transitioned away from its original manufacturing model to focus on innovation. As part of this, Chen moved company headquarters from Chicago to San Francisco, facilitated the reimagining of the entire product line, and restructured the makeup and culture of the H2O+ Beauty team. All of this took place in just one short year, a comprehensive change that typically takes companies 3-7 years to accomplish.
 
“My life’s passion has been cultivating great businesses, and that always starts with great people. Nowhere is that more apparent than at H2O+ Beauty,” said Chen. “This award reflects the dedication, passion and experience of the entire team, all of whom have thrown themselves into making this new phase of H2O+ Beauty such a success.”
 
The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world’s top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run.  All individuals and organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2016 awards received entries from 31 nations and territories.
 
More than 1,400 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in more than 90 categories, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Executive of the Year, Company of the Year, Startup of the Year, Women Helping Women and Women Run Workplace of the Year, among others. 
 
Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for “crowned,” the awards were presented to winners during a dinner attended by more than 500 people at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.