It was 1992, and Gina Boswell ’89 was advancing toward being a partner at the corporate strategy firm Marakon. Then Estée Lauder, her client at the time, offered her a job.
Boswell had been working with the privately held company for about a year; she had fallen wholeheartedly for that family business in particular and for the beauty and personal care industry more generally.
“Beauty is typically one of the most resilient categories in whatever economic climate,” she explains, but, for many women, it is also a form of empowerment. “If times are tight, women will spend on the small, affordable luxuries that make them feel better. It made a lot of sense to me that we weren’t just selling a fragrance or a lipstick; we were actually improving women’s outlook, their optimism, their self-esteem.”
Boswell remained at Estée Lauder for seven years. And, except for a four-year stint at the Ford Motor Company, she has been in the beauty business ever since. Today, Boswell is the chief executive officer of Bath & Body Works, where, among other things, she has overseen new partnerships with Netflix and Crocs, and launched a rapidly growing loyalty program.
Through it all, the born-and-raised New Havener and Yale SOM graduate has kept an eye on both business success and broader impact. “I think considering your impact on both business and society is a sign today of enlightened leadership,” Boswell said at a recent talk at Yale SOM. “At Bath & Body Works and throughout my career, I’ve always tried to leverage that lens in the work I do.” In her current role, she has prioritized both sustainability and pay equity. As one of only about 50 women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, she’s a natural role model, and she told an interviewer for Women’s Wear Daily that “women in every field need to remember as they advance to send the elevator back down to pull others up.”
Boswell has also been an active member of the Yale alumni community, starting when she volunteered to interview Yale College applicants as a member of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee. A 2022 recipient of the Yale Medal, she was a member of the University Council from 2012 to 2021, including six years as president; today she is a member of the Board of Trustees.
“Yale gave me a great foundation. It really does give me great pleasure to give back,” she says.
Boswell comes from a large Italian American family with deep New Haven roots. She attended Boston University on a full scholarship, studying accounting and working 20 hours a week in the comptroller’s office.
After working for three years at Arthur Andersen, she was ready to go back to school to get a broader view of business strategy. But because she had a business background, she wanted a program that went beyond a traditional MBA. Yale SOM fit the bill with a degree then known as the master’s in public and private management.
“It offered an interdisciplinary program that trained leaders across all sectors,” she explains. “I really wanted to bring that flexible thinking to my career.”
After graduating from Yale SOM in 1989, Boswell joined Marakon, and then Estée Lauder, where she led business development strategy and helped take the company public. She went on to hold senior leadership positions at Ford, Avon Products, Alberto Culver, and Unilever, after its acquisition of Alberto Culver.
In 2019, Boswell decided to retire. She had served on the boards of directors of several public and private organizations and thought she would build a portfolio of such roles to occupy her time and attention. But the chance in 2022 to lead Bath & Body Works, a Fortune 500 company, was too good to pass up.
The company, which had recently spun off from L Brands, had thrived during the pandemic, with customers flocking to its hand sanitizers, soaps, and candles. Boswell was drawn to the iconic brand with a vertically integrated supply chain and 99% profitable stores, “which is very rare in retail,” she says.
“If you can work with a really strong foundation and take it to the next level, that’s a great opportunity,” she says.
Under her watch, the company has expanded its offerings in men’s and laundry products, as well as launching the partnership with Netflix.
“When you have a really powerful brand like Bath & Body Works, awareness is high—people know the brand,” she says. “But we want them to feel the brand in a more profound way; we want to insert the brand into more cultural conversations.”
Last summer, in a nod to longtime Bath & Body Works customers, the company relaunched its 1998 Cucumber Melon scent, asking TikTok creators to share their favorite memories of the fragrance. Visitors to the store were also treated to a playlist from that era.
“We’re having a lot of fun doing this,” Boswell says.
As CEO, Boswell says, her strategy is to surround herself with the “smartest people” she can.
“I make a path so they can bring their talents,” she says. “I’m comfortable not being the smartest person in the room.”
She says she continues to draw on lessons from Yale SOM about people and organizations and how to “successfully build and structure teams.”
Her positive experiences at Yale are part of why she has volunteered her time, efforts, and philanthropic support to the university, including as an enthusiastic supporter of 1stGenYale, an alumni group for Yale graduates of diverse backgrounds, including those who were first in their family to graduate from college or graduate school. This year, she named the Boswell Family Alumni Fund Scholarship in honor of her 35th Reunion. As a volunteer, she says, she has “a front-row seat at a university that is truly training the next generation of leaders.”
Staying connected to Yale is also a reason to come home for Boswell, who ushered Yale football games as a child and took piano lessons in the East Rock neighborhood, a few blocks from Edward P. Evans Hall.
“My childhood memories include places the Yale community passes every day,” she says. “Every time I return to Yale, I’m coming home, and there’s nothing like coming home, especially if you can be useful.”
