Milani Cosmetics’ global chief executive officer Mary van Praag is a tour de force in the beauty industry.A longtime retail veteran with a slew of major corporations under her belt including Revlon, OPI and Coty, Praag is currently leading the charge at one of the mass beauty industry’s largest brands.  Inside Retail sat down with the MVP of the beauty industry to learn more about her journey to joining Milani Cosmetics and her thoughts on the state of beauty retail at large.Inside Retail: How did you land your current position with Milani Cosmetics?Mary van Praag: I was recruited during the pandemic. I started in the midst of lockdowns and behind Zoom screens when no one was wearing makeup. It was a tough restart back into the industry. [Praag’s previous role was president of Soma, the intimate apparel brand owned by Chico’s.] But I think that caused us to dig deep and really think about our long-range strategy about how we were going to win in the marketplace. Nobody really knew how long the pandemic was going to be upon us, but it really kind of reasserted some of our key strategic initiatives.The opportunity helped me to drive Milani Cosmetics to where we are now, which I call a fabulous transformation of a 20-plus-year-old brand that is constantly seeking new audiences.IR: What does a day in the life look like for you?MVP: Some people may comment, “Oh my gosh! I’m getting an email from her at 4:30 in the morning.”I’m an early riser, so I always use that first portion of my time in the morning to sort of meditate, put my head on straight, get focused, and think about gratitude. I will also usually hold my two dogs and have a cup of coffee while I get my day sorted out. Then whether I’m traveling, working in the office, or happen to be working from home, my day is usually filled back-to-back with meetings…I like to use meetings to make decisions align… I don’t like to make decisions via email, I like to make them through interactions [with my team] because I want everyone to have a voice and to hear their opinion because everybody in the organisation matters from ideation to execution. When I’m not traveling, visiting suppliers, or at a conference, I try to separate my work from my life. I’ve been married for 30-plus years, so if my husband is in town, we’ll have dinner together. Then I have two fun dogs that always need a little walk at night, but it goes fast, because I’m very, very focused on my interactions with people throughout the day.IR: You have been in the beauty industry for 20-plus years, working with players from Revlon to Johnson & Johnson. What is it about this industry that has kept you so loyal?MVP: First of all, I absolutely love the dynamic nature of it. Whether it was working in public relations, branding, celebrities, influencers or innovation, it [the beauty industry] is at the centre point of culture and I think that’s something that keeps me interested. I always say that if I didn’t love my job so much, it would be really hard [to work in this industry]. But it’s a very dynamic one that is so integrated into my life and my interests, and that keeps me motivated and curious and always trying to be on the cutting edge. IR: What have you noticed has been the biggest shift in the beauty retail industry from today and when you first started?MVP: First and foremost, innovation will always play a pivotal role. What I mean by that is that despite the fact that it’s not the majority of the sales, it’s an important thing to get the flywheel going. Why is that? Because people always want to try new things, particularly influencers or content creators. It creates some excitement around the brand, which then leads someone to say, “Oh, I’m going to try this Milani new lip oil,” because it just got compared to Dior’s lip oil.The pace of innovation has only gotten more aggressive, right? We are constantly ideating and working on two to three years out of what our innovation plan is, and staying close to the trends in the beauty industry, which are always changing. Thick brow versus a thin brow, a gloss versus a matte [texture], how people wear makeup is always shifting and I think staying on top of those trends and then articulating it through your innovation strategy is really important. IR: What is a unique piece of advice you’ve gotten in your retail journey so far?MVP: “Peeling away the onion” — don’t be afraid to hear the hard things, because the hard things create that fulcrum for change. I remember one time early in my leadership, while I was a director at Johnson & Johnson, I had a couple of very strong, female leaders that I call trailblazers [come up to me]. One said, “I view you as a quiet leader.” And I was like, “Oh,” because I didn’t know if I liked that description, but I had to dig into what that meant. What it meant was I needed to show up differently so that I could influence [the business] with my point of view… Everybody has a different mindset about coming into situations that require change and transformation and leading a team for continuous improvement.I like to transform and drive people towards change, but had I not received that tough feedback [from that executive] about her being unable to hear my voice, I’m not sure I would have found it. I had to get in touch with mine personally, and since that point, I have grown into my voice for authentic leadership. IR: This may be a hard question, but what is your current go-to product from Milani Cosmetics?MVP: [Laughs] Well, it’s hard to pick a favourite, but I’m going to pick one that’s always in my bag. It may not be the most “shiny” product, but it works for me and it’s our Conceal + Perfect Longwear Liquid Concealer in shade 125. I like it because I can touch up the dark circles under my eyes, it’s very portable and easy to use and it’s one of our best-selling products.