Why Diversity?

Well, I wanted to start by asking you about your interesting life journey. You're of Indian ethnicity, you were born in East Africa, you immigrated to the US when you were very little, and now, you're CEO and chairman of this massive empire, if I may call it that, of e.l.f. Beauty and where one of the strategic imperatives is diversity and inclusion. So, I'm wondering, how much influence does your own background have on how you view diversity as a leader?

Well, my own background certainly has a major influence on diversity and how I view it. Being of Indian descent, having been born in East Africa, immigrating to the US, all of those experiences have shaped my view of the world and certainly have seen firsthand the power of diversity. In every business I run over the years, in terms of those businesses, always more diverse teams deliver better results, and it's something that I highly value.

And what role does diversity play in an organization's success?

Well, I think it plays a few different roles. First and foremost, you get different points of view, different perspectives given people's different backgrounds that they bring to the business, and those different perspectives invariably perform much richer dialogue in the business. Second, I think creating an environment that's quite inclusive where people feel more comfortable to express what they're really thinking, again, gets so much better ideas, and then finally, the most important thing is, I've seen firsthand how diverse workforces create better business outcomes because bringing really the power of each individual collectively as a team makes them stronger.