A big part of what we do is to simply try to make very personal topics more approachable and comfortable for people to talk about and to provide safe and efficacious products that work the first time our consumers use them…. they have to… my name is on the products.
Keech passionately believes in continuing her grandparent’s vision of creating and marketing products that solve people’s most personal personal care needs. She sees the power and role of modern technology in opening up many more avenues for communicating and connecting with consumers in ever-more-personal ways. She not only runs the company in partnership with her husband, Akshay Shetty, but also brings a highly personal touch to the women’s intimate health side of the business as an influencer and advocate for Vagisil and its consumers. She is featured in the brand’s advertising, PR and content. Keech also serves on the Board of Directors for Combe as well as the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) and Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), two leading industry trade associations representing the global cosmetics and personal care products industry, and the over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and dietary supplements industry, respectively. Keech also serves on the Board of the Stephen Gaynor School in NYC and the Edna Adan Hospital Foundation in Somaliland.
At Combe, I have a crystal-clear mandate to think long-term, invest for the future, build awesome products for consumers, and create an environment for my colleagues that allows them to create, be empowered and be inspired. It's pretty cool and quite rare, and I am damn lucky to be able to do what I do!
Akshay has over 15 years of experience across investment banking, consulting, and client-side roles, covering a range of industries including power, media, telecom, and CPG. Akshay considers himself to be a bit of a business generalist who strives to connect disparate dots in an attempt to bring order to the chaos of decision-making, and to organize the commercial activities that he oversees in a way that creates value for all stakeholders involved, and not just the shareholders. Akshay also strives hard, on a daily basis, to make himself obsolete at Combe by focusing on constantly recruiting awesome people to play leadership roles at Combe.
People at Combe truly care. When I say truly care, it’s about each other, their job, the quality of their work, and ultimately the company. It’s so much more productive and rewarding being part of a team that’s ‘pulling on the rope’ together.
Kyle leads the team responsible for growing sales with our retail partners across North America. Prior to joining Combe, Kyle was Vice President of Sales at Beiersdorf, US. Kyle spent the first 19 years of his career progressing through roles of increasing responsibility in Sales and Marketing within Hero AG’s North America business units, Signature Brands and Beech Nut Nutrition. Since joining Combe, Kyle has reinvigorated our approach to new product sell-in, engagement with the trade, shopper marketing programs, and ensuring Combe brands deliver against the different needs of online and offline customers and shoppers. Kyle appreciates that Combe is an organization where results truly matter and the team competes hard to deliver those results. However, even with that hard-charging push to deliver results, the organization never allows anything to take priority over the people within the organization. Kyle feels that the unique culture that Combe has created makes it easy to be passionate, engaged and excited about the future at Combe.
It’s professionally exhilarating to do new product and category innovation, blending science and consumer needs. Being part of a family business gives a true sense of belonging. Combe is home away from home to me.
Padmaja leads our global R&I team in charge of new product and new technology development, product advancements, patenting, licensing, M&A advisement, and regulatory strategy, to support Combe’s business growth globally. Padmaja joined Combe with 20+ years of academic and industrial experience in CPG leadership roles, including Director of Skin Care at Johnson & Johnson, Director of Hair Care & Hair Color at L’Oreal, and Sr. Principal Scientist at Unilever. Since joining Combe, Padmaja has developed a high-performing R&I team that has launched over 25 new products including cosmetics, OTC drugs and medical devices. Serving the most personal personal care needs of consumers, using innovative science, is a passion for Padmaja. She is always up for the challenge of creating something truly breakthrough and uniquely effective.
I’m excited to be part of Combe’s legacy of building iconic brands that consumers love and pass down generation to generation.
Danielle Maurici-Arnone has served in global technology leadership roles for more than 20 years. In her role as Global Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Combe, Danielle is leading the next wave of digital transformation. Prior to Combe, Danielle served as Chief Information Officer at Reckitt Benkiser, where she led the technology function for the North America Health and Nutrition businesses and sat on the Global Council for Diversity and Inclusion. She also served as Global Executive Director at the Estée Lauder Companies where she led technology and innovation for the global brand portfolio. She has also founded, counseled, and led start-up companies in the areas of digital marketing and artificial intelligence. Danielle graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA from Rutgers University and was a graduate fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers where she received her Masters in Public Policy. She holds a Masters in Information Systems from the Stevens Institute of Technology. She serves on the Governing Body of Gartner’s CIOs Forum and is a member of the Society of Information Management. Danielle is passionate about the advancement of women in STEM and business leadership.
Being at Combe allows me to be my most creative because we thrive on ideas here — ideas for new products, new ways to connect and communicate, new technologies, new partnerships... You name it. We’re kind of obsessed with making things better and better for our consumers.
Meg brings her 20+ years of experience as a Global Creative Director to the Combe team. Prior to joining Combe, Meg worked at some of the world’s top advertising agencies, including Y&R, McCann-Erickson and Saatchi & Saatchi, creating brand-building, award-winning work, while running some of the world’s largest CPG and personal care brands. Recognizing an opportunity to be more collaborative, agile and entrepreneurial, Meg joined Combe to lead our in-house agency and external agency partnerships across international markets, developing a flexible, scalable hybrid agency model for Combe. Meg inspires a unique brand of strategic creativity in her teams, to develop high-performing product concepts, impactful omnichannel packaging, insightful and compelling brand platform ideas, and successful, engaging cross-channel activations and communications. Recognizing the personal nature of our brands, Meg is driven to help Combe brands connect with consumers in ever-more-personal ways, leveraging a full suite of new media tools, data and creativity.
I love the diversity of the work and the diverse perspectives of our people. I also like the friendly spirit of the organization. It keeps things exciting and fun for me.
Tony is responsible for global legal matters, legislative affairs, litigation management, mergers & acquisitions and corporate compliance. He started his career with a Chemical Engineering degree, but decided he wanted to do something different — so he went to law school and became a Patent Attorney. After a few years with a New York IP firm, he went in-house and joined the consumer products division of a large, diversified corporation. A few years later, he joined Bristol-Myers Squibb supporting their Clairol and OTC businesses. Blazing a trail in the world of corporate legal affairs, Tony then joined Avon as their first Chief Patent Counsel, where he worked his way up the ladder to become Avon's General Counsel to their North America and Global Business Units. Tony joined Combe in 2012 because it was clear to him from the start that Combe is an organization where everyone has an immediate voice, at every level — no layers of bureaucracy. He felt that Combe people truly believe that good ideas can come from every corner of the company and that everyone always tries to do the right thing, even when no one is looking. For Tony, Combe is a place that resonates with his values.
I appreciate the way Combe blends the entrepreneurship of a small business with the professionalism of a company that has led a very successful business for more than 60 years.
Jorge leads our international markets to make them an engine of value-creation for the Company. Working with his teams in Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Australia/New Zealand, along with our distributors in export markets on each continent, Jorge sees a competitive advantage in the agile way that Combe is able to drive plans and quickly see results in the marketplace. Jorge honed his marketing and management expertise over 25 years at P&G. He helped to build the P&G Fabric Care, Hair Care and Health Care categories in Latin America, expanding into new countries and winning against key global competitors. He’s had an extensive international career over 15 years, living in Peru, Venezuela, Panama and China. In China, he led P&G Hair Care, a $2 billion business with leadership shares of 60%. Today, Jorge is based in our Mexico City and White Plains offices, but you’re likely to find him working in an international business class lounge.
The people are great! At Combe, everyone not only excels, but truly feels and owns our ability to make people’s lives better through the work we accomplish together.
Jason is responsible for driving the strategy and execution of our global eCommerce businesses. Additionally, Jason leads our Media, Analytics and Consumer Resources teams at Combe, along with our external media agencies. Jason loves finding and solving inefficiencies, especially when his work helps people access Combe products without friction. Shortly after graduating from Princeton University, Jason kick-started his entrepreneurial streak by launching an eCommerce company that gave people a better and more affordable way to get equipment needed for home offices and businesses. He sold his company while he was getting his MBA at Wharton. He then took his experience to McKinsey, working with business leaders around the world to develop and refine digital strategies for fortune 50 companies. He still enjoys staying close to start-ups and entrepreneurs, advising and helping however he can. Jason feels Combe is well-positioned to have an out-sized impact driven by a combination of its well-honed business fundamentals, long-view strategy, and Fast Company-style agility.
At Combe, I have a unique opportunity to drive positive change and leave my mark by working with an amazingly talented group of people.
Ana Maria’s mission is to attract, retain and develop awesome talent for Combe. Her career path began in global CPG marketing at P&G, Kraft and PepsiCo in Latin America, Asia, Middle East and North America, where she excelled at discovering human insights that drove brand growth. Her passion for marketing evolved into a passion for talent development, so she moved into the Human Resources world as an executive search consultant at RRA and then, ultimately, as our Human Resources Director. Ana Maria views herself as a servant-leader and is continually thinking of ways to improve the employee experience and engagement at Combe, and is especially passionate about coaching and helping her colleagues be the best they can be. She remains a brand marketer at heart, and believes that Combe’s brand story is ever-unfolding as we continue to grow and evolve in response to the world around us.