Dyson Beauty Global President Kathleen Pierce On What It Takes To Become The Head Of An International Beauty Brand

In conversation with the woman helping shape the future of the innovative global beauty tech company.

It was hard not to feel slightly intimidated when arriving at the sprawling Dyson office, situated on the 22nd floor of a skyscraper in central Sydney – floor-to-ceiling windows maximising the view of the Parramatta River.

The light-filled space is lined with every Dyson device you can imagine, from the original Supersonic hairdryer, which first launched in 2016, through to its selection of cordless vacuums, air purifiers, headphones and more.

Invited as a guest of Dyson ANZ, I‘m here to meet Kathleen Pierce, Dyson Beauty’s global president. She has flown from England to introduce beauty media to the latest in Dyson’s string of innovative hair tech – the new Airwrap Coanda 2x, the brand’s most advanced hair tool yet.

Kathleen purchased her first Dyson product, an Airwrap, in 2018, four years before she began working with the company. It deepened her affinity with the brand from the outset, so when an opportunity arose to work for the company she jumped at the chance.

She now refers to herself as “user No 1”, the guinea pig who gets to trial the latest hair tech before anyone else.

“It’s so much fun – any time the engineers are working on something, they bring it to me and they know the first thing I’ll do is put it in my hair,” she says.

With a background in journalism and a passion for storytelling, Kathleen began her career in broadcast television at MSNBC before she began to feel what she calls “the gravitational pull to the corporate lifestyle of nine to five”.

Kathleen landed a job at global beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder, the force behind brands such as Tom Ford, La Mer, M.A.C and more, and spent 19 years honing her craft in the communications and marketing team at Estée Lauder, including a seven-year tenure at Clinique.

“Dyson has this wonderful blend of technology but with a deep respect and appreciation for the beauty industry, which is so unique.”

But what’s it really like working for a global beauty brand with its roots in engineering and tech?

Kathleen recalls the first time founder James Dyson presented the recently released Supersonic R Hairdryer to a room full of engineers and hairstylists at a launch event. Instead of taking a moment to revel in the success of the launch, or share his excitement with everyone, he led with the question: “What did I get wrong?”

“It was fascinating, because at first everyone in the room was like, ‘No, it’s incredible!’ and then one brave professional from Korea raises his hand and asks, ‘Have you considered having its head [facing a different] way?’ and James immediately got locked on to that idea and they started to ideate,” Kathleen says.

“Engineers are never satisfied. The minute they finish a project, they’re looking for something to do differently. We’re naturally consumer-centric in that way, because we’re always looking for problems to solve. Nothing is ever settled.”

She explains that from the moment a product launches, Dyson’s engineers scour ratings and reviews. Or check in with product testers and professional stylists who trial devices and offer feedback from what clients are saying, which ultimately helps shape the outcome of the device.

No feedback is bad feedback, either.

“We’re obsessed with hearing what people think. We never take it as a knock. We like criticism in some way, because that gives us a clear path of what we need to do next,” she says.

Customer feedback after the 2018 launch of the Airwrap, a multi-styler that uses air pressure over extreme heat, was about curl retention.

“It’s one of those interesting trade-offs, because what creates retention is essentially burning shapes into hair, but that damages hair beyond repair,“ she says.

As such, Kathleen calls the new Airwrap Coanda 2x a “true upgrade” thanks to its new motor – said to spin nine times faster than a Formula One car and with twice the air pressure of the original tool for faster drying and longer-lasting curls.

“Air pressure that’s stronger and tighter delivers a better result,” Kathleen says. “It took many, many years but you can see the difference.”

Like the previous iteration (the Airwrap iD launched last year), the Airwrap Coanda 2x harnesses the same app-enabled iD technology, which allows up to five people to have their own styling profile.

A new suite of RFID attachments automatically adjust heat and airflow, allowing users to create their style easier than ever – such as the updated brush attachment with needle-nose loops that won’t snag on hair, or the louvered round bristle brush to help create blowouts.

However, it’s the Air Smooth attachment that has Kathleen feeling the most proud, a straightening tool that channels airflow to smooth and seal the hair cuticle when used in a downward motion.

It isn’t just the engineering side of the business that has Kathleen bouncing out of bed to head into the office, as Dyson’s sidestep into haircare with the Chitosan range is pegged as a massive area for growth for the brand.

The newly minted Chitosan Multi-Use Styling Spray, $130, launched alongside the Airwrap Coanda 2x, is the third haircare product Dyson has added to its stable in the past 12 months.

Dyson remains a company obsessed with outdoing itself, Kathleen says, adding that its mission is to disrupt categories rather than be beholden to marketing or cadence.

“It’s about technology and innovation. Supersonic R took seven years to make, Airstrait took five. We invest the time and energy to get the technology right,” she says.

When asked about what Dyson has its sights set on next, like adopting another category into the fold, Kathleen’s poker face is impenetrable.

“Never say never. We’re consistently looking for problems to solve, both big and small,” she says.

“Dyson wins when we create things that people could have never imagined.”

Fast Five

What are you currently listening to? I’m obsessed with Acquired, an incredible podcast that has these narrow and deep, three to four-hour sessions on different companies. They talk about company history and people – they make it almost dramatic, in a way.

What are you currently watching? I just started The Better Sister with Jessica Biel. I watched it on the plane.

What are you currently cooking? I am a big gluten-free baker. I love a gluten-free sourdough. I’ve been spending my weekends trying to perfect my bread.

What are you currently drinking? I live in the UK, so I feel like this is terrible, but I drink iced tea. I have to drink it at home because nobody makes it and they look at me like I’m crazy.

And what are you currently obsessing over? I’m hyper-fixated on handbags right now. I’m entering my luxury era, where I’m trying to upgrade some of my pieces. My daughters turned me on to the Margot bag from The Row. I love their modern pieces.

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