The event that puts the worker and organizations at the center celebrates its fourth edition. The Beauty Business School brought together more than 80 beauty industry professionals in Barcelona to delve into topics of leadership, people management, and the constant evolution of organizations and companies.
The day began with a welcome address by Melissa Torres, General Manager of the Beauty Business School. During her speech, she conveyed to the attendees that the real transformation of a company begins with the awareness of those who make decisions and their ability to read the invisible: understanding the meaning behind the data, using intuition as a form of intelligence, and sustaining human commitment as the basis for growth. In a context where organizations are moving from rigid structures to adaptive ecosystems, a hybrid leadership is proposed that combines art, vision, and sensitivity with the new possibilities offered by artificial intelligence, not to do the same thing faster, but to reimagine how professionals and leaders should decide. This change demands more human, resilient, and self-managed cultures, guided by an evolutionary purpose and by leaders who act as a mirror, understanding that all organizational transformation begins with personal transformation. Following Melissa Torres's speech, Camil Castellà, Founder of Aktiva Talent, Executive Coach, and LEGO®️SERIOUS PLAY Facilitator, invited attendees to reflect on what they were doing in their organizations and how they felt about it. He also highlighted the frenetic activity involved in leadership and how organizational transformation also entails personal transformation, doing so in an engaging way by relating music beats to the revolutions we feel.
The baton was taken up by Ainhoa Fornós, an expert in Organizational Culture and Leadership, Global Human Resources Director at Cosmo, who explained that in a business context marked by speed, innovation, and efficiency, organizations are facing increasing human burnout, which manifests in voluntary resignations, emotional disconnection, and phenomena like quiet quitting. Neuroscience reminds us that the digital pace (multitasking, constant urgency, continuous focus shifts) is incompatible with the brain's biological limits, leading to fatigue, loss of efficiency, and chronic stress. The proposal is a cultural transformation based on building "structural courage" that redefines how we work: designing rhythms instead of tasks, applying slow management to decide calmly and execute with agility, betting on real impact rather than volume, and simplifying structures and agendas. Best practices were also presented, suggesting working in more human cycles, eliminating the culture of urgency, and creating spaces for deep work. All of this leads to a more sustainable, resilient, and human work model, where people can function at their best and companies thrive from a more intelligent and conscious pace.
Puri Martinez, Organizational Transformation Consultant, Founder & CEO of Sensalia Labs, spoke about evolutionary purpose as a driver of growth in the beauty sector. Puri Martínez compared business structures with traditional education methods and how evolution should lead us towards a company that imitates current pedagogy, where the leader must accompany the professional in building and reinforcing their purpose. She explained the importance of creating an interconnected, self-managed team with clearly defined roles, highly organized, with a strong focus, discipline, but especially, with a lot of empathy. The CEO of Sensalia Labs spoke about empowering talents and about facilitator leaders who serve the worker.
Lisette Borja, Diversity and Inclusion Leader at Eurofirms Foundation, explained in turn how an organizational leader can become the worst enemy of the worker and the professional. “The biggest risk for an organization is not competition or lack of budget, it is bad leadership.” Lisette began her presentation with this reflection and explained to attendees that 70% of the work environment depends directly on a leader and that one in two people resign to leave their leader, not their company, and the importance of ensuring an inclusive culture reigns in the organization so that everyone feels they belong.
Next, David del Rosario, neuroscientist and communicator and director of INAB, enlightened attendees on how neuroscience is behind everything, including, of course, leadership, and how leading and doing science is a matter of honesty. He explained that behind every thought, there is a feeling, and this is also present in leadership. These thoughts must evolve just like emotions, and it is important for leaders to be aware of this to avoid stumbling over past mistakes in their business journey. Following the presentation, Xavier Ginesta, president of the Humanitas Foundation, explained how the purposes of the leader and the organization are a true journey that involves economics and the relevant role it plays in all companies. For this, it is essential to act with awareness, and he explained how all companies integrate it into each of their processes. To conclude the day, Álvaro Cárcel, Managing Partner at Sailor Talent, spoke again about leaders and how their behaviors are perceived in organizations, emphasizing the importance of them knowing how to identify their strengths and areas for improvement. He also discussed some of the main problems leaders face, such as high stress levels (70% of leaders report relatively high stress, one in three says they consider leaving their position due to mental health issues, and they do not feel capable of facing ethical dilemmas and feel alone in their role). Some of the problems these leaders have is that they tend to seek exogenous causes and ignore endogenous ones that can be caused by insecurities, impulsivity, or low self-esteem, which end up becoming problems within organizations. Álvaro Cárcel finished and closed the day by giving advice on how to be better leaders so that the organization continues to evolve efficiently.
The day concluded with a raffle for a coaching session with Camil Castellà and a networking lunch among attendees who shared the event's main conclusions