Carla Vernón Transforms Brands—and Herself
Carla Vernón imagines a future that isn’t here yet.
Her power of imagination has been her guide since childhood, allowing her to see beyond the information available to make decisions with both her head and her heart.
The Princeton alum built her brand and leadership expertise at General Mills for almost twenty-two years, brought her vision to Amazon—and then became one of the first Afro-Latina CEOs of a US publicly traded company when she joined the Honest Company in 2023. She saw an opportunity to turnaround the personal care brand while transforming into the leader she was always meant to be.
Vernón has stepped into her own not only as an executive but also an Afro-Latina leader. She’s unfolded her wings to fully be herself among her fellow Latinos, particularly on the board for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino.
She imagines a museum that inspires us to move forward and welcomes the rich complexities of what it means to be Latino.
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About Our Guest
Carla Vernón is the CEO and Board Director of The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST) a personal care company dedicated to creating cleanly-formulated and sustainably-designed products. In her role as the Chief Executive Officer, Carla became one of the first Afro-Latine/o/a CEOs of a U.S. publicly traded company.
In her role as CEO of Honest, Carla brings her legacy of business transformation and growth along with experiences that reflect the diversity of Honest’s consumers. Carla is responsible for defining the enterprise growth strategy and driving a financial and business transformation that delivers value for Honest’s many stakeholders.
Prior to joining Honest, Carla was Vice President of Consumables Categories at Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), where she had P&L, Supply Chain, and Technology responsibility for Everyday Essentials categories including: Household Products, Beauty, Baby, Wellness, Food and Beverage categories. Before joining Amazon, Carla was a Corporate Officer at General Mills (NYSE: GIS) where in her most recent as Operating Unit President of The Natural and Organic portfolio she led General Mills to become the second largest manufacturer of organic food and initiated the food industries largest ever commitment to advancing regenerative agriculture.
Carla holds a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University and an MBA from The University of Texas, McCombs School. Carla serves on the Board of Trustees for The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino and recently completed her tenure as a Trustee of Princeton University.
