Melis del Rey is a technology-forward, purpose-driven leader known for building and transforming some of the world’s foremost global beauty and consumer brands. As Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Supergoop!, she is leading the protective skincare brand into its next phase of global growth, strengthening cultural relevance, expanding strategic partnerships, and advancing its mission to make daily sun protection simple, effective, and accessible.
Supergoop! redefined sunscreen as a daily essential. Under Melis’ leadership, the brand continues to grow beyond the traditional SPF category, operating as a brand-led company that prioritizes education, product innovation, and culturally relevant moments that make protection feel both effortless and essential.
Prior to Supergoop!, Melis served as General Manager of Amazon U.S. Health and Beauty, where she led the transformation of Amazon’s U.S. Beauty business from a replenishment-driven channel into a leading beauty destination known for immersive, personalized, and discovery-driven shopping experiences. Earlier in her career, she spent more than a decade at Procter & Gamble in senior marketing and sales roles across the company’s global beauty portfolio.
Melis holds a Ph.D. in New Product Development & Engineering Design and a B.Eng. in Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management from The University of Nottingham (U.K.). She also serves on the Board of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), a leading nonprofit advancing women’s leadership in the beauty industry.
My leadership philosophy has been shaped by building at scale and building through change. My engineering background trained me to think in systems, how decisions ripple through an organization and how disciplined execution creates repeatable outcomes. At P&G, I learned the power of brand, consumer insight, and long-term value creation. Amazon then sharpened my operating muscle: mechanisms over heroics, clarity over noise, and an unwavering focus on the customer, even when it’s uncomfortable.
What ties all of that together is a belief that high performance and humanity are not trade-offs. At Supergoop!, I’m applying those lessons to build a brand-led company that operates with rigor, moves with speed, and leads with purpose. For me, great leadership is about creating clarity, empowering strong teams, and having the courage to make bold bets, while always caring deeply for people, not compromising on dignity and staying anchored in the consumer and the long game.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve carried from my previous brand leadership roles is that scale only works when it’s intentional. Growth isn’t just about expanding distribution or driving transactions, it's about building durable relevance. The brands that win are the ones that are disciplined about who they are, even as they expand.
At Supergoop!, that means protecting what makes the brand special while strengthening the operating foundation behind it. The brand has already changed how people feel about sunscreen, creating real advocacy and loyalty. As we scale, my focus is on pairing that emotional connection with rigor, stronger mechanisms, clearer priorities, and thoughtful innovation so that growth enhances the brand rather than dilutes it.
For me, scaling a brand successfully is about expanding its reach without compromising its integrity.
Balancing innovation and tradition starts with clarity about what must never change. At Supergoop!, our non-negotiables are efficacy, safety, and trust. Protection is serious, and it has to work. That foundation is what gives us the freedom to innovate boldly on everything else.
Innovation, for me, isn’t about novelty it’s about solving real, unmet needs in ways that genuinely improve daily life. I often ask the team, “Does this make protection easier, more intuitive, or more joyful?” If the answer is yes, we’re on the right path. Whether it’s a texture that disappears seamlessly into skin or a formula that doubles as a primer, the goal is the same: remove friction so sunscreen becomes a habit, not a chore.
That balance of protecting what builds trust while pushing boundaries to make sun care feel effortless is what allows us to evolve without losing the essence of what people already love.
I don’t think there’s a secret, but if there’s one consistent thread in my career, it’s clarity. I’ve learned that clarity is a competitive advantage. When you’re clear about the few priorities that truly matter, you unlock disproportionate impact. Most organizations diffuse their energy across too many initiatives. I’ve always believed in fewer, bigger outcomes aligning teams around what will meaningfully move the business and have the discipline to say no to the rest.
That focus creates momentum. And momentum, compounded over time, becomes exponential growth.
Indra Nooyi is a woman I deeply admire for redefining what it means to win at the highest levels of leadership. As CEO of PepsiCo, she led one of the world’s most complex global consumer businesses with strategic courage, intellectual rigor, and a clear commitment to long-term value creation. Her long standing role on Amazon’s board speaks to her credibility in one of the most demanding governance environments in the world, where scale, innovation, and disciplined thinking must coexist. Having spent much of my own career at Amazon, I have seen firsthand the caliber of leadership required to earn and sustain that trust. Indra Nooyi proved decisively that boardrooms are not defined by gender, but by vision, grit, and the confidence to play the long game.
I can’t live without my skincare routine. I’m absolutely that person who travels with a full regimen and refuses to skip steps. Morning and night are sacred for me. I love the ritual, the layering, the textures, the precision of it. It’s equal parts science and self-care.
And SPF is always the final, non-negotiable step. Protection is foundational. But it’s never about one hero product, it’s about the consistency of the ritual. Skincare is my daily reset button and my long-term investment in myself.
One of the biggest trends I’m excited about in 2026 is the continued convergence of skincare, health, and daily preventative rituals with consumers increasingly treating protection as a year-round, lifestyle habit rather than a seasonal or reactive purchase. Sun care is at the center of that shift. As people become more educated about skin longevity, climate exposure, and wellness, SPF is moving from “something you apply at the beach” to something you use every morning, just like moisturizer. For Supergoop!, this trend reinforces our belief that sunscreen isn’t just sun care, it’s skincare, designed to fit seamlessly into everyday life. It creates an opportunity to lead with education, innovation, and culturally relevant moments that make protection feel effortless, joyful, and essential.
One book that has deeply influenced me is The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. What stayed with me is the honesty about leadership, that the hardest part isn’t growth, it’s making consequential decisions when there’s no clear answer.
For example, at Amazon, I operated inside one of the most sophisticated operating systems in the world. The mechanisms, principles, and structure create clarity and support strong ownership.
As a CEO, that’s different. You’re not just operating within the system; you’re building the system. The ambiguity is broader, the trade-offs are more interconnected, and the escalation path ends with you.
Horowitz’s core lesson, staying decisive and steady amid uncertainty, has become even more relevant in this chapter of my career.
