Alastair Symington
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Alastair joined Blackmores as Group CEO and Managing Director in September 2019. He is a global business leader and brand builder with more than 24 years of consumer goods experience in health and beauty across multiple geographies.
Alastair spent 10 years in a wide range of sales and marketing roles with Nestlé and Gillette in Australia, before joining Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 2005 and moving to Singapore in 2008 where he was responsible for strategy and planning across APAC for the beauty and grooming categories. During this time he led global and regional teams, including as China Managing Director for Wella based in Shanghai.
In 2016, Alastair joined Coty as part of the merger between P&G specialty beauty brands and the former Coty company, helping to transform it into the third largest beauty company in the world. In his last role at Coty, he was Senior Vice President of APAC, Latin America and the Middle East.
Alastair has a Bachelor of Economics and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Business from Monash University, and studied Mandarin while living and working in Shanghai. He is passionate about finding ways to connect more people to holistic health solutions, believing that healthy people and their pets naturally lead to a healthier planet.
Adjunct Associate Professor Lesley Braun
Director, Blackmores Institute
Passionate about growing the evidence-base for complementary medicine, Adjunct Associate Professor Dr Lesley Braun is a distinguished academic, pharmacist and naturopath. She leads our research and education centre of excellence, the Blackmores Institute, and in 2018 was named the CEO Magazine's Health & Pharmaceutical Executive of the Year.
Never one to compromise her ethics, Lesley was attracted to Blackmores’ unrivalled reputation for quality, joining us in 2014. She believes that making better healthcare available to all is a matter of social justice, which goes hand-in-hand with educating the public and medical profession about natural medicine options to really improve people’s lives. A regular presenter at health symposiums across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, Lesley says: ‘As a researcher, it’s very exciting to be able to develop new treatments and explore better ways of using existing ones. Building the evidence base so more people can benefit safely is the dream of academics in healthcare.’
In her spare time, Lesley is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (Western Sydney University) and has held research positions at The Alfred Hospital, Monash University. She is a member of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia’s Complementary and Integrative Therapies Group Executive, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Australian Institute of Company Directors, and Australia-China Business Council Health and Medical Research working group. She is also on the advisory committees for nutrition courses at Endeavour College and the Think Group. She is the main author of four best-selling textbooks including Herbs and Natural Supplements – an evidence based guide and founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Advances in Integrative Medicine.
Why Blackmores Group? I was attracted to Blackmores’ unrivalled reputation for quality and building the evidence base so more people can benefit safely is the dream of academics in healthcare.
Must-have health and wellness fix: Getting into nature is my go-to therapy for the body and soul. Also, I was proudly vegetarian for twenty years before adding oily fish into my diet ten years ago for the Omega-3 health benefits.
Life outside of work: At work and in my personal life I love adventures and seek opportunities for personal growth. I try to make sure there is meaning and purpose behind everything I do and surround myself with people who have similar values.
Patrick Gibson
Chief Financial Officer
A passion for the holistic approach that natural health brings saw Patrick join Blackmores end February 2022 as its Chief Financial Officer.
Patrick is a proven finance and business leader with a +30-year career and over 20-years of consumer products sector experience in Europe, Middle East and Africa, having lived and worked in London, Istanbul and Durban. He has had a diverse global career leading teams in finance and IT and was most recently Group CFO at ASX-listed bathrooms and kitchens designer and supplier GWA Group Ltd. Prior to working at GWA, Patrick was Group CFO at, the then ASX-listed, Goodman Fielder and before that held senior roles at Brambles Limited and Unilever Plc. Patrick has a track record of driving significant business transformation and improvement and delivering sustainable profitable growth.
Patrick has a Bachelor of Economics degree, is a Fellow of: the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants; the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Governance Institute of Australia.
Why Blackmores Group? Blackmores is a trusted consumer brand with a long heritage in Australia and Asia-Pacific with significant growth potential in varied markets. In these Pandemic times we have all had to learn to take care of ourselves and others better. Blackmores is purpose led and has a strong reputation for innovative quality products that make a real difference to the lives of our consumers and their pets.
Must-have health and wellness fix: As a Yachtmaster Offshore there is nothing that clears my mind and re-focuses me better than sailing, whether in local waters, or further afield exploring offshore locations.
Life outside of work: Family provides the focus for my time outside of work, from walking the dog to supporting my elderly mother, and my adult children as they find their own path in life. Family holidays are always a special time whether visiting family and friends in North America and Europe or, as most recently, enjoying time together hiking in Kosciuszko National Park.
Cecile Cooper
Chief Governance Officer
Cecile is extremely proud of sustainability and good governance at Blackmores, championing both throughout her 30-year career with us across several senior roles. As Chief Governance Officer, Cecile is responsible for regulatory affairs, medical and product safety, government and public affairs and WHS.
As one of Blackmores’ longest serving employees, Cecile knows the business inside out. Over recent years, she has been especially passionate about embedding sustainability across the business, explaining that ‘Our founder Maurice Blackmore knew that you can’t have healthy people without a healthy planet and this still underpins everything we do today. However, it’s important to realise that sustainability extends beyond minimising our carbon footprint to sourcing responsibly, leading industry change and improving overall wellbeing for everyone.’
Cecile is a Chartered Secretary and a Certified Practicing Accountant. She has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and serves on the Governance Institute of Australia’s Legislation Review Committee. Always one to give back, Cecile is the Chairman of CCNB Limited and her community work was recognised with a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow in 2015.
Why Blackmores Group? Growing up, my family’s health solutions were most often found in the local health food shop and Blackmores products were our first choice. Finding health solutions from nature just feels right to me and it’s exciting to work for a company that I have always trusted.
Must-have health and wellness fix: My family is heavily involved in the local surf lifesaving club and there’s nothing like walking by the ocean to rejuvenate and clear the mind.
Life outside of work: I love a good road trip with my family exploring our beautiful country. Over the last few years this has included visiting Kangaroo Island in South Australia and driving across the remote Nullarboor Plains. Experiencing extreme temperatures of 45+ degrees and the needs of remote and rural communities drove home my awareness of the challenges facing our environment and the need for us to act to reduce our footprint.
Andrew Fuary
Chief Operations Officer
The opportunity to work for an Iconic Australian brand, with core values around health, personal well being and passion for its people, compelled Andrew to Join the Blackmores team in June 2022.Andrew has a wealth of experience across Supply Chain and Operations spanning a 25 + year career that has seen him work for some of the largest FMCG / CPG and Food companies across many locations throughout the world. He has worked for Kimberly Clark, Procter & Gamble, Mondelez and most recently with the J R Simplot Company.
Over the past 17 years, Andrew’s career has taken him to many countries and regions across the world. Outside of his home country, he has worked & lived in Thailand, Singapore and the US. Andrew also holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Technology in Sydney.
Having experienced many unique and wonderful cultures, Andrew values diversity and believes that high performing teams are built around people that come from all backgrounds that are empowered to do their best every day.
Why Blackmores Group? Blackmores is a trusted iconic brand that is recognized by so many people around the world. The opportunity to provide a healthy product range that improves and makes a difference in peoples lives… well that’s pretty special & something worth striving for.
Must-have health and wellness fix: Being outdoors. Enjoying nature walks, time on the beach, walking our dogs or simply exercising.
Life outside of work: Spending quality time with family & traveling to new places, new locations, experiencing new cultures and learning all there is to learn, every time we visit or meet with people.
Jane Franks
Chief People Officer
Passionate about people and making a difference, Jane is an accomplished human resources leader with 20 years of experience in the financial services and consumer products sectors. She prides herself on building strong organisational cultures, improving leadership capability and optimising business performance through having the right talent in the right roles.
Growing up in the USA and Europe but long settled in Sydney with her husband and two young children, Jane loves working for an iconic Australian brand like Blackmores, where she has been our Chief People Officer since 2018. She says: ‘Blackmores is a truly purpose-led organisation and the health and wellness industry presents many exciting growth opportunities. I think improving the accessibility and understanding of natural health solutions will fundamentally change the future of our world for generations to come.’
Jane was previously HR Director for Diageo Australia and before that held senior HR roles with Westpac Group and BT Financial Group. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Business/Commerce and membership of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Australian Human Resources Institute.
Why Blackmores Group? Blackmores is a truly purpose-led organisation. Improving the accessibility and understanding of natural health solutions will fundamentally change the future of our world for generations to come.
Must-have health and wellness fix: Pilates is an absolute game-changer for me.
Life outside of work: I love spending time in the great outdoors with my family playing backyard cricket and soccer and swimming in the ocean.
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Kitty Liu
Managing Director, China
With a strong marketing pedigree and reputation for great brand strategy and business growth, Kitty has more than two decades of experience with blue chip multi-national organisations including General Mills, Mead Johnson, Yum! and Unilever. She has successfully implemented omni channel strategies across e-commerce, including JBP experience with Alibaba and Tencent.
Kitty’s strong operating experience in China includes VP, Marketing Strategy & Sales Operation for Mead Johnson Nutrition, where she reshaped the infant and child nutrition product portfolio and sales strategy, achieving double-digit top line growth by gaining share in the winning channels of e-commerce B2C and mother and baby store chains.
Kitty’s roll-up her sleeves approach to leadership combined with a MBA means she is passionate about delivering results and keen to foster a performance culture where all team members feel supported to reach their full-potential. She is a strong believer in gender equity and the importance of building a strong pipeline of talent to support future business growth.
Why Blackmores Group? I was motivated by the fact that Blackmores is a purpose-led business. Prior to joining I met many leaders of the company and was impressed by their shared passion for natural health and desire to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives.
Must-have health and wellness fix: My Taiwanese background values a natural holistic approach to health. I think we need to guard against the pursuit of the quick fix. My approach to health is grounded in scientific understanding and making slow incremental improvements to improve health and wellness.
Life outside of work: I practice yoga, which is good for my mind and body and gives me an enduring sense of wellbeing. I also love music, movies, and taking long walks with my family. I have two daughters and think it is important to spend time away from mobile phones, so we can talk and understand each other better.
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John Rosair
Managing Director APAC & Chief Commercial Officer
John is an energetic and transformational leader with a proven track record of delivering results in tough and highly competitive environments. He has more than 25 years’ experience as a Senior Executive in the food and beverage industry, including with Kellogg’s, Campbell Arnott’s and, most recently, Beam Suntory as Managing Director for the Asia Pacific region as well as Global Travel Retail worldwide.
John is highly skilled in business transformation - delivering results, building high performance work teams and turning struggling businesses around. His speciality areas include general management across sales, marketing, supply chain, product and customer experience, as well as strategic planning and execution, building high performance teams, international development and customer relationship building.
John has lived and worked in several countries and regions including Australia, New Zealand, North America, India, Korea, South-East Asia and China.
Why Blackmores Group? Blackmores is a purpose driven company that’s passionate about improving both the health of individuals and communities around the world, as well as that of our planet. To me that’s an irresistible adventure to be involved in!
Must have health and wellness fix: I believe I’m at my best when I’m regularly outdoors either walking, riding, or swimming in our amazing ocean pools across NSW. Getting time away from today’s technology and being a part of the planet is fabulous.
Life outside of work: Cooking for and spending time with family and friends, travelling and trivia night with my neighbourhood buddies.
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Joanne Smith
Chief Brand, Innovation and Communications Officer
Holding a stellar track record in global brand building and innovation, Joanne drives marketing excellence and consumer-led innovation for Blackmores Group. With over two decades of commercial and global marketing leadership expertise, Joanne’s key strengths include business and brand development, consumer-centric global growth strategies and transformational organisational change.
“Consumers globally are increasingly focussed on natural health, wellness and living stronger for longer and Blackmores has an impressive pioneering history of supporting consumers in their health and wellness goals,” explains Joanne, who has deep experience in Asian markets key to Blackmores Group.
Joanne’s former roles include Global Marketing Director at DuluxGroup, driving the Selley’s brand across Australia, NZ, Asia and the UK; Regional Director for Johnson & Johnson (Asia); and Global Marketing Director for Unilever (USA), leading the Dove brand globally. She has an MBA with an International Business major.
Why Blackmores Group? I’ve used many Blackmores products and love that Blackmores is a purpose-led organisation. I have admired the Blackmores brand for many years. Blackmores has a strong history of innovation and of supporting consumers with efficacious natural health solutions - I am so impressed with the quality of the Blackmores brand and believe it has enormous potential for growth.
Must have health and wellness fix: Exercising outdoors and swimming in the ocean. For me true health and wellness means being able to fully participate in life the way you want to, without limitations, for as long as possible – whatever your age.
Life outside of work: Full and fun! My two girls keep life very busy with their sports, school and social activities. We love having friends over, travelling and are always planning our next family adventure!
Go-to product and why? Armaforce is my favourite go-to product at the first sign of feeling unwell!
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Helen Mediati
Group General Counsel & Company Secretary
Helen leads Blackmores’ legal and compliance functions and serves as Blackmores' company secretary.
Helen is a highly motivated and experienced strategic, legal and governance adviser, with a passion for people and their wellbeing. She has more than 19 years of experience working within a range of corporate environments such as Westpac, Cuscal, Wells Fargo, ANZ and Macquarie Bank. She has a particular interest in merger and acquisitions, negotiating complex contractual arrangements, providing advice on regulatory and governance issues and cross-border commercial transactions, and enjoys building and leading high performance legal and governance teams. Helen is also a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and is admitted as a lawyer in New South Wales.
Why Blackmores Group? I’m excited to be part of an organisation that lives and breathes health and wellbeing and aspires to deliver innovative and quality products that can make a real difference to people’s lives.
Must- have health and wellness fix: Heading to the beach, soaking up the sea air and taking a break from technology helps me relax, rejuvenate and reenergised.
Life outside of work: My two very active and sports obsessed boys keep me busy and entertained! I also enjoy taking time out to catch up with friends, especially when it involves great food!