The Honest Company appoints new chief financial officer

The Honest Company, the clean beauty and lifestyle brand founded by Jessica Alba, has appointed Dave Loretta as its new chief financial officer.

The digitally native consumer products company dedicated to creating clean and sustainably designed baby care, beauty, personal care, wellness and household care products said the “seasoned finance executive” would join The Honest Company on September 25. He succeeds Kelly Kennedy, who stepped down from her role as CFO after two and a half years.

Carla Vernón, chief executive of The Honest Company, said in a statement: “He brings a strong track record of driving financial strength and scale across a wide range of modern companies with innovative business models. Dave’s deep knowledge of premium retailing, consumer-centric digital experiences, investor relations, and core financial fundamentals set him apart. As a seasoned public company CFO with an entrepreneurial spirit, Dave will make a strong addition to our team as we continue scaling Honest to become a larger, more vibrant, and more widely available brand than it is today.

“As a leader that has successfully grown revenue at a public company by more than 80 percent, we’re confident that Dave has what it takes to drive our transformation forward with improved cash flow, increased profitability and higher shareholder value.”

Loretta has more than 25 years of experience and most recently served as senior SVP, chief financial officer of Duluth Trading (DLTH). He joined the company in 2017, two years after its Initial Public Offering, and has since helped grow the business from 400 million US dollars in revenue to 700 million US dollars. Prior to his leadership role at Duluth Trading, Loretta spent more than 14 years in a series of roles at Nordstrom and Restoration Hardware, where he developed deep retail and consumer product knowledge.

In his new role, Loretta will report directly to Vernón and will work alongside Honest’s executive leadership team and lead the finance, accounting and investor relations organisations. He will also work with leadership to continue strategically executing the company’s transformation initiative, focused on brand maximisation, margin enhancement and operating discipline.

Loretta added: "I firmly believe Honest is a trailblazing brand driven by a talented and passionate team with an incredible growth runway ahead. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves at this pivotal time in the company's journey and shepherding the financial strategy of the business forward.

“Working hand-in-hand with Carla, the leadership team and the entire finance team, I am confident in what’s ahead as we work to execute on the near-term goals of the Transformation Initiative and create shareholder value in the long run."