Powerful Transformers of the Beauty Industry

The 8th New York Health Forum

December 6th, 2017 | The Yale Club of New York City

The 8th New York Health Forum (NYHF) was held at the Yale Club of New York City on December 6, 2017 with close to 100 experts, industry leaders of notable Korean cosmetic companies and executives from national chain platforms. The theme of the 8th NYHF was “Powerful Transformers of the Beauty Industry.” DoHyun Cho, the founder of the New York Health Forum and the president and CEO of W Medical Strategy Group, welcomed all the attendees with opening remarks. He emphasized the importance of engaging in a stimulating conversation with the industry’s top entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, journalists as well as marketing experts and digital influencers to learn and discuss about today’s cosmetics advancements and trends.

The audience engaging in the first session, “Shop or Drop: The inevitable path of growth in beauty”

There were four sessions, consisting of 16 speakers who shared their insights and expertise on beauty and cosmetics industry. The first session was themed “Shop or Drop: The inevitable path of growth in beauty,” which was moderated by Yiqin Shen, the senior reporter at Mergermarket and Dealreporter in New York, with panelists Hana Ben-Shabet, a partner at A.T. Kearney, Marko Horvat, vice president of Financo Investment, and Jaewook Yoo, director of Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency. The topic highlighted the growing track of the global beauty industry, including a large number of mergers and acquisitions over the years as well as major trends and current landscape of the beauty industry in socioeconomic and cultural aspects.

The second session was titled “Embracing the Era of Natural Ingredients: Eco-innovation in beauty industry.” Yisun Yuk, director of business operations at Green Alley, a natural skincare distribution company, moderated the topic on how to transform the beauty community into an environmental friendly industry and the importance of meeting consumer demands for safer and cleaner products in the marketplace. US representative for isoi Cosmetics, Kathleen Broderick also joined in the conversation to discuss about companies’ responsibilities on ingredients and consumers’ expectations on natural skincare products. Kristin Booker, lifestyle journalist and a beauty influential blogger who was featured in Marie Claire, ELLE, and other prominent publications, gave her professional perspective on creating beauty trends in the ecofriendly scope.

Third session moderator Joseph P.McMenamin, MD, JD, FCLM, and panelists, Tony Handal, JD, Steven Shapiro, JD and Ji Soo Yoon, JD (left to right)

The third session was titled “Building a Right Platform: Key legal issues of the US beauty industry.” The panel discussion provided important legal issues associated with the US beauty industry. Along with moderator Joe McMenamin, executive vice president and chief legal officer of W Medical Strategy Group, and panelists Tony Handal, a partner at Greenspoon Marder, Ji Soo Yoon, compliance officer at Green Alley and Steven Shapiro, of counsel to Rivikin Radler, addressed the regulatory of cosmetics and personal care products. They also discussed safety and labeling requirements and intellectual property issues, such as patents, brands and trademarks.

The fourth and last session was titled “Powerful Transformers of Beauty Business: Online marketing and social media.” It focused on how social media and digital marketing are shaping the cosmetics community, providing an open space for industry leaders to interact and build a diverse platform to expand business. Joseph Nam, senior associate of Madison Bay Capital Partners, moderated the session with the panelists, Laura Carabello, co-founder and principal of CPR Strategic Marketing Communications, Sue Park, branch manager and brand curator at StyleKorean, and Matthew Prepis, director of business development at SmarSites, who shared their expertise on creating business models in the digital marketing landscape.

The 8th New York Health Forum successfully concluded with the announcement of two WMSG Appreciation Award recipients, Chul Kyoon Park, president of It’s a Wig, and Joseph H. Carabello, CEO of CPR Strategic Marketing Communications. The awards were given in recognition of their achievements in contributing to the innovation of healthcare and beauty industry. The 8th NYHF generated a significant discussion on all the different areas of the cosmetics and beauty industry. In 2018, the New York Health Forum hopes to expand on addressing other various contemporary issues that are evident in making progress for future healthcare.

President DoHyun Cho (left) and moderator Dr. Joseph McMenamin (right) with two awardees of the 8th NYHF, CEO Joseph Carabello and President Chul Kyoon Park (center)

April 2, 2018

Yeereum Chung, RN, BSN

Manager, Project Planning,

W Medical Strategy Group

Yeereum is manager of project planning and management at W Medical Strategy Group. She also is an editorial staff of WKMJ and organizing executive of New York Health Forum.

Grace Park

Marketing Specialist, Green Alley

Grace is editorial staff of WKMJ and agenda coordinator of New York Health Forum. She is also a marketing specialist at Green Alley.