L’Oréal’s Guive Balooch on why a leader needs to make time for all ideas

“Make time for all ideas. Listen to everyone’s pitch. At L’Oréal, we have an internal innovation contest called Beauty Shakers, where anyone, any level, any role, can submit an idea. For the incubator, hearing every idea with an open mind helps determine the best partnerships for both sides.”

I had the pleasure to interview Guive Balooch. As the global vice president of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator, based in Clark, NJ, Guive has helped evolve L’Oréal evolve to a legacy beauty company that is a true tech player, shaking up the industry by bringing digital beauty experiences to consumers everywhere. Designed as a startup within a large organization, Guive’s dynamic team partners with entrepreneurs, academic institutions and experts across a diverse array of fields to unearth breakthrough research and first-to-market technologies.

How did you get started in the industry? What led you to L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator?

My story is one of luck and learning. Ultimately, I fell into beauty. My father was a professor at Berkeley, inspiring me to respect knowledge and science. After receiving a Ph.D. in…