LOS ANGELES — Freeman Beauty has appointed Bill George as chief executive officer. Following the success of Freeman Beauty’s first National Face Mask Month in April, George is joining the company from Markwins Beauty Brands. Supporting Freeman Beauty’s full portfolio of brands, he will focus on continuing the company’s high growth in the mask category, leveraging his background in global cosmetics and personal care to drive innovation and success.

Bill George

With over 25 years of experience in the beauty space, George comes to Freeman Beauty with expertise managing a large portfolio of top-10 mass market beauty brands. Known for driving organic growth across six continents as well as leading corporate acquisitions and integration, he is recognized for having a firm handle on major market trends along with the ability to inject excitement in brands by delivering high-quality innovations, supply chain ingenuity and consumer engagement, the company noted. A key to his success is strong teamwork and partnerships, and he has earned numerous industry awards for Supplier of the Year and Best Of categories.

“I am honored and privileged to join Freeman Beauty,” said George. “I have admired the company’s position in the market for quite some time and love where the brand stands today. I look to build on the company’s rich heritage and continue to find the best partners to succeed in these high-growth segments.”

In his new role, he will work closely with Yellow Wood Partners, helping fuel the firm’s growth plans for Freeman Beauty brands, while leveraging its insights to further expand the business.

Dana Schmaltz, partner at Yellow Wood, said, “The Yellow Wood team is excited to have the opportunity to work with Bill George as the new CEO of Freeman Beauty. We have known Bill for a number of years and watched him build many successful brands. Adding Bill’s skill set to the great franchise we have at Freeman as the No. 1 face mask brand in the U.S. will continue to accelerate our growth in this category, as well as other categories that we may enter through acquisitions and line extensions. We look forward to building another successful consumer platform business around Bill.”

Concurrently, Jon Achenbaum announced his retirement from Freeman Beauty. Achenbaum, who joined the company in 2015, led Freeman Beauty through a period of significant growth and oversaw the sale of the business to Yellow Wood in August 2017.