CEO MONTHLY / DECEMBER 2025 23 Most Innovative Skincare CEO 2025 (Sydney): Carla Oates Research has found that the health of your gut can directly influence the appearance and condition of your skin, through a complex communication network referred to as the gut-skin axis. This is becoming an increasingly recognised area of research and has been crucial to understanding various skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, and eczema. At the forefront of this wellness revolution is The Beauty Chef, a leading Australian beauty brand dedicated to understanding and promoting the gut-skin axis, led by CEO and Founder Carla Oates. We took a closer look at Carla’s journey to success below, as she is named in the Global CEO Excellence Awards 2025. Based in Sydney, The Beauty Chef is a health and wellness brand renowned for its focus on the connection between gut health and skin health, promoting the philosophy that “beauty begins in the belly.” The company champions a holistic approach to attaining – and sustaining – radiant skin and good gut health, offering a wide range of organic, living beauty products that are derived from nature and supported by science. The Beauty Chef was founded by Carla Oates, a skincare innovator and leader in the beauty and wellness industry. Carla’s interest in natural skincare, and the concept of “beauty from within,” started at a young age. She suffered from eczema in her childhood and her mother, who had always promoted natural ingredients and cooking from scratch, took her to see a naturopath at the age of 13. As the naturopath eliminated and introduced certain foods into her diet, Carla began to understand the deep connection between food and skin health. In her mid-twenties, Carla was offered a position as a beauty editor for a mainstream paper. She found it challenging to write about the mass-market products she was being sent in this role, finding that many ingredients were not recorded appropriately on Safety Data Sheets, and some were even known toxins. Instead, she focused on writing only about natural skincare, on a mission to educate her readers on how to take care of their skin health holistically. Carla’s column soon grew in popularity, and a literary agent approached her about pitching a natural beauty book to Lantern, an imprint of Penguin Books Australia. This was a significant opportunity for Carla, and she was commissioned to write a book of natural beauty recipes – Feeding Your Skin, which was published by Lantern in 2004. Following this lifechanging event, Carla became the beauty columnist for Wellbeing Magazine; penned a column called DIY Beauty for Body and Soul, The Sunday Telegraph, for six years. Carla’s career path would pivot once again, when her daughter began to experience the same skin issues Carla had faced in childhood. Leveraging her own experience with a naturopath, Carla placed her household on a gut-healing protocol, with lacto-fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut for optimal gut health. The difference was profound; this protocol had not only improved the family’s skin, but also their overall wellbeing. Following this, Carla began to experiment with fermentation in her kitchen, exploring its benefits in order to eventually bring her research into gut health to a wider audience. This experimentation led to the first iteration of GLOW®, a supernutrient powder designed for glowing skin, gut health, and whole-body wellness. The launch of GLOW® in 2009 revolutionised the global ingestible beauty industry, and spurred Carla on to continue innovating. She has since created a remarkable range of fermented supernutrient powders, elixirs, capsules, chewables, and topical skincare for consumers looking to care for their skin health holistically, through the gut. The Beauty Chef has gained significant recognition since its inception and today stands as a leader in Australia’s natural skincare space. Its innovative products are now sold in over 200 retail stores across Australia, in addition to global stores including Sephora in the US and Selfridges in the UK. The brand’s social media following extends to over 100,000 people, a testament to the number of lives Carla has touched through her unwavering commitment to bridging the gap between nature and science to achieve optimal health and wellbeing. From humble beginnings to international acclaim, Carla has grown and evolved The Beauty Chef into a globally recognised brand. Through dedicated research, expert formulations, and an unrivalled understanding of the gutskin axis, she has led her team to great heights whilst revolutionising the beauty industry with groundbreaking products that are rooted in holistic care and wellness. For her relentless pursuit of excellence, and the significant contributions she has made to the industry, Carla has been recognised as Sydney’s Most Innovative Skincare CEO 2025. Contact: Carla Oates Company: The Beauty Chef Web Address: www.thebeautychef.com Oct25050
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