The Board of Directors is responsible for a large part of the growth and success of CEW. The caliber and stature of our all-women board is unrivaled—anywhere. When asked how we keep such a large Board engaged, I say it’s because of networking before the meeting, topline reports, key learnings and of course, ending on time. Two reports they were particularly interested in during Thursday’s meeting:

• 24 Seven’s Beauty 2016 Job Market Report, based on a survey that was fielded among CEW’s 6,000+ U.S. members (men and women) from 1,700 large and small companies. The Report covers current compensation ranges, talent mobility and employee engagement.

• Wendy Liebmann, CEO, WSL Strategic Retail, reported on research her firm conducted, which was really informative and directional. She revealed the top needs and wants of beauty executives as it relates to professional development.

Here are some photos from our meeting, held on the 44th floor of Hearst Tower.

In July I'm going on a cruise with Lisa Klein, SVP CEW, and her husband, Howard Klein. I love to travel but I hate to pack. I don't travel light. And that is an understatement. I don't leave anything behind. But I’ve found a few beauty products that will at least lighten up my makeup bag. They also happen to be winners of our recent Beauty Awards….

• I really like the new color line, trèStiQue. They were chosen as the QVC Beauty Quest Winner and will appear on QVC soon. I'm packing the Color & Contour Blush Stick. I can use it on my lips and cheeks. And since I’ll have some down time, I might even do a little contouring.

• My colorist, Louis Licari, is irreplaceable, but when I'm away I’ll touch up my grey with another Beauty Award winner, Color Wow, which took home the Indie Award. It comes with a two-sided application brush for light or heavy applications, and has a mirror in case I want to touch up while sitting on the Lido deck.

• I'm hopeless at doing my hair. Fortunately, our cruise ship has a hair salon, which I plan to be frequenting. In between I’ll use Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo, which will get me through at least a day or two (or more.) This product won in the Hair Care category.

To get some inspiration for your beauty bag, take a look at CEW’s Beauty Insider Awards Digital Magazine. The interactive magazine features videos, beauty trend articles, and clickable icons to allow readers to purchase the products from retailers.