How Beauty’s Biggest Bankers Celebrate Deals

Lindsay Carlson, managing director, William Blair

“I gave my rockstar team high-fives and thanked them for their amazing support. Then I booked a spa appointment and escaped the office to relax and recharge. Ended the day at dinner with my husband and our dear friends.”

Janki Gandhi, managing director, Goldman Sachs

If I remember correctly (it has been a while), the first deal that I closed was one that got done in under three months from start to finish, so it was a sprint the entire way. The deal closed on a Thursday in the first week of January, and I was finally able to celebrate the holidays and my birthday that weekend and also catch up on much needed sleep.

Vennette Ho, managing director, Financo

I called my client and everyone involved to thank and congratulate them; after all, deals are a tremendous team effort. And then I went home to take a long, long nap.

Kelly McPhilliamy, managing director, Harris Williams

My first beauty transaction involved advising serial entrepreneur and investor Doug Von Allmen on a minority sale of his salon distribution business, Beauty Alliance, to L’Oréal in 2006. The deal was significant as it was L’Oréal’s first move to consolidate salon distribution in the U.S. I had the chance to work with Doug again a few years later selling the Sexy Hair brand. Looking back, it was a busy time professionally and personally. With a then 1-year-old daughter at home, I’m pretty sure I loaded her in the baby jogger and took off for a relaxing run. But that’s not to say I haven’t had some memorable deal celebrations along the way.

Ilya Seglin, managing director, Threadstone Advisors

This was prior to the time I started focusing on beauty products and involved a fertilizer company (yes, both enhance blooming, but similarities end there). The deal had to close by year-end so my Christmas holiday was spent finalizing everything — when the deal was finally signed two days before New Year’s Eve, I went home and booked a trip to Paris. No trip to Paris can be complete without the obligatory stop at the Hermès flagship. On that trip, I began my tradition of indulging in slightly extravagant self-gifting after each closed deal.

Andrew Shore, managing director, Moelis

I took my family on vacation and then bought a new pair of cuff links.

Michael Toure, founder & ceo, Toure Capital

A couple of months after I left Goldman Sachs more than seven years ago now, I closed my very first transaction as an independent adviser. I had just launched Toure Capital; I was lucky enough to sign this fast-growing beauty brand and managed to find them a great minority partner. This was my very first stand-alone achievement. I celebrated this by PROUDLY talking (bragging?) about it to anyone in the industry that wanted to listen to me…and paying for my wedding in the south of France.

Shaun Westfall, managing director, Jefferies

A pivotal moment and cause for celebration goes clear back to 2009 when I advised Urban Decay on the investment from Castanea. It was the start of an amazing life-altering run, and the most important part — this is when I met my wonderful wife of more than 10 years, Lauren. The amazing Wende was kind enough to set us up while I was working on the transaction. Thus, not only did I get the deal, I got the girl — and the rest is history.

Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.