At Henkel, our pioneers are driven by an unwavering spirit to explore, create, and transform possibilities into progress and improve life for generations to come. Learn their stories.
In this story, you will discover:
- Creating Community Impact: The experiences that shaped Lissette’s commitment to helping people feel supported, prepared and seen.
- Turning Ideas into Purposeful Innovation: How she brings resilience, learning and future-focused thinking into her Henkel role.
- Taking the First Step: Lissette helps colleagues prepare for the future by encouraging action today and making AI more approachable through hands-on learning.
Introducing Lissette
Lissette Cruz, Director of Blue Sky Innovations and AI Solutions for Henkel Consumer Brands (HCB) in the hair professional category, is always looking for what could be next. Her role is grounded in exploring new possibilities and turning promising ideas into solutions that can support the future of the business. Drawing on 23 years of experience as a licensed hair professional, Lissette brings a firsthand understanding of the people and needs behind the ideas she explores.
That perspective extends beyond her day-to-day role. As a community volunteer and President of the Culver City chapter of the Henkel Women’s Network, an employee resource group (ERG), Lisette brings the same approach to supporting others: understand the need, imagine a better experience, and bring others along to make an impact.
Lissette shares what inspires her to be a pioneer for good
Creating Community Impact
Long before Lissette was helping Henkel explore what could be next, a personal experience sparked ideas and actions to make life better for others.
As a high school student who couldn’t afford a prom dress, Lissette remembers having to sort through donated options in her school’s front office. “You would have to sift through a box in front of other students,” she says. “It didn’t always feel good.”
That experience stayed with her. Years later, as a stylist, Lissette saw an opportunity to give other students a different experience. She partnered with a nearby boutique to display donated dresses on racks so they could choose a free prom dress in a more dignified way.
Years later, she mobilized colleagues to bring that prom dress initiative to Henkel’s Culver City office in partnership with the local Boys & Girls Club. What began with an experience from her own life became an opportunity to help a new generation of students feel supported and respected.
That same instinct to see a need and act on it inspired Lissette’s “Care to Go” package initiative at Henkel in 2025. After seeing someone who appeared to be unhoused tending to a wound and wishing she had supplies to help, she saw an opportunity to prepare employees to respond when they encountered someone in need.
The team assembled nearly 400 bags containing essentials such as water, bandages, wipes, and food that employees could keep in their cars and distribute as needed. The effort gave employees a practical way to help, extending its impact beyond the office and into the communities where they live and travel each day.
Turning Ideas into Purposeful Innovation
For Lissette, the instinct to understand a need and imagine something better also shapes the way she approaches innovation.
In her Blue Sky role, Lissette draws on her previous experience behind the chair as a licensed hair professional, to bring a firsthand perspective to the innovation process. She understands the realities hairdressers face and helps teams consider how new ideas can better support them, the clients they serve and the future of the business.
She also helps teams look beyond immediate priorities and stay open to ideas that may not fit today, but could create value with the right timing, learning or collaboration. For Lissette, ideas are something to revisit, reshape and learn from overtime.
“It’s never looking at your missed innovations or ideas as a graveyard. It’s a treasure chest.”
– Lissette Cruz, Director of Blue Sky Innovations and AI Solutions for Henkel Consumer Brands
That mindset was shaped in part by one of her most challenging innovation experiences: a first-to-market innovation that did not go as planned. What initially felt like a setback became a defining lesson in resilience and reinforced Lissette’s belief that every idea can create value through the lessons you learn to make the next idea stronger.
Lissette holds a Guinness World Record for the most natural hair extensions applied in one hour. After nearly a year of working up the courage to try, she broke the existing record on her first attempt. When a recording issue meant the achievement could not be verified, she found the resilience to do it all over again. For Lissette, the experience was ultimately about finding the courage to take the first step and persevering when things didn’t go as planned.
Taking the First Step
As Henkel celebrates its 150th anniversary under the motto “Future? Ready!,” Lissette sees future readiness as something that begins with what you are willing to do today.
“Truly being future ready means taking action today,” she says. “It doesn’t mean that you have to solve for the future. It means you have to take the first step.”
Lissette has put that philosophy into practice by helping colleagues take their own first steps with emerging technology. One example is the Copilot Cup. Lissette designed a team-based challenge for colleagues to build their AI skills, explore new ways of working and generate product ideas. The challenge engaged more than 480 colleagues and reached a 98% participation rate.
From creating a more dignified prom experience for students, to turning an impulse to help into hundreds of “Care to Go” packages, to helping colleagues feel more confident exploring AI, Lissette turns ideas into purposeful action.
“Lissette has a remarkable ability to identify opportunities to make a difference and bring people together to create action. Whether supporting students, helping community members in need, or empowering colleagues through her work with Henkel Women’s Network, Lissette leads with heart and purpose, creating an impact that extends far beyond her day-to-day role.”
– Linda Leonard, Regional Head of D&I and Corporate Citizenship, Henkel North America