As early as she can remember, Michelle Freyre was obsessed with all things beauty. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, her personal passion stemmed from a mixture of her family, heritage and environment. Beauty is an inherent part of the Hispanic culture and Ms. Freyre recalls just how prevalent it was in her everyday life.
“I was surrounded by all things beauty growing up,” says Ms. Freyre. “My mother was always focused on her love of beauty; how to take care of her skin, what the best products were and keeping up on the latest advice in beauty magazines – it became part of my DNA. My lifelong passion for beauty combined with my belief in the importance of challenging yourself and taking risks, is what still defines me to this day.”
Growing up with a father originally from Cuba and a mother from the Dominican Republic, Ms. Freyre always admired the risks her parents took to escape dictator- ships in their native countries to create a better life for their family. The example they set impacted her from a young age, and she’s since lived her life by the notion that you will never achieve your full potential if you aren’t willing to get out of your comfort zone and take some chances.
To put herself in the best position possible to succeed, Ms. Freyre dedicated herself to her education. While an undergraduate at Yale University, Ms. Freyre gained her first real business experience as the publisher of the Yale Daily News. “As publisher, I fell in love with leading a team and having an impact on the community,” recalls Ms. Freyre. “It was there that my interests in business and marketing were solidified.”
Upon graduation, Ms. Freyre knew she wanted a higher degree in business to help gain the tools necessary to maximize her potential, and went on to earn her Master of Business Administration from Harvard University.
With two prominent degrees in tow, Ms. Freyre began her illustrious career with a two-year stint at PepsiCo before the opportunity came along to marry her personal and professional passions at Neutrogena®.
After spending a few years in marketing, her mentor, the global president of Neutrogena, convinced her to broaden her experience by going into sales. While her original plan was to stay in sales for only a year, Ms. Freyre ended up spending over eight exciting years there.
During that time, she was able to hone the skills that would later make her a more well-rounded business leader, allowing her to take her career to the next level. Following a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in sales and sales strategy, Ms. Freyre was appointed the general manager of Neutrogena, the largest brand within Johnson & Johnson Consumer, and the leader of the company’s Los Angeles campus.
With 17 years under her belt and a wealth of experience to go with it, Ms. Freyre’s career culminated with her appointment to president of Johnson & Johnson’s U.S. Beauty business, where she was responsible for leading flagship brands including Neutrogena, AVEENO®, CLEAN & CLEAR®, LUBRIDERM®, RoC® and ROGAINE®.
Throughout her career, Ms. Freyre became well-versed in marketing brands that were uniquely positioned at the intersection of health and beauty. Her work focused on solving pain points for consumers and delivering real solutions to help improve people’s lives, and ultimately led her to her current position on Cynosure’s Board of Directors, after leaving J&J last summer to pursue new opportunities.
“I have a very deep understanding of the beauty consumer, including what they need and want out of products and services, and how to make them look and feel like the best version of themselves all the time,” says Ms. Freyre. “Having grown up in the beauty industry, my passion to provide real, trusted solutions to consumers aligns with Cynosure’s vision, making for a truly exciting and rewarding opportunity.”
The company – which Ms. Freyre notes is well-positioned for substantial growth amidst an expanding, yet underdeveloped global consumer market – develops, manufactures and markets aesthetic treatment systems to address a wide variety of conditions. From market-leading solutions for fat reduction like WarmSculpting with Sculpsure treatments, to Potenza, the first radiofrequency (RF) microneedling system to combine monopolar and bipolar RF, delivered at either 1 MHz or 2 MHz frequency, on one device for more customized treatments, the company continually releases next- generation upgrades and new innovations to address unmet clinical needs.
“All brands operating at the intersection of beauty and health have a unique responsibility to deliver world-class products and treatments and address the unique needs of highly engaged global consumers as well,” says Ms. Freyre. “The key to accomplishing this is through innovation, and Cynosure has strategically invested in R&D to continue to identify gaps in the marketplace and develop game-changing technology that physicians and consumers truly need.”
To illustrate this point, Ms. Freyre highlights the company’s launch of TempSure Surgical, an enhancement to their existing TempSure RF platform. Cynosure identified a need to perform both surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures across a variety of specialties on a single device, and developed a way to harness a 300 Watt and 4 MHz RF platform to enable precise incisions with minimal lateral damage. Ms. Freyre notes new and existing customers are able to customize their system to include TempSure Surgical to help meet a wide variety of clinical needs while enhancing the patient experience.
“By deploying more capital and investing strategically in science-driven innovation, we’ll be able to improve service levels, while simultaneously focusing on developing new products and enhancing marketing support for our global customer base,” says Ms. Freyre. “As a member of Cynosure’s Board of Directors, I hope to not only help contribute to that innovation, but act as the voice for beauty consumers to ensure we put them at the center of everything we do.”
Over the years, Ms. Freyre’s passion and dedication led her to be named to multiple prestigious lists, including PEOPLE En Español’s Top 25 Most Influential Women in 2017 and Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Latinas in 2018, to name a few. As the mother of 4-year-old twins, Ms. Freyre was also named a “She Runs It Working Mother of the Year” in 2018.
While it may seem like Ms. Freyre has achieved enough for a lifetime, the next phase of her career is just beginning. “Cynosure was the perfect fit for me, and I’m excited to work with other like-minded, consumer-centric executives and strong, inspirational leaders like Todd Tillemans and Sandi Peterson to help further establish Cynosure as a leader in the consumer aesthetics space.”
Good to know
Fast facts about Michelle Freyre
Q: What is your favorite travel destination?
Rome, Italy. I’d live there if I could!
Q: What is your favorite quote?
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” - Eleanor Roosevelt.
Q: What is your favorite book?
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Q: What is the one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
I would tell myself to not worry so much about making the right decision. When you’re young, you want to plan everything and have control, but some of the best things in life are unexpected and unplanned.
Q: What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
I “grew up” at Neutrogena, so my dream was always to run the company. I was able to not only accomplish that dream, but also drive industry-leading growth and market share during that time, help strengthen the brand and create an inspiring culture along the way. Something I’m very proud of!
