Tara Foley, the founder of clean beauty retailer Follain, has a new job.
Investment banking and advisory firm Consensus has hired Foley to lead its new beauty and wellness team. Follain was sold to Credo Beauty late last year for an undisclosed sum.
Foley will lead a newly dedicated beauty and wellness team at Consensus with fellow managing director Paul Alexander, according to a statement from the firm.
Foley said her new role allows her to continue “to play matchmaker” and connect brands to each other and investors. “That’s what I always liked doing the most,” she told WWD. “I’m continuing to personally support Credo and I’ll always be a supporter of Follain, and I was thinking about all these different types of roles.”
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Though she doesn’t predict a flurry of deals, Foley said she still sees potential with high-growth brands on the market. “A lot of companies are probably going to make the choice to sit on the sidelines, so successful businesses are probably going to have less competition,” she said. “Large strategics will likely struggle to grow organically, so they’re gonna need to feed their growth through acquiring the right companies,” she continued.
She also has her eye on wellness mainstays like supplements, as well as biotech and science-led companies. She’ll also rely on Consensus’ expertise, which now spans agriculture and food.
“With the addition of formal food and agriculture teams in 2021 and now with a dedicated team focused on personal care, wellness and beauty, we look forward to deepening our relationships within this increasingly important practice area. We are particularly excited to add Tara Foley to the Consensus family. We have known Tara for a while and have enormous admiration for what she created with Follain,” said Michael O’Hara, chief executive officer of Consensus, in a statement.