“The best decisions of my career I have rarely made alone.”

Isabel Bonacker was a keynote speaker at the Fondsfrauen Summit 2026. She is co-owner of the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP. In this interview, she talks about her mosaic career, her path into the family business, and explains what it takes to balance tradition and transformation.

You didn’t originally take the traditional path into the family business, but instead describe your journey as a “mosaic career.” What did this detour give you for your current role at Babor?

Without my mosaic career, I wouldn’t have joined the company at all. I’ve always been someone who gets things done, but I didn’t quite know how to channel that at first. Originally, I wanted to become a journalist, then I studied law and realized I enjoy working on projects and in teams. So I joined McKinsey. Every single piece of the mosaic shaped me. Law taught me how to approach challenges systematically and focus on what really matters. At McKinsey, I learned how to quickly familiarize myself with different industries and ask the right questions. Both help me a lot today.

What ultimately led you to join the family business?

After parental leave, I started at Ashoka, a social entrepreneurship start-up, and discovered my passion for entrepreneurship. I was inspired by what these social entrepreneurs achieve. I also met many entrepreneurs from the private sector who impressed me. It became clear to me that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. So I put myself forward when it came to succession in the family business. The best professional decision of my life.

What personally attracted and perhaps challenged you about this step?

What attracted me was my love for entrepreneurship. At that point, joining the company felt like a natural step. My cousin and I joined as part of a generational transition. Of course, that comes with challenges. It was important to me that we were fully aligned on our roles, which worked out very well because we complement each other perfectly. The next challenge, as with any generational change, was deciding how much to preserve and how much to reshape. We quickly realized that the company needed transformation.

Babor is a company with a strong history and clear origins. In your view, what must absolutely be preserved when leading a family business into the future?

Every company needs an anchor that connects it to its roots. This applies both to our brand and to our employees. BABOR originates in professional cosmetics. We will never give up this heritage, and it remains essential, both for the core brand of the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP and for our private label business. There are also such anchors for our team, for example the fact that we are a family business. We want to pass the company on to the next generation even more successfully. That naturally goes hand in hand with operating sustainably, and we understand sustainability in a holistic sense. The way we work and why we work that way matters to our employees, and to many of our customers as well.

At the same time, Babor stands for transformation, internationalization, and new distribution channels. How do you develop a traditional company without losing its identity?

Precisely through these anchors. There are a few “non-negotiables” that define who we are as a company. Based on these, we continue to evolve consistently, sometimes gradually, sometimes at greater speed. Throughout this process, it is important to take both employees and customers along and communicate transparently. The owner family also plays an important role here, as it represents one of these anchors.

Family businesses are often seen as long-term oriented, but sometimes more cautious about change. Do you see this as more of an advantage or a challenge?

The challenge is to balance these two poles. As a family business, we think long-term, but we also need change, and in this volatile world, that cannot always happen incrementally. I believe it is a major advantage that family businesses are willing to embrace this balancing act again and again.

Growth, new markets, and transformation almost always bring friction. How do you deal with it when change is necessary but doesn’t generate universal enthusiasm internally?

Friction is part of growth and transformation, it shows that people take responsibility rather than simply going along with everything. What matters is managing this friction actively. For us, it’s important to communicate a clear “why” and a vision, involve people, set milestones, and make progress measurable. Transparent communication is key.

Fondsfrauen focuses strongly on career paths, leadership, and development. What have you learned on your own journey that you would pass on to younger women early on?

Look for roles that have impact, not just impressive titles. Be courageous, take the first step, and actively put yourself forward. Trust in networks. I’ve learned that I have rarely made the best decisions of my career alone, but always within a network of smart, supportive people.

You have combined family life, professional responsibility, and different career stages. Has your understanding of career changed over time?

In the past, I saw a career as a straight ascent, a career ladder. Today, I believe it is much more diverse. Sometimes you need to take a turn to gain clarity about your own values, especially when a partner and children come into the picture. My career has had different priorities at different stages of my life, and that is also part of the mosaic.

If you look back on your time at Babor in ten or twenty years, how would you recognize that joining the family business was truly worth it?

If we have successfully passed the company on to the fourth generation.

Titelfoto: Olli Duerr / Fondsfrauen Gipfel 2026

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