Ben Gambrel recently joined as President of PLZ Personal Care Solutions, bringing decades of experience in manufacturing, strategy, and business growth. He steps in as we continue to expand our capabilities and strengthen our partnerships, helping brands bring innovative products to market faster.
In this Q&A, Gambrel shares what drew him to PLZ Personal Care Solutions and what sets us apart from other contract manufacturers. From speeding up product development to advancing sustainability and staying ahead of trends, he offers a firsthand look at how our team is delivering value for customers today, while keeping them ready for what’s next in personal care.
What inspired you to join PLZ Personal Care Solutions, and what excites you most about the team and infrastructure you are now leading?
What really drew me to PLZ Personal Care Solutions was the people and the capabilities behind the business. When you spend time with the team and see the broader PLZ platform supporting it, it’s clear there’s a lot of technical depth, backed by the scale and mindset to help customers succeed.
I was also impressed by the choices the company has made about where to focus. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, PLZ Personal Care Solutions has worked hard to build strong relationships with target customers. This approach has led to better collaboration, better service, and better outcomes on both sides.
Stepping into this role is exciting because there’s already a lot of momentum here. My focus is to continue expanding our capabilities, deepening our partnerships, and driving innovation to deliver even greater value for our customers.
What differentiates PLZ Personal Care Solutions from other contract manufacturers in the space, and how do you plan to build on those strengths?
One of the biggest differentiators for PLZ Personal Care Solutions is how the business has been built over time. We’ve brought together several strong personal care companies, each with its own areas of expertise, and combined the best of those capabilities into one unified team. This structure gives us real depth across formulation, development, and manufacturing, without losing the hands-on experience that comes from those individual businesses.
It fuels innovation as well. With experienced R&D teams, strong formulation expertise, and exposure to a wide range of product types, we’re constantly learning and applying those insights to help customers improve existing products or move quickly on new ideas.
On top of that, we’re able to tap into the broader PLZ Corp network. Our specialty aerosol and liquid manufacturing sites across North America offer access to strong technical resources, experienced chemists, and a level of operational know-how that is hard to replicate at smaller scale.
To build upon these strengths, I plan to make sure we stay connected across teams, continue investing in capabilities, and use the strength of the PLZ network to help our customers stay competitive.
What are your top priorities for the business as you look ahead to the next few years?
The personal care market moves fast, and our customers feel that pressure every day. One of my top priorities is making sure PLZ Personal Care Solutions helps them move faster without compromising on quality. That means speed in development, speed in decision-making, and speed in getting products to market.
As a company, we’ve already made real progress over the past year. For example, we’ve reduced customer onboarding timelines by more than 70% and cut sample development turnaround times by over 80%. Those improvements matter because they directly impact how quickly our customers can test ideas, make decisions, and launch new products.
Going forward, the focus is on sustaining that pace and making it part of how we operate every day. By leveraging the purchasing power, supplier relationships, and operational footprint of the broader PLZ organization, customers can spend less time managing logistics and more time innovating and growing.
How do you see customer expectations and market trends evolving, and how is PLZ positioning itself to stay ahead?
Customers today expect more from their contract manufacturing partners. They want help spotting gaps in their product line, guidance on what’s coming next, and support to get new products to market quickly and without compromise.
At PLZ Personal Care Solutions, we’re built to meet those expectations. Our goal is to help customers stay ahead of trends, innovate efficiently, and deliver products that truly resonate with consumers. Our experience across a wide range of products gives us the insight and support to make that possible.
How are global economic shifts, evolving regulations, and supply chain dynamics influencing how personal care products are sourced, formulated, and manufactured?
The reality is that the personal care market has gotten more complicated. Between evolving environmental standards, product safety regulations, tariffs, and broader global uncertainty, there’s a lot more happening behind the scenes than most people realize. For brands, that complexity can slow things down or create real challenges if it isn’t managed well.
This is where PLZ adds value. We deal with these issues every day across R&D, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, and supply chain, and our scale gives us the ability to stay ahead of changes and respond quickly when things shift. By taking on that complexity, we help our customers stay focused on what they do best: building strong brands, bringing new products to market, and delivering great experiences for consumers.
Sustainability continues to shape the personal care industry. How is PLZ advancing its sustainability commitments across formulation, packaging, and manufacturing?
Sustainability has become a baseline expectation for consumers and our customers alike. In fact, almost every customer we work with has sustainability built into their long-term strategy, and we take that responsibility seriously.
It’s the reason why principles such as environmental stewardship and sustainability are central to how we operate. Our engineering and R&D teams help us stay ahead of evolving requirements—whether that’s materials, packaging, or manufacturing practices—so we can innovate and help customers meet their sustainability goals. At the same time, we’re focused on reducing our own footprint and driving meaningful improvements across our operations.
By combining these internal efforts with the solutions we offer our customers, we make sure we remain a partner they can count on as sustainability expectations evolve.
What professional experiences have most shaped your leadership style?
I’ve been lucky to work for some really great companies alongside leaders who have taught me a lot about leadership and getting things done well. Those experiences showed me what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to building strong teams and driving results.
If I had to pick one thing that defines my leadership style, it’s feedback. That means giving and receiving it openly, coaching along the way, and using clear metrics to see if what we’re doing is working. The best teams thrive when feedback is honest, timely, and helps everyone get better. This is exactly the kind of culture I’m focused on fostering at PLZ Personal Care Solutions.
Outside of work, what activities or interests help you recharge and stay inspired?
I play golf and I love going to live music events with my wife and kids. We already have a busy concert calendar this summer, with Motley Crue, Muse, and Guns N’ Roses. There’s something almost spiritual about being in a crowd of 20,000 people who all want to be exactly where they are in that moment. Everyone is singing together. It’s rare to experience that kind of unity today, and I find it energizing and grounding.
If you could share one message with PLZ customers and partners as you step into this role, what would it be?
What I’m most proud of at PLZ Personal Care Solutions is our focus on building long-term partnerships that really matter. These relationships are based on trust, shared investment, and mutual commitment.
My goal as president is to make those partnerships even stronger. This means continuing to invest in our people, our processes, and our capabilities so that every partnership grows stronger over time. We want to be the partner our customers know they can count on to innovate, scale, and succeed in the competitive personal care market.
