Glossier's Vice President of Supply Chain Advocates for Self-Improvement and Industry Diversity Representation
In an interview, Kinta Gates, Vice President of Supply Chain and Operations at Glossier, shares her professional philosophy: achieving "self-improvement" through continuous learning and proactively creating opportunities for others. She emphasizes that, given the current decline in female leadership within the supply chain industry, practitioners should actively "kick open doors" to drive a more diverse and inclusive industry future.
Editor's note: This story is part of a series of interviews focusing on women, who make up more than 40% of the supply chain workforce, shaping logistics, procurement, and operations.
Kinta Gates, Vice President of Supply Chain and Operations at Glossier, believes that career growth relies not only on prioritizing investment in education and "self-improvement," but also on industry professionals actively opening doors of opportunity for the next generation of women supply chain leaders. Gates shared this view in an interview with Supply Chain Dive.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Gates has built a broad supply chain career across multiple industries, including beauty brands such as The Body Shop and Thrive Causemetics. At Glossier, Gates manages the global operations team and has developed global fulfillment and inventory strategies to support the brand's transition from a direct-to-consumer model to an omnichannel approach.
Although the beauty industry is her current field, Gates has also actively embraced opportunities outside it, such as joining Mars Food in 2015, which became a pivotal moment in her career.
"At that moment, I had to bet on myself," Gates said. Although she eventually returned to the beauty industry, Gates noted that after landing that role at Mars, her entire career shifted, mainly because she didn't shy away from the opportunity.
"This is the message I want to convey to everyone who stands before me with an opportunity," Gates said. "Please don't be afraid to bet on yourself."
Pursuing "self-improvement"
Gates always places herself in a position of learning, an approach that has greatly propelled her career trajectory. However, in pursuing "self-improvement," she doesn't believe success comes solely from being one hundred percent familiar with or mastering a concept.
"So I have to be very confident in what I know and in myself," Gates said. "That doesn't include arrogance."
"I want to make sure I'm open to being a partner in others' success."
— Kinta Gates, Vice President of Supply Chain and Operations at Glossier
Gates' learning approach is built on finding opportunities to master new and diverse topics, which is also why she has earned three degrees, including one in industrial engineering, because she wants to go beyond certificates and webinars.
"I'm doing what I need to do to stay relevant in terms of knowledge, so I can continue to meet the high standards I set for myself, and also pass that on to my team or the people I mentor," Gates said, noting that she also ensures she has the right mentors.
Kicking down doors
Diverse representation in supply chain is crucial to Gates, who focuses more on the industry's future possibilities rather than its current state.
"My question, and my call to action, is: What are you doing to replace yourself?" Gates said. "That's the stance I take, and that's why I love opening up my calendar."
She encourages professionals to proactively put themselves in front of others to help them access new career opportunities and possibilities. Gates herself moderated a panel discussion at Spelman College earlier this year, as part of its third annual Black Beauty STEMinist Summit, an event aimed at highlighting and elevating Black women in the beauty and personal care industry.
"When I walk through that door, I want to kick it off its hinges—I don't want to be the last Black woman invited into the room," Gates said. "There are people behind me, and I have a responsibility to bring them forward. That intention is the only thing that can change the narrative and the numbers, and that's how I operate."
In its 2025 Women in Supply Chain report, global research and advisory firm Gartner noted that the industry "has moved past a plateau into a decline" in advancing women into supply chain leadership roles. Additionally, although women from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups made up a larger share of the total supply chain workforce in 2025 than in any of the previous four years, their representation in C-suite and vice president roles decreased compared to the prior year.
"When I walk through that door, I want to kick it off its hinges—I don't want to be the last Black woman invited into the room."
— Kinta Gates, Vice President of Supply Chain and Operations at Glossier
"If this continues, we expect 2026 and beyond to be flat at best, or even show a weaker talent pipeline, and we will face real difficulties in attracting and retaining women, as well as impacting Gen Z and all employees from underrepresented backgrounds," the Gartner report stated.
Gates takes it upon herself to reverse this decline, stating that industry professionals have a responsibility to ensure supply chain opportunities and careers are accessible to a broader range of candidates, especially women, regardless of race.
"If I'm nothing else, I'm disruptive everywhere, and disruptive in a good way, and I will never apologize for that, because I didn't reach this level of success alone," Gates said. "So, I want to make sure I'm open to being a partner in others' success."