About

Hande Karakülah spent almost five years at British American Tobacco, before moving industry to join Avon, one of the world’s leading direct sellers of beauty and related products, as head of legal. During her time at Avon, Hande has brought many changes in the workings of the legal department: ‘we have evaluated the legal expertise required for certain job roles, carried out workshops for continuous training, and created a strategy based on what and how the legal department should support the business. In that respect we follow the strategy to make sure we achieve the target on a monthly basis and that is reflected in the outcome and the quality of what we’re doing’. With labour litigation costs being the biggest challenge for the company, Karakülah’s biggest achievement has been the minimisation of that expenditure. ‘We have taken steps to make sure we reduce these costs – making sure we don’t lose the case or at least minimise the cost’. What she enjoys most about her role is being able to advise the business while also being part of the management structure. Hande is a member of Istanbul Bar Association, European Professional Women Network and International Transparency Association.