In conversation with Dianna Cohen | If Everything Exists Already, What Do You Build Next? Innovating in a Saturated Category
In this conversation, Dianna Cohen, Founder and CEO of Crown Affair, will take the audience inside her journey of building a category-defining haircare brand in one of the most crowded consumer markets.
Rather than reinventing the product itself, Dianna reimagined how it is experienced, transforming everyday haircare into a ritual-led, design-forward brand now stocked in global retailers such as Sephora.
Dianna will explore:
How to identify meaningful whitespace in saturated markets
Why innovation often lies beyond the product, in positioning, ritual, and experience
The early signals that validated Crown Affair’s product-market fit
How to build a brand that stands out and endures in a crowded category
Lessons from scaling a modern consumer brand while staying true to its identity
This is the story of a founder who did not create something entirely new, but instead built something meaningfully different, and in doing so, redefined what modern brand-building looks like.
Speaker Bio:
Dianna Cohen is the Founder and CEO of Crown Affair, a fast-growing haircare brand redefining the category through ritual, simplicity, and design. She founded Crown Affair in 2020 after working in early-stage startups, including Away, a $1.4B direct-to-consumer travel brand, and launching her own consultancy. Today, Crown Affair is stocked in global retailers like Sephora and has raised over $15M in funding. Known for her distinctive approach to building thoughtful, enduring brands, Dianna represents a new generation of founders reshaping consumer industries.
WHEN: Thursday, May 7th 2026
6.00PM - 7.00PM: Fireside discussion in the Chen Tsau Lecture Theatre
WHERE: Chen Tsau Lecture Theatre, Judge Business School
TICKETS: Register here.
Please note that there will be photography at this event.