Kelly Mahoney, chief marketing officer, Ulta Beauty is on a mission to “unleash the possibilities that lie within each of us by celebrating the superpowers of beauty.”
“Since stepping into the CMO role in early 2025, my vision has been to strengthen the emotional connection our guests have with Ulta Beauty by reigniting what beauty and wellness inspires in people – self-expression, empowerment, well-being, and connection,” says Mahoney.
Ulta Beauty is on a growth trajectory. The retailer’s net sales increased 12.9% to $2.9 billion in Q3 2025 and during the first nine months 2025 net sales were up 8.8% to $8.5 billion compared. Kecia Steelman, president and CEO, of the company attributed the growth to increased comparable sales, the acquisition of Space NK, and net new store contribution. With the beauty category growing 7% year over year from 2022-2024, McKinsey predicts that it will continue to grow 5% annually through 2030.
As the brand continues to grow, Mahoney is shaping the messaging to reach a diverse, multigenerational audience. “I want every guest to feel seen, supported, and celebrated across every touchpoint,” explains Mahoney. “In 2026, this will continue to come to life through even more personalized storytelling, heightened brand-building, deeper cultural relevance, and seamless omnichannel experiences across our stores, site, app, and social platforms – making sure every place we show up feels intentional and reflective of what our guests care about most.”
Mahoney is speaking on Wednesday this week at the Brand Innovators Marketing Leadership Summit at CES in Las Vegas. We caught up with her ahead of the event to discuss what she has planned for the brand this year. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Ulta Beauty has been on a growth trajectory over the last year. How will you keep up this momentum in the new year?
We’re building on real momentum, with three consecutive quarters of growth driven by our President & CEO Kecia Steelman’s “Ulta Beauty Unleashed” strategy. It’s a future-facing plan designed to power our next chapter, centered on three priorities: strengthening our core business, scaling differentiated high-growth engines, and realigning our organization for what’s ahead.
First, we’re reigniting our core beauty and wellness leadership through a new go-to-market playbook rooted in brand building, digital acceleration, and personalization – while expanding services, immersive experiences, and high-impact events that reinforce Ulta Beauty as a true destination.
Second, we’re scaling the businesses that unlock growth: wellness, where we’re expanding into products and solutions that support guests’ overall well-being; Ulta Beauty Media, our retail media network that helps brands connect with our 46M+ Ulta Beauty Rewards loyalty members through targeted, high-impact marketing; UB Marketplace, our new curated online platform that broadens our assortment and introduces guests to even more beauty, wellness, and lifestyle brands; and international expansion across the U.K., Mexico and the Middle East, bringing the Ulta Beauty experience to new markets and new guests.
And third, we’re revitalizing our operating model and culture to energize our teams and deepen our connections with our guests and 600+ brand partners. Together, these priorities ensure Ulta Beauty remains the most loved destination for guests and the most admired partner for brands.
To keep this momentum going, my first priority is continuing to reignite our purpose and deepen the emotional connection we have with our guests.That guest love is the engine behind our growth. I’m also focused on what sets Ulta Beauty apart: building and elevating established, emerging, and exclusive brands, fueling guest loyalty through Ulta Beauty Rewards, activating our rich first-party data to power relevant marketing and our retail media network UB Media, and championing the passionate connected associates and creators who bring our brand to life every day. We’ll continue scaling what’s working – UB Marketplace, new brand and exclusive launches, and culturally resonant moments – and we’ll keep investing in personalization and innovation to make every guest interaction feel meaningful and unmistakably Ulta Beauty.
You are speaking at the Brand Innovators event at CES. In what ways will the brand be showing up at the event?
This is my first time at CES, and I’m very excited to show how beauty and technology are shaping each other. I’ll be part of several conversations. I’ll be sharing my perspective on the growing role of AI – specifically how we’re tapping AI and our rich first-party data to deliver more hyper-personalized, real-time experiences for the millions of guests in our community. I’ll also dig into the rapid rise of commerce media and the industry-wide race to monetize attention, and what this shift means for how brands connect with shoppers. And I’ll be exploring how brands can strike the right balance between human creativity with automated tools on social platforms like TikTok – ensuring content stays authentic while still moving at the speed of culture. It’s a powerful way to share how Ulta Beauty is evolving with culture, technology, and the future of retail.
What is your brand mission and how does this show up in your recent creative work?
Our brand mission is to unleash the possibilities that lie within each of us by celebrating the superpowers of beauty. We believe beauty is not passive or surface-level – it is active, transformative, and deeply human. It fuels self-expression, builds confidence, supports well-being, and creates connection. In short, beauty is a verb. It is something you experience, something that moves through you, and something that changes how you show up in the world.
Beauty Happens Here is the brand platform that brings this purpose to life. It is our rallying cry and our creative north star – expressing the belief that beauty happens everywhere, every day, in both the quiet rituals and the bold moments of self-expression. It reflects how beauty starts within – how it makes you feel seen, supported, and celebrated – and then extends outward, shaping how you engage with the world and with others. When beauty is in motion, it has a compounding impact: on your confidence, your energy, and the way you show up for yourself and your community.
Our recent creative work embodies this belief, most notably through the launch of our Beauty Happens Here equity spot. The work captures beauty in motion – how feeling beautiful changes posture, presence, and perspective. When you feel good, you stand taller, speak with greater confidence, and move through the world more openly. That internal shift radiates outward, making spaces, interactions, and communities more beautiful in return.
This is the power of Beauty Happens Here. Ulta Beauty is not just where beauty is discovered – it is where beauty is ignited. A place where the superpowers of beauty are unlocked within you and carried forward into every moment, long after you leave our stores, site, or app.
How are you approaching innovation in a fragmented media landscape?
We approach innovation in today’s fragmented media landscape by orchestrating attention rather than chasing it. Consumers no longer move through a single funnel or spend time in one place. They move fluidly across platforms, creators, communities, and moments. Winning requires speed, cultural fluency, and the ability to connect those moments back to access, value, and experience.
What uniquely enables this at Ulta Beauty is our combination of breadth, intelligence, and scale. Our differentiated assortment spans price points, brands, and generations, allowing us to show up authentically wherever beauty culture is forming, from Gen Z led social moments to wellness-driven lifestyle content. We pair continuous cultural listening with real-time behavioral data to meet guests where they are, how they are consuming, and what they are seeking in that moment.
Our Ulta Beauty Rewards program is a powerful engine in this environment. With more than 46 million members driving approximately 95% of sales and delivering industry leading retention, we have a deep first party view of beauty behavior across life stages, categories, and channels. That insight allows us to move beyond broad messaging to precise orchestration by determining where to play, which platforms and creators matter most, and how to tailor content, offers, and experiences for maximum relevance and impact.
Social and creator ecosystems sit at the center of this strategy. In a world where trust has shifted from institutions to individuals, our relationships with creators through the Ulta Beauty Collective and with our own associates through Ulta Beauties enable storytelling that feels native, diverse, and credible. These partnerships, combined with cross functional speed and tight feedback loops, allow us to respond to culture in real time while staying anchored to the brand.
Most importantly, we connect the ecosystem. Whether discovery happens in a store aisle, a TikTok feed, our app, or through a creator, we ensure inspiration anywhere leads to access everywhere. That interconnected approach, powered by loyalty, data, creators, and omnichannel execution, is how we turn fragmentation into a competitive advantage.
What will retail transformation look like in 2026?
Retail transformation in 2026 will be defined by the seamless integration of human connection and intelligent technology. At Ulta Beauty, our stores remain the foundation of that future, with approximately 80% of our sales happening in-store. It’s where beauty is experienced, explored, and brought to life. The opportunity ahead is not replacing that experience, but amplifying it by thoughtfully weaving digital innovation into every moment in ways that feel intuitive, enriching, and unmistakably human.
Both AI and emerging agentic AI capabilities will play an important role in elevating that experience – helping us personalize at scale, enhance discovery, and intelligently anticipate guest needs while ensuring we uphold the highest standards of authenticity and inclusivity in beauty. For us, it’s not about automation for its own sake; it’s about using this intelligent technology to deepen connection, increase relevance, and make every interaction feel more fluid across channels.
Our commitment to digital innovation also shows up in the expansion of our ecommerce presence through UB Marketplace, which complements Ulta Beauty’s core retail model by bringing more emerging brands and newness from adjacent categories into our ecosystem. We’re excited about the potential for UB Marketplace to fuel discovery, acquisition, and retention – broadening our assortment and accelerating speed to market for trending products, keeping us relevant across categories.
We’ll also see more innovation coming through Prisma Ventures – our digital innovation fund which is helping us test and scale next-generation innovations like robotic manicures and AI-powered lash bots. Ultimately, retail will be about discovery, play, and connection, all supported by cohesive omnichannel touchpoints that make beauty feel easy, inspiring, and accessible.
How are you working to maintain the strong ties you have built with Gen Z?
We’re cultivating strong ties with Gen Z by showing up in the places and moments that matter to them. Our insights show that this generation cares deeply about purpose, self-expression and community, and they discover beauty through TikTok and Instagram while still valuing authenticity and in-person experiences. Gen Alpha is following closely behind, often with parent guidance, seeing skincare as self-care and beauty as happiness and wellness. And because 70% of parents view beauty as a shared activity, Ulta Beauty has become a true multigenerational destination.
To support these younger guests and their families, we provide education, ingredient-led guidance, and trained associates who help them shop safely and confidently. Our assortment includes dermatologist-approved, simplified options for younger skin, and programs like our birthday parties tap directly into youth culture – creating moments of play, learning, and self-expression. All of this helps us build meaningful, long-lasting relationships with Gen Z and the next generation discovering beauty right behind them.
What marketing trends do you think will dominate the beauty category in 2026?
First, we have to acknowledge that the beauty landscape is shifting quickly. The category is widening demographically, geographically, and even the definition of beauty has expanded from makeup, skincare, fragrance, hair care, and body care to also include wellness, personal care, and supplements – beauty from the inside out. At the same time, brands have more ways than ever to reach people, but consumers are more discerning: they want real value, real results, and real transparency. That mix of expansion and heightened expectations is shaping where marketing is headed in 2026.
I expect a few trends to take the lead. Hyper-personalization will become table stakes, with AI helping brands deliver content, recommendations, and experiences that feel uniquely tailored. Creator-led discovery will continue to drive demand, especially as Gen Z and Gen Alpha look to people – and less to polished ads – for guidance and inspiration. Experiences will also play a bigger role, as festivals and IRL activations make beauty something you feel, not just shop.
