Kelly Mahoney (Ulta Beauty) | Trust, Creativity, and the Superpowers of Beauty

Just days before Supergirl hit theaters—and as Ulta Beauty launched its ambitious partnership with Warner Bros. to bring the film to life through an immersive, 360-degree campaign—Kelly Mahoney sat down with Jim Stengel to discuss one of the biggest transformations happening in marketing today.Kelly is the Chief Marketing Officer of Ulta Beauty, the nation's largest beauty retailer, with more than 1,400 stores, over $11 billion in annual revenue, and a loyalty program serving more than 47 million members. After more than a decade helping build Ulta's growth strategy and industry-leading loyalty ecosystem, she's now leading the brand into its next chapter.In this conversation, Kelly shares how Ulta is creating deeper emotional connections with consumers through purpose, creativity, AI-powered personalization, and culture-defining partnerships. She also discusses her unconventional path to the CMO role, what she learned from the late Shelley Haus, how she's building a high-performing marketing culture, and why the future of beauty is rooted in trust, wellness, and human connection.Recorded during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, this conversation took place aboard a yacht in the sunny South of France, thanks to our partners at Beanstalk and AppLovin.—Episode brought to you by Infillion.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.