About The Marketing Edit, Powered by Rokt
The Marketing Edit, Powered by Rokt is an original video series from The Female Quotient that spotlights bold leaders shaping the future of marketing. Each episode features leaders from the world’s most influential brands sharing the defining decisions, lessons, and leaps that changed the trajectory of their careers. Together with Rokt, The Marketing Edit explores how today’s marketers are unlocking the Transaction Moment™ to build real-time relevance, drive growth, and meet customers in the moments that matter most.
In this episode, Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient, sits down with Kelly Mahoney, Chief Marketing Officer at Ulta Beauty, to discuss the evolution of modern marketing leadership, from loyalty to data to discovery, and how Mahoney is redefining beauty authority through personalization and purpose.
What are you the most excited about from where you've been to where we are and where we're going? My trajectory is probably a little different than most chief marketing officers, and that's what I get most excited about. So I grew up in data personalization and loyalty and retention marketing, and and that's really what I think the modern CMO profile needs to be, if you're in the business of Personalizing the experience, which I think everyone is. So that's what gets me excited, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be stepping into the role of Ulta Beauty's chief marketing officer. We are fortunate at Ulta Beauty because we have forty five million members, and ninety five percent of all of our sales are coming from those members. So really, that's everything. That's all of our sales, which means we know so much about the consumer. So we can shortcut. The full funnel, and we can really be optimized about how to reach if we know what the consumer is interested in by showing them the right content at the right time in the right channels. We can use own channels to our advantage in a lot of cases and reserve our paid media to go and reach and acquire and conquest and do all those all those other really important things. So I feel really privileged to be sitting on the, what we say, mountain of first party data that we have. And and most importantly, though, it's about using that data to create the personalized experiences because, you know, our customers, that's what they want. They want that ability to discover new beauty and new ways, and that's what we're giving them. What should marketers be talking about that they're not? I think there's still a reluctance, I think, in the marketing world to talk and go deep in data marketing tech and being really comfortable. I partnered very closely with our chief transformation and IO officer, I say, like, I know enough to be dangerous, and that's what you need to be as a marketer. I think it's great to have the creative and the branding side and the aesthetic and that, you know, artistry of marketing because all of that is super important. But the modern CMO, I think, is really all about understanding how to marry data with the consumer and drive the growth and also be able to tell great stories. I wanna get to it. The marketing channels and which channels you find to be the most effective for you today. So we use a variety, that's for sure. But I think you couldn't go through I don't think you can have a marketing plan in beauty without talking about social. Like social and influencer and really understanding where to show up with what content. Is what we're doubling down on. We call it the beauty authority and redefining beauty authority. So we're investing a lot in social and influencer, and then the question is how do you measure that? How do you know? That you're really optimizing your spend there and My answer has been you gotta get really comfortable with leading indicators, and I think EMV is that leading indicator. That's one of them. That's really, really helpful. Just helpful because you can kinda see who's talking about you that you didn't even pay for. And then it's great because you can benchmark it to competitors too and kinda see where you stack up. It's a little bit of a benchmark of relevancy. But you have to have the content, which we're a little light on content these days. So how do we gear up our content engine? And the more content you can place out there, the algorithms will find the individual. They'll find where to put it and where to place it in front of them. How did you overcome it? Keisha Steelman is our CEO at Ulta Beauty, I've known her now for ten years. I was up for the job of chief marketing officer, but, you know, she was really honest with me and said, hey. Look. I gotta go and test the market. I gotta see what's out there. I've gotta make great decisions for this company. You know, you're a candidate, but, know, you don't have this or you don't have that. She was really Honest. And I was really honest back, I said, go test the market, and I will show you that I'm still the best candidate. And I did. Alright. Best advice you're happy you didn't follow. When I was, oh, maybe twelve years in, I took a big risk and I quit the job at the company that you never quit. You get a pension if you stay and you can retire from the company. And as I was leaving, I was just bored. To be honest with you, I was bored. I felt like I was young enough. I could restart. I could do this again, but it was really, really scary. And as I was walking out, the HR woman said, you know, you're gonna regret this. I was like, took a little bit of a deep breath and and went for it. And, honestly, I would not be here today if I didn't. Doctor. KATIE:
A data-driven path to the CMO seat
Kelly Mahoney didn’t follow the traditional route to the CMO role, and that’s exactly what makes her story stand out.
“I grew up in data, personalization, and loyalty,” she says. “And that’s really what the modern CMO profile needs to be.”
Now leading marketing at Ulta Beauty, Mahoney brings a unique blend of data fluency and creative vision to a brand beloved by millions. With more than 45 million loyalty members, who account for 95% of Ulta Beauty’s total sales, she’s sitting on what she calls “a mountain of first-party data.”
That access allows her team to shorten the funnel and deliver true one-to-one engagement.
“If we know what a consumer is interested in, we can show them the right content at the right time, in the right channels,” Mahoney explains. “We can use our owned channels to our advantage and reserve paid media for acquisition and conquest.”
At Ulta Beauty, relevance isn’t just a strategy; it’s the operating model.
The modern marketer speaks data and creativity
When asked what marketers aren’t focusing on enough, Mahoney is quick to respond: comfort with data and marketing technology.
“I think there’s still a reluctance to go deep into data and MarTech,” she says. “But the modern CMO has to understand how to marry data with the consumer—to drive growth and tell great stories.”
She partners closely with Ulta Beauty’s Chief Transformation and Information Officer to ensure marketing decisions are grounded in innovation and empathy. Her approach reflects a new reality for marketing leadership: storytelling now depends on the systems that power it.
Redefining beauty authority through social
In beauty, the conversation never stops, and Mahoney knows where it happens most.
“You can’t have a marketing plan in beauty without talking about social,” she says. “Social and influencer are where we show up, and how we redefine beauty authority.”
Ulta Beauty invests heavily in leveraging these channels with precision. Mahoney focuses on earned media value (EMV) as a leading indicator of success, tracking who’s talking about the brand organically and how that conversation stacks up against competitors.
“It’s a benchmark of relevancy,” she says. “But to get there, you need content. The more content you create, the more the algorithms find your audience.”
Her focus on scaling Ulta Beauty’s “content engine” reflects a broader shift: in today’s landscape, data doesn’t just inform creativity, it fuels it.
Taking smart risks and owning the outcome
Mahoney’s rise wasn’t without risk. She recalls leaving a company where most people stayed for life, a job that came with a pension and security.
“I was just bored,” she says. “I felt like I was young enough to restart. It was really scary, but I knew I had to take the leap.”
As she walked out, an HR colleague warned, “You’re going to regret this.”
She didn’t.
That decision, though risky at the time, set her on a path that led to the CMO role she holds today. It’s a reminder that leadership often means betting on yourself and being comfortable in the unknown.
Why this moment matters
Mahoney’s perspective mirrors a truth shaping every industry: the future of marketing belongs to leaders who can unite art and algorithm. At Ulta Beauty, that means turning first-party data into discovery, making every interaction a reflection of the individual behind it.
As she puts it: “Our customers want to discover beauty in new ways, and that’s what we’re giving them.”
It’s a mindset that aligns with Rokt’s belief that real-time relevance isn’t a tactic, it’s a growth engine. By pairing data with creativity and meeting consumers in the Transaction Moment™, brands like Ulta Beauty are proving that personalization at scale is not only possible, but powerful.
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