Kecia Steelman

An $8 per hour job changed her life.

Meet Kecia Steelman, the newly appointed CEO of Ulta Beauty.

Born in a small farming community in Iowa, Kecia learned resilience early.

After her parents’ divorce, she worked to support her mother while balancing school.

By 20, she was a young mother herself. But she refused to let that define her future.

Determined to build a career, she pursued a business degree at Northwood University while working as a retail associate at Target, earning just $8 an hour.

That’s where she fell in love with retail.

Over the next 12 years, she climbed the ranks at Target before joining The Home Depot, where she became Vice President and General Manager of Expo Design Center.

By 2009, she was Group Vice President at Family Dollar, overseeing store development and operations.

Then came the move that changed everything.

In 2014, Kecia joined Ulta Beauty as Senior Vice President of Store Operations.

Over the next decade, she steadily rose through the ranks:
2015: Chief Store Operations Officer
2021: Chief Operating Officer
2023: President & COO
2025: CEO of a $17B company

Now, she leads 40,000 employees and 1,400 stores.

She’s prioritizing AI, personalization, and digital expansion to keep Ulta competitive against Amazon, Sephora, and TikTok Shop.

But for Kecia, success has always come down to one thing: self-reliance.

“The only person who can help me get out of a situation or become a better person is the person looking back at me in the mirror. [...] You take a deep breath, you move forward, and you figure it out.”

Her name isn’t nearly as well known as it should be. Let’s change that.