It's rare — and refreshing — to watch someone who cut their teeth in customer loyalty rise all the way to the CMO's office. Kelly Mahoney did exactly that, building her career in loyalty long before stepping into the top marketing seat at Ulta Beauty.
Her path ran through Accenture, Hatch Loyalty, and Eire Direct, followed by retail-focused leadership roles at BP. Kelly joined Ulta Beauty in 2015 and helped architect and scale the Ulta Beauty Rewards program from the ground up. A decade later, in 2025, CEO Kecia Steelman named her Chief Marketing Officer. The Wise Marketer learned more about her story in this 2022 Women in Loyalty™ Interview.
That decade of groundwork is paying off in a big way. In just the past 60 days, Kelly has walked the red carpet at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity — the marketing industry's biggest stage, where more than 13,000 executives and creatives gathered from June 22–26, 2026, to celebrate the year's best work. She's also landed on the 14th annual Forbes World's Most Influential CMOs list, joining 50 marketing leaders recognized for shaping brands, business, and culture on a global scale. And she sat down with Jim Stengel — former P&G CMO and host of The CMO Podcast — for a conversation on one of marketing's most respected shows.
But the moment that says the most about where Kelly's priorities lie came in a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal. There, she explained how Ulta's loyalty program — now 47 million members strong, up from 17 million just over a decade ago — has evolved from a rewards program into what the company now calls a “relationship engine.” To help customers navigate an overwhelming sea of choices, Ulta leans on a proprietary recommendation system, its “beauty graph,” to anticipate needs and personalize the experience at scale.
It's a conversation worth watching in full — a clear signal that customer loyalty and personalization are no longer back-office functions, but core drivers of business strategy at the highest levels.
Watch the interview
WSJ: Ulta Beauty CMO on Evolving a 47 Million-Member Loyalty Program
Further reading
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity