MARY DILLON
BEAUTY QUEEN. CEO. TRENDSETTER.
South Side native Mary Dillon is practically the poster child for hard work. Over the past 30 years, she’s steadily risen through the ranks at consumer-driven companies like Quaker Oats, McDonald’s and U.S. Cellular, before becoming CEO of Bolingbrook-based Ulta Beauty, the nation’s largest beauty retailer. Her story is perhaps best told by the numbers: Under Dillon’s leadership, Ulta Beauty’s stock value has nearly tripled. She has seen the company open more than 600 new locations since taking the reins in 2013, and created more than 20,000 jobs—largely for women—in the process. Last year, the company brought in $6.7 billion in revenue, with roughly 95 percent of sales coming from members of a 32 million-strong loyalty program. It’s been one accomplishment after another, and she’s not stopping anytime soon: This summer, it was announced that, having almost literally run out of room for the company to grow in the U.S., Dillon is taking Ulta Beauty international.
Photography by: YEVA DASHEVSKY, OCTANE RICH MEDIA
