Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman says she has the best job ever: ‘My job is to help make people feel really good about themselves’

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Transcript:

Kecia Steelman: I often say I have a PhD in life. I was poor, hungry, and determined.

Diane Brady: Hi, everyone. Welcome to Leadership Next. The podcast about the people…

Kristin Stoller: …and trends…

Brady: …that are shaping the future of business. I’m Diane Brady.

Stoller: And I’m Kristin Stoller.

Brady: And this week, Kristin, Ulta Beauty, straight from the MPW Summit in Washington.

Stoller: Yes, so, we spoke with Kecia Steelman, who is Ulta’s CEO, at our Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. And we got to speak to her 10 months into the job. She transitioned from COO to CEO. We got to hear a lot about what she was doing, what the transition was like, and her past, which is really interesting.

Brady: I love her past. She’s from a very modest background, and she literally worked her way up from the shop floor, in essence, at Target, to where she is today, which I think gives her a real down-to-earth kind of appeal. She was a mother at a very young age. It felt like we were getting somebody who truly represents mainstream America, which—this is a mainstream-America brand.

Stoller: I think so. And right after this, she and I did a conversation onstage, and she got the whole crowd clapping when she was talking about how she’d been passed over for promotions in her career. And she said, I always live by this motto, It’s better, not bitter. And got, you know, thunderous applause.

Brady: And let’s point out to our listeners, MPW means Most Powerful Women. So that would get a lot of applause in that crowd. What is the appeal of this brand, in your mind?

Stoller: When I hear Ulta, I think of social media. I think of Gen Z. I think of Gen Alpha. They are really loving this brand, loving going to the stores, making videos, and Ulta has been really smart about who they choose to partner with. I mean, last summer, they partnered with Beyoncé. She had a great story for us about meeting Beyoncé and the Cowboy Carter tour. And these partnerships, I think, are essential to what makes them resonate with such a young audience.

Brady: Lots to learn. She’s on an international expansion, she’s facing huge headwinds with tariffs and other challenges. And of course, beauty is a competitive space. So I hope everybody enjoys, and let’s have a listen.

Brady: Cities are home to the majority of the world’s population and account for 80% of global GDP. That makes the health and sustainability of our cities critical to creating a prosperous future. And of course, business has a role to play. Jason Girzadas, the CEO of Deloitte US, is the sponsor of this podcast, and he joins us now. Jason, great to see you. 

Jason Girzadas: Great to see you, Diane. Thanks for having me. 

Brady: So, how should businesses play a role in creating more vibrant and sustainable cities?

Girzadas: It’s clear to me that the health of cities is inextricably linked to business’s viability and success. I think it starts with an awareness or a recognition of that mutually dependent reality. I think the how is around collaboration. It’s bringing to bear the capabilities of businesses to support cities’ renewal and innovation. To understand the criticality of cities’s role around economic prosperity, innovation, as well as cultural exchange.

Stoller: Jason, could you give us some examples of successful urban transformation projects that have been driven by these innovative business practices?

Girzadas: I’m proud to say that Deloitte, back in 2023, we started an effort called Yes SF. Here in San Francisco, where I live, the launch of Yes SF, with other business collaborators, has brought together our competencies around stimulating interest amongst innovators to bring sustainability and technology innovation to benefit the city itself.

Stoller: Excellent. Well, that sounds like a very cool project. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. 

Girzadas: Thank you.

Brady: Thanks, Jason.

Stoller: Kecia, thank you so much for joining us here in Washington, D.C., at our Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit.

Steelman: I am so excited to be with you here today.

Stoller: Thank you. So you’re 10 months in. You transitioned from COO to CEO at an interesting time for the world, but just give us a sense—how is it going? What has your first 10 months been like? 

Steelman: Well, I’ve got to just start off by saying it has been so much fun. I feel like I have, in so many ways, I have the dream job for so many young girls that are out there. You know, when I jumped into this role, there were three things that I was really focused on now. The first one was getting the right team. You have to have the right team around you, not only for today, but also for the future and our future growth. The second was really having decision-making rights and clarity around who makes the decision. Making them with speed. And, you know, I often say spinning is my least favorite move, so having the ability for the team to make decisions to move forward. And then the third is really around having a great strategy that everyone understands in the organization, from that frontline associate all the way to the board of directors, and the role that they play in it. I think that’s allowed me to really hit the ground running since I’ve been here, 10 months. We’ve had a lot of great things happening and a lot of change, but it’s been a lot of fun.

Brady: You know, I noticed the stock price is doing very well. It was funny, because it had a little dip, and then it went roaring back. And I always think that’s the best way, as women leaders, to say, I’ll show you. But obviously you were COO, which I think of as sort of the shape-shifter of the C-suite—you take on all sorts of different operational roles. So tell us a bit about the difference when you get to be a CEO—obviously there’s a top, but does it feel a lot different, since you knew the operation so well to begin with?

Steelman: Yes and no. What I would say is that I do know the operations really well, and I know the people. I’m a people-first leader, so I do know the organization, and I felt like I saw where there were opportunities when I stepped into the big role to be able to make some pretty immediate impacts. I’d say one of the big changes, though, is more the external-facing—how much time you’re spending with the investment committee. I was doing that before, but not to the same degree that I am right now. Spending a lot of time with the brands. I was traditionally more on the operation side of the business, so I really started to convert spending a lot more time with the senior brand leaders: Estee Lauder, L’Oréal, LVMH, and then also some of our smaller brands, too, to just have them get to know me, for me to come in with a fresh perspective. And I think that’s actually been really refreshing. The way that we’re going to market now as a collective group and team, and through some barriers, the brands are responding really well. So I’d say those are some of the shifts that I’ve had in roles.

Brady: Marshall Goldsmith wrote this book that says, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. It’s really that the skills that get you into a CEO job aren’t necessarily the skills that help you succeed in that role. Would you say that’s the case? Anything personal come to mind?

Steelman: I think there’s no finish line for learning, no matter what role you’re in, whether it’s a COO or a CEO position. So you’ve got to always be continuing to lean in and learn and challenge yourself to be even better. You know, the role from the COO to the CEO, the buck stops with you as the CEO. You also have to really learn how to manage with the board, and to leverage your board to get the most out of them and help you be the best CEO you can be. I just think constantly learning and growing and being open and surrounding myself with fantastic people has always been critical to my success, and I believe it’s going to be critical to my success in the CEO world, too.

Stoller: I want to talk about your global expansion, because you announced you’re expanding Ulta to Mexico. You’re looking at the Middle East, which is really exciting, and you’ve gotten to travel to all of these places. So I’m curious when you hear from customers and consumers in all of these markets, what do they want that’s different from your beauty consumers here in the U.S.?

Steelman: What’s so interesting is [that] the role of social media has really changed in how the world has come much closer together than we’ve ever been before. For example, in the Middle East, they are beauty gurus there. They love beauty. They’ve got time to spend on beauty. They’re experts in this space. They love all the trends that they’re seeing in the United States. So I see a lot of what they want is what they’re seeing already happening here. You know, color is really important. They are very aligned with the fashion industry. So we just had some recent runway shows come with some new designers like Chanel, Dior. What you’re seeing translate on the runway definitely translates into the looks that they’re desiring. But I had so much fun—I had a couple of small groups with influencers and prominent people within the industry who were females. And sitting at those tables, it was kind of refreshing, because it doesn’t matter how far away around the world I was, we were talking about some of the same things that women are talking about here in the United States. Husbands, makeup…

Brady: …before we get to husbands—and I do want to ask about makeup, because I feel like, first of all, my look, sometimes I worry it’s cryogenically frozen from the certain age when you start getting into makeup. But what are the trends right now? Here we are, late 2025, give us a sense, then, of the tastes that we should be keeping an eye on?

Steelman: Yeah, I think there’s a—first of all, you look fantastic.

Brady: Thank you, and so do you.

Steelman: There are a couple trends that we’re seeing—there’s still a little bit of the no makeup-makeup look, which actually takes quite a bit of makeup to have that. But then we’re seeing glam come back. So it’s called, like a modern glam. It’s a little bit heavier makeup usage on the eyes, which we really love to hear, because you have more products that you need to use. A little bit softer on the cheeks and a nice pop on the lips. And we’re seeing different colors being used on lips, too. People are getting a little bit more creative. You’ll see even a purple-ish type of gloss, etc. So they’re really pushing the boundaries a little bit more on the lip. And we’re also seeing a younger consumer get engaged with makeup, with skincare, more than what we’ve ever seen before. So 13-year-olds, it’s not uncommon for them to be definitely doing a lot more makeup looks. But individuals as young as 8, 9, 10, on skin. And one of the things that I feel is really important for us at Ulta Beauty is to be very responsible in making sure that we’re educating not only that consumer, but the parent also in what’s good, safe skincare for that younger generation to be using. But I love them starting with us that young, because we’re wanting to keep them with us for the lifetime. So that lifetime value when you’re starting at 8 is much greater than when you’re starting in your mid-teens.

Stoller: Well, that’s a really good point, because on TikTok, Instagram, I see all these young girls—like you’re saying, 8 or 9—going to your stores, using your products. But I also think, like, You’re 8, why do you need an anti-aging serum?

Brady: Eight-year-old girls want to look good, too.

Stoller: I know you said responsible, but how do you market toward those young girls without saying, Oh, you actually don’t need this, but you should buy it. I don’t know—how do you think about it?

Steelman: Well, I think that we want to be very socially responsible. We want to be a destination for everyone, no matter what their age is. You know, one of the other trends that we’re really seeing is these young boys and young men coming in with their friends, and they’re engaged in cologne. And layering colognes. They like to create their own signature scent by mixing a couple different scents together. So I love seeing that trend, too. Young girls are into cologne, too, and fragrances. But this young men trend is also something that I’m seeing change right in front of me, and I think, again, it’s the power of social media and TikTok. 

Stoller: What are your personal thoughts about these beauty standards being imposed on younger girls through social media? And have you ever made a decision to say, Oh, I’m not going to carry that product or line or something, because you don’t think it’s responsible?

Steelman: I wouldn’t say that. It’s never that we’ve not decided to carry a product online. We have a responsibility for education. And education, to me, for our associates, to make sure that they know what’s safe to use for everyone. That’s a responsibility that we really have in our stores, and we do invest a lot in our training and education. We want to be accessible for everyone, against all price points and age at the same time. But, you know, we’re really educating the parents. And you know, when we see somebody that’s trying to buy a category, we are definitely encouraging them to look for a different alternative. Clean and conscious beauty is an area that we’re continuing to lean into. So, yeah, the fact that we do carry everything from low to lux, clean to those that are chemical based, we have something for everyone in the store.

Stoller: Has the male consumer been a big growth area for you?

Steelman: Yeah, not heavy makeup, but concealer. You know, now that we have these Zoom calls where you’re front and center more and more, there are filters that can go on. They still like that look after they’re off of the Zoom calls, where they want to have that flawless skin look. So we see them investing in skin, maybe a little bit more concealer, that’s where I’m seeing that trend. A little bronzer, a little bit of that doesn’t hurt anybody.

Brady: I want to go back to your pre-Ulta days, actually back to growing up in Iowa on a farm. I lived on a farm for a year, so it doesn’t really count, but I still think of that as a formative time of my life. Talk a little bit about how, you know, growing up in the family that you did shaped you as a CEO.

Steelman: Well, first of all, I couldn’t be more proud of being from where I’m from—a small town called Mediapolis, Iowa. I didn’t necessarily grow up at a farm, it was more of a farming community. I’d say we were probably poor to middle class. All of my friends were the same, so we didn’t know anything different. Being really grounded in and humble with my beginnings, I wouldn’t change that, as I said, for the world. We made our own fun. In fact, a quick fun story is that I made my own store in the basement. So I started as a retail entrepreneur very early in my career.

Brady: What were you selling?

Steelman: Anything I could take from my mom and put a price tag on and invite my friends over. So I think retail was in my blood from early on. But again, when I go back home—my mom still lives in the home I grew up in, my sister lives about 20 minutes away from her—it brings me a sense of being very grounded, and I really appreciate that. I’ll never forget that. 

Stoller: And then, how did you get from there to Target? Tell us about that journey.

Steelman: Yeah, I started at Target making $8 an hour. 

Stoller: What’d you do? 

Steelman I was the men’s and ready-to-wear team leader, that’s what they called it, so I had floor responsibility for those areas of business. And then I just loved what I was doing, and I was working so much overtime that they promoted me. I think if I do the math now, I was actually making less money, because I was making more money on overtime. But my career just took off, and I spent 12 years at Target, and I’m so thankful that I started my career there, because they really invest in you as an individual and your self-leadership skills. And I’d say that’s where I really fine-honed my leadership capabilities: how to build great teams and what that looked like, and how to grow yourself as a leader, too, not just at the task, but also personal development. 

Brady: I think about what you hire for when you’re looking for leaders, because there’s so much anxiety now. I know, certainly with my kids, I sent them all to Canada, because it’s very cheap. But around going to the right schools, getting an MBA, being this, being that. What do you look for, especially knowing what made you stronger? Do you look for those qualities in the people you hire?

Steelman: I often say I have a PhD in life. I was poor, hungry, and determined, and you know, I think that keeps me also very grounded. I value education, though, for those that have been able to do it. I look for what I call the “it factor” in someone. Someone that’s hungry, even when you go to school after you graduate—that’s just the beginning of a learning journey. We need to all be lifelong learners. So when I see individuals that have been blessed at having the opportunity for education, but understand the importance of continuing to learn and grow themselves and want more and are driving and striving for even more—those are the people I want to have on my team. 

Brady: I love that.

Stoller: Do you have any mentors that have really helped you along the way? 

Steelman: I have more what I call a board of directors. 

Brady: Your own personal board of directors, or your own literal board, of both?

Steelman: I have both. I’m blessed to have a fantastic board of directors at Ulta Beauty, but I have a personal board of directors. A group of people that I call for different things that really kind of happened over the last few years, but the one person that I call, no matter what, is my mom. My mom is someone who is still very grounded. She started her own business herself in a small town, and very driven, and she’ll tell me the truth. Which, you need those truth tellers in your life, and she’s that for me. 

Stoller: And you’re a grandmother. 

Steelman: I am a grandmother of three with another one on the way.

Brady: Any thoughts that you have, just in terms of you growing up in the business? You had your first child at 20, I believe. How was that a factor in terms of the choices that you made?

Steelman: Well, I will say that, early on in my career, I was often the only woman that was there. And I put that internal pressure on myself of being the first one in and probably the last one to leave to show that I was committed. I’m blessed that I have over 91% women working for me, and I do not expect them to do that today, so I work really hard to pay it forward. You know, my thing with raising kids when I was young—if you try to be balanced all the time, you’re going to fail. It’s perfectly imbalanced, and you need to give yourself permission and grace for that. To me, it’s really about the quality of time that you’re spending, not the quantity. So when I was with my family, I was really hyper-focused, and then I would go do what I needed to do with my career. But you know, my kids, I couldn’t be more proud. They’re all very successful individuals—off of my payroll, which is really important. Yeah, and you know, they’re all in jobs that they love, and I think being a role model, because I loved my job, I really did. I love retail, that’s what’s kept me in it for so long—having them see a role model of someone that worked really hard but loved what they did at the same time. Encourage them to get into the right profession for themselves. 

Stoller: I want to talk about the retail industry and the beauty industry—both really hard spaces. Especially with beauty, you have all the influencers out there selling things today. You have Amazon, Sephora, you have all these other people that you’re competing with. How do you stand out in this really crowded market?  

Steelman: Well what I will say is, beauty is what we do. There are a lot of people that come into beauty, that participate in it, but this is our DNA. Beauty and wellness is 100% our DNA, and for us to have everything from low to lux, from a price point—services as a part of the component, everyone who works in our stores, they are just beauty enthusiasts and super passionate about the business and helping people feel their best versions of themselves. We’ve been at this for 35 years, we just celebrated our 35th anniversary. You look at the evolution of, when I started, it was all things beauty, all in one place. It was a place that sold a lot of things. Then we transitioned to: The possibilities are beautiful. It’s more about what possibilities can we create for you as a consumer. So it took us in more of an emotional journey, and now we’re—our new theme, which is televised right now, our new commercials are just out—is, “beauty happens here.” We are a place where you can experiment and play. An emotional journey. It’s personalized to you. We happen to have everything that you would possibly need or want, but it’s that natural journey of evolution for us. It’s true to who we are. At the core as a retailer, that’s why I think my job is the best job ever. It’s because my job is to help make people feel really good about themselves. When my associates have bad days, I’m like, How do we readjust here? Because our jobs are to make people feel really good about themselves. I could think of a lot worse jobs out there than that.

Brady: Yeah, it’s hard to get a great makeover with a depressed beauty consultant. I think also the hard decisions are what shape us as leaders. And I’m thinking about what didn’t work. And one thing that comes to mind, I don’t know what the backstory is, is when you did this partnership with Target, what did you learn from that? I know that unwound. Any thoughts as to what, how that shapes your direction going forward?

Steelman: I will say that I’m very proud of our partnership with Target and what we learned in a short period of time. But, you know, beauty waits for no one, retail waits for no one, and the world evolves very, very quickly. Our Ulta Beauty Unleashed plan is where we’re really wanting to lean into, and this was a mutual decision between Target and ourselves to move in a different direction. It wasn’t that anything necessarily big happened. It was just the evolution of where we are in the partnership. And I am so proud of us. You know, we have a very clear plan with the Ulta Beauty Unleashed strategy—focusing on our core margin of creative businesses and really our foundational excellence all the way around the business—that it’s much better for me to really pivot and focus on that. I think that’s going to be what helps our growth story in the future and also continue to drive share for our shareholders.

Stoller: And can you define what Ulta Beauty Unleashed means? 

Steelman: Absolutely, I get a little close to it sometimes. So there are really three parts to it. The first is about driving our core businesses. So when you think about brand building—and we’ve got almost 46 million loyalty members—that personalization, adding digital components to it, it’s really strengthening our core model, as you see it today. And then the second piece of that is really the margin of creative businesses, like wellness. Wellness is a $400 billion-plus business that is highly fragmented. I feel like we have a right to really lean in and to grow this business, and our guests trust us. We’re a trusted retailer in this space, so we’re expanding there. We’ve got UB Media, which is our retail media network, leveraging the 46 million loyalty members we have. How do we market to them? How do we help our brands market to them? That, along with non-endemic marketing, which means companies out there, like Hulu, we’ve advertised to Hulu, to our guests. So that’s just a way that we can continue to drive our business. The third is Marketplace, which we just announced officially. Today, we launched our Marketplace, which has 100 brands on it. It’s a closed marketplace, which means our buyers are going through these products just like they would if they were coming into our stores. You can earn your loyalty points. It’s seamless, frictionless shopping. You can return the credits to stores. So really, super excited about that announcement today. And then the fourth, but not least, is international expansion. We’ve always been a U.S.-based company, and by the end of this year, we will have gone from being in the U.S. only to six countries, which is very, very, very exciting.

Brady: But from a product point of view, you’ve obviously faced the challenges with tariffs and some of the other general headwinds people are seeing. The dollar falling—how are you dealing with that?

Steelman: The tariff impact to us is a little bit less from a direct perspective, but we have some components. Our Ulta Beauty collection is imported, so the direct import on tariff pressure for us is not as high as what you’re hearing in soft goods-type companies. Now some of our brands, of course, that’s some of the pressure that we’re seeing, but they haven’t necessarily put that price pressure yet on the consumer. Now, that could change, but we’re not seeing it. A lot of our products, especially in prestige, are MSRP priced…

Brady: …Manufacturer-suggested retail prices…

Steelman: …so there’s that pricing for all retailers. We’re not seeing anyone take that leap yet, with the exception of one company—e.l.f. came out and said that they were going to take a price increase, but they were more of an entry price point already. So more of the higher-end brands, I think, they’re working internally with how they can take the cost out of their model to not have to put that consumer price pressure back on, and then nobody wants to be the first. So we’re seeing normal price changes right now. We haven’t seen anything that’s out of the norm. But that could change.

Stoller: One of the things I think has been most fun to watch your brand do this year is the Beyoncé Cowboy Carter partnership you have. So one, did you get to meet Beyoncé? I’m so curious. 

Steelman: I did. 

Stoller: Okay, you’ve got to tell us about that. I need to know everything.

Steelman: She’s not only as beautiful in person as what you see when she’s onstage, she’s beautiful inside and out. And I think you can definitely sense that aura from her. She’s just a fantastic person, a great brand founder. We’re working really closely with her, and also her mom, Miss Tina. Miss Tina is very actively involved with the Cécred brand, but she’s just incredible. We have a lot of celebrity brands that we work with. One of the things that our buyers do a fantastic job of is make sure that we’re not just bringing in brands that celebrities just put their name on. The celebrities, the brands that we bring in, they’ve been really involved and highly engaged with their product lines, and I think that’s why they’re really successful with us.

Stoller: And I’m assuming you got to go to the concert, too.

Steelman: I did. I actually went to the cowboy Carter concert in Atlanta, and got to watch it, and it was just incredible.

Brady: Perks of the job.

Steelman: There are some fun perks of this job.

Brady: I want to ask a bit about the evolution of influencer marketing, because it’s such a busy space. There’s such a tsunami of stuff coming at us all the time. How do you see the evolution? Obviously, you work with people like Beyoncé. That’s a no-brainer to me. But to Kristin’s point earlier about Instagram, the more micro-celebrities. Do you see any shift there? 

Steelman: Yeah, I think social relevance and influencers are here to stay. I think AI could continue to play a part of that in the future, but I think, to me, authentic communication and engagement is what’s really important. I don’t think it’s a well-known fact, but we actually have three ways in which we’re leveraging influencers with our consumers, day in and day out. The first one is called UB Creators. So these are the people that are what you call more funnel—they’re advertising products, you can click on it and purchase. So that’s one group that we’ve got within our ecosystem. Then we also have the Ulta Beauty Collective, which is a larger group that is talking about education. They’re not our employees, but they’re talking about education. They get briefings from us. They get the products from us so they can trial them. It’s authentic marketing. You’re talking about marketing, but you’re not purchasing, but it might change your purchasing behavior. And then the third, which I am the most excited about, is our Ulta Beauties that we have, which are our own associates who have sent in tapes of what they’ve done and how they can communicate on social media. Not only are they working for us in stores, but we also are paying them to be able to to build an influencer group externally. These are our own associates that are just—they live and breathe Ulta Beauty. They represent our brand. I could not be more proud when I see one of them come up on my social reels. They get it. They’re authentic. They’re real. But those are three ways that we’re really bringing this to life. And I think you’ve got to play in the space in order to be a part of the conversation. Even Beyoncé, part of the concert that you were mentioning, you have to be where the social activity is happening, especially with the younger consumer. You want to be a part of the conversation, and you have to really lean into social to be able to do that.

Stoller: Do you have a dream partner or someone you would really want to collaborate with in the future?

Steelman: Oh, listen, there’s, there’s almost like—Taylor Swift. 

Stoller: I knew that was going to come out of your mouth.

Steelman: I wouldn’t turn Taylor away.

Stoller: I don’t think any of us would. 

Steelman: Yeah, she’s just so socially relevant right now. I’m so excited for her, personally, too.

Stoller: Yes, the engagement was huge. 

Steelman: And, you know, she wears a lot of orange, I think, you know, if she ever listens to this, the brand colors, there are a lot of synergies there.

Brady: I normally would not ask somebody about their beauty routine or their wellness routine, but you have to take your own medicine, drink your own Kool-Aid, the whole bit. Obviously people hold you to a certain standard, given the brand you represent. So what have you learned about effectively doing your makeup and having a wellness routine? Because time is precious as a CEO.

Steelman: Absolutely. The first and foremost thing is sleep. You have to have sleep and lots of water. How you feel on the inside does reflect on what you’re showing on the outside. If you don’t have really good skin, it’s hard to have really good makeup. So I have a really good skincare routine. And then I had access to really good makeup artists. I did have maybe a little help today, but I learned tips and tricks from them all the time. And I think that’s what makes this category so much fun, and why people like to come into our stores, is because there are always things you can learn, and people have different techniques that you can learn that you can apply on your own face. So I’m just a student, and there’s always new innovation and products to try. And I don’t have just one brand that I stick with. I like to try.

Brady: I love that. Well you can have one brand, right? You’re the CEO of Ulta Beauty.

Steelman: If I had to pick one, I would say that the Ulta Beauty collection, the lip gloss is really good. So Ulta Beauty collection lip gloss is a great staple, but I like to try them all.

Stoller: That’s always fun. And I need to know, what are your predictions for next year? What do you think is going to be hot in 2026? What are the trends in the beauty space we’re going to see? 

Steelman: I think heavier makeup usage, we’re starting to see that. I love to see all the colors, like I was mentioning earlier on the runways, like the Chanel look. The Chanel runway show was incredible: younger, vibrant colors, fun, playful. You’re going to see that coming with the trends in makeup and a little bit heavier makeup usage, because that seems like that goes into cycles, too. And then skincare regimens that started during COVID, they have stuck. People are really taking good quality care of their skin, and as I mentioned, even at a younger age. So sometimes these younger people that are really heavy on social media, they’re educating their parents.

Brady: Certainly, that’s certainly true for me. And let’s go back. You’ve said you’ve been passionate your whole life about retail, but yet you’ve learned a lot along the way. So what would you say is advice, either to your younger self or to the next group starting out in this space? 

Steelman:  Maybe two different things. To my younger self. I would say, Have a little more grace for yourself. I was a pretty hard-charging driver early on, and I should have been a little bit kinder to myself. So that would be the one thing I would say to myself. To the younger generation, I would say, prepare hard to finish easy. And really invest in your education, your experiences. Take a lot of different opportunities. Don’t put yourself just in the eye of one specific job. Learn from everyone that’s around you. And when you feel like you’re starting to get a little bit bored or complacent in your role, challenge yourself to go do something different. That’s how you learn and grow.

Brady: Yeah, I love that. 

Stoller: Thank you so much for joining us.

Brady: Thank you, and thanks for being here as one of our most powerful women.

Steelman: Thank you. Thank you for having me today. This was a lot of fun.

Brady: Leadership Next is produced and edited by Hélène Estèves.

Stoller: Our executive producer is Lydia Randall.

Brady: Our head of video is Adam Banicki.

Stoller: Our theme is by Jason Snell.

Leadership Next episodes are produced by Fortune‘s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcasters and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel. Nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.