Building a people-first culture in modern retail with Ulta Beauty

Episode transcript, edited for clarity

[00:00:01] Kecia: This is a category that is very high human-touch. And we’re hearing a lot at this conference around AI and is AI going to replace humans. I don’t view it that way. I look at AI is enhancing that human interaction and making the human interaction a lot more purposeful and meaningful and targeted and personalized for the individual. So we sit in that segmentation that we need to play in both worlds — online, in stores. The younger generation, are they going to want to still come in and be in-store or they want just to buy everything online? What we’re seeing is they like coming into the store. 

[00:00:51] They like that human interaction. And they like to come out with their friends. It’s an experiential shopping pattern versus that it’s just out of necessity. 

[00:01:13] Bill: Welcome to Retail Gets Real, where we hear from retail’s most fascinating leaders about the industry that impacts everyone, everywhere, every day. I’m Bill Thorne from the National Retail Federation, coming to you from NRF 2026: Retail’s very, very, very Big Show in New York City. And on today’s episode, we’re talking to Kecia Steelman. She’s the president and CEO of Ulta Beauty. We’re going to talk to Kecia about the beauty industry today, her approach to leadership and how she stays up to date in this age of rapid innovation. Kecia, welcome to Retail Gets Real. 

[00:01:50] Kecia: Yeah, thank you so much, Bill, for having me. 

[00:01:52] Bill: I was up in the main hall yesterday. Heard you speak. That was an excellent presentation. A lot of people learning a lot of things. The one thing about this show, and I feel very good about the fact that the National Retail Federation provides this for our retailers, is not just what you see on the exhibit floors, but the opportunity to hear from leaders in the industry, what they’re seeing, what they’re thinking, what they’re hearing, and how they’re meeting those challenges and creating additional opportunities. 

[00:02:20] And in your role as the CEO, that’s a lot to do. That’s a lot to consider. And I’m going to just go ahead and get the two letters out there very early in this episode, AI. I know so much of the technology and so much of what we’re seeing here today really is focused on technology and innovation, specifically AI. We’ll get to that. Before we get to that, I want to know Kecia Steelman’s background. How did you get to where you are today? 

[00:02:48] Kecia: Bill, I will say that I do truly feel like I’m living the American Dream. I mentioned that yesterday. I started working in retail, my first job was an $8 an hour position at Target Corporation. I took it as a job, and it just quickly became a career. I loved the pace of retail. Every day was different, it was challenging. I spent 12 years at Target, and I learned so much on the job from the people that I was working, not only for but the people that I was working with. 

[00:03:21] And I was blessed to start my career in such a great retailer. Target was known then for really investing in soft leadership and management skills. And then I left Target and I went to Home Depot. I was there for four years, another great retailer. I was running Expo Design Centers, so it was a billion-dollar business. That was part of an $80 billion company at that time. 

[00:03:45] So relatively large, but small in terms of the Home Depot scale. The housing crisis happened in 2008, and we closed down that part of the business. I left and I went to the dollar store segment. And that’s what was really growing at the time. Started in, actually, the real estate side of the business and then went into the traditional operations. So I was leading 2,000 stores in some of the toughest parts of the country. 

[00:04:10] So I really learned a lot about margins and shrink and tough economic times that people were having. And then I got a call about Ulta Beauty. And I had never stepped into an Ulta Beauty when I got the phone call. And then I went into the store and I was like, ”Where has this store been my whole life?” And I was like, “I have to come here. I have to be a part of this story here.” 

[00:04:34] Fast forward 11 and a half years and it’s been such an incredible ride. When I started with the company, we had about just over 500 stores. We’re now 1,500 stores. So, explosive growth. I grew my career there under some great leadership. And it’s just been such a true honor to be the CEO of the largest specialty beauty retailer in the United States, and now we’re going global, which is really, really exciting. 

[00:05:03] And again, today I would’ve never believed it, but it’s been so much fun. And when I was speaking here at NRF, it just goes to show that, retail, you can truly have a career here in this business, and you can really grow and be successful. And like I said, it’s just such an honor to be in the role as CEO today. 

[00:05:24] Bill: Thirteen years ago, I sat down with Matt Shay, not to talk to him about a job, but to ask him what NRF could do to help me achieve my goals professionally. I was working for Walmart at the time, and my job was to site stores in urban markets. And I didn’t know what NRF did. We weren’t members at the time. I just wanted to find out what they could do. 

[00:05:43] And my thing at Walmart and the thing that really grounded me was the stories, what we were doing in communities that we served, and an area where we weren’t serving obviously was urban America. And so I asked Matt, “What can you do to help tell that story? You have the foundation in which to build this opportunity, so how are you going to seize that opportunity? You’ve only been here for two years.” And he goes, “If you’ll come on board,” he goes, “We can do that.” 

[00:06:13] Kecia: Yes. 

[00:06:14] Bill: And so that started the journey. And to your point, the best story of all is what we do for men and women, young and old in communities, large and small, across this great country. We create opportunity for them to succeed. 

[00:06:29] Kecia: Absolutely. One of the things that I’m most proud of at Ulta Beauty is we’re predominantly female-driven, and 91% of our employees are female. The biggest joy I get is when I go into a store and I see someone that I see has that same spark that I had so many years ago, and I see it sometimes even more than they do, I know they’ve got this potential opportunity to just really accelerate in their career growth. 

[00:06:58] In the last few years, we’ve created over 6,000 opportunities for women in management positions. And to me, I have a lot of rewarding parts of my job, but that one is by far the one that means the most to me, is that we’re creating opportunities for people to be financially independent and to really be able to grow their careers. 

[00:07:20] You don’t have to have a fancy college education. You have to be willing to work really hard, be open to learning, and do really great work with the team around you. And that’s one thing I think that makes retail really unique. 

[00:07:32] Bill: It does. And there isn’t another industry like it, as far as I’m concerned. And you look around. We’ve done this many, many times where you ask everybody in the room, whether it’s 50 people or 500 people, raise your hand if your first job was in retail. And a good 80% of the people raise their hands as a testament to the fact that this is where they started, this is where they learned the essentials to be a good employee and to work hard and to succeed. 

[00:07:59] Kecia: Yeah. No day is ever the same in retail. You have to deal with the public interactions, and you have to really understand business and the consumer. And I will say that I think it doesn’t matter what job you’re in. You’ve got to understand your end user. Retail is definitely one place that you really get that at all levels within an organization, is understanding your end consumer. 

[00:08:22] Bill: Correct. And the consumer is the top of the pyramid. Everything starts there and works down. 

[00:08:27] Kecia: Yeah, yeah. I say it’s the consumer and our associate. 

[00:08:30] Bill: Oh, for sure. 

[00:08:31] Kecia: Because I think that associate is the face of the brand. 

[00:08:34] Bill: The front line. 

[00:08:35] Kecia: Yeah. When I go into a store, that cashier is more important that day than I am, because they’re the ones that are interacting with every single guest that’s coming through, and they’re that last experience. So I always make sure I take time with everybody when I’m walking a store because they are the face of the brand more than I am to that guest that’s coming in. 

[00:08:54] Bill: It’s funny. The other day I was talking to a friend of mine that’s here from Walmart, and we were talking to another friend of ours. We started at Walmart in Bentonville. He started in Walmart at a store in Minnesota and worked his way up to be an assistant manager. 

[00:09:09] And he said, “I’m not the corporate Walmart.” And I said, “You know what? We worked for you. You didn’t work for us. Every day, we worked for you.” And so you’re exactly right. It’s the associate, it’s the front line that really makes this a success or a failure. 

[00:09:24] Kecia: Yeah. One of my things I have in the corporate office is there’s no registers here. 

[00:09:31] Bill: Right. 

[00:09:31] Kecia: We have to make sure that we’re taking care of the people that are collecting the money. So when the registers are here, then— 

[00:09:36] Bill: Great way to at it. 

[00:09:37] Kecia: Yeah. 

[00:09:38] Bill: All right. So let’s talk about the beauty industry. Let’s talk about Ulta. Where is the beauty industry today, and how does Ulta fit into it? 

[00:09:45] Kecia: What I will say is very unique about our industry, is it’s not just about selling products. It’s selling an emotion. It’s helping people feel their very best versions of themselves. And what is unique about Ulta Beauty is the fact that we have everything from mass to luxury and everything in between. 

[00:10:04] So we cover all price points. We also have multiple generations that shop in our stores. So it’s not uncommon to see the grandchild with the mom, the grandparent, all shopping. And we’ve got something for everyone there. So that’s really unique, I think, for us at Ulta Beauty, but it’s that emotional connection. We’re not just a place that sells a lot of products and different brands. We sell a feeling and emotion and the lifestyle. 

[00:10:31]  I think that’s where you’re going to see retailers that are really successful going forward. It’s not just about the stuff you’re selling. It’s about how do people feel when they’re in your store shopping, and how do you make their lives even better. That’s a role that I feel like we play. 

[00:10:45] And then you throw wellness in, and wellness coming out of COVID, and wellness and beauty is more interlinked than it’s ever been before. So how do we help people solve their problems? That’s what they’re looking for from Ulta Beauty when they come into our stores or when they shop with us online. 

[00:11:01] Bill: So it is one of those things where I think in beauty and technology and where things are going online, ecommerce, how does beauty bridge that? In-store, you’re trying stuff on. You can see it. You’ve got the mirror. You’ve got your family around you telling you that looks good or don’t do that. Online, how do you bridge that gap? 

[00:11:22] Kecia: Yeah. We have a really great tool. It’s an augmented reality where you can get the looks and the feels. It’s our GLAMlab technology. Even hairstyles. So you can go online. You too could take a picture, and we could do a full-face makeup and a different hair-do on you. And it looks really real if you want to try a little dress-up action. 

[00:11:42] Bill: Can you put more hair on? 

[00:11:43] Kecia: Yeah. I can definitely help. Yes. At least in the augmented world, I can for you. 

[00:11:47] Bill: Thank you. 

[00:11:48] Kecia: Yes. And then we— 

[00:11:49] Bill: I’ll take anything I can get. 

[00:11:50] Kecia: Absolutely. We all will. And then we’ve got skincare. There’s a skin analysis tool. So we see some of the augmented reality that really can help enhance, like, how would this look on me? And then this is a category that is very high human-touch. 

[00:12:07] Bill: Sure. Yes. 

[00:12:08] Kecia: We’re hearing a lot at this conference around AI, and is AI going to replace humans. I don’t view it that way. I look at AI is enhancing that human interaction and making the human interaction a lot more purposeful and meaningful and targeted and personalized for the individual. So we sit in that segmentation that we need to play in both worlds — online, in stores. Eighty percent of our business is still coming from our stores. 

[00:12:38] Bill: Sure. Which makes all the sense in the world. 

[00:12:40] Kecia: Yeah. And I think there’s this whole concern of the younger population, especially the digitally native guests, the younger generation, are they going to want to still come in and be in store or they just want to buy everything online? What we’re seeing is they like coming into the store. They like that human interaction, and they like to come out with their friends. 

[00:12:58] It’s an experiential shopping pattern versus that it’s just out of necessity. So I just think that what we’re seeing with AI and the infusion of AI, our business is going to get even stronger. 

[00:13:13] Bill: For sure. 

[00:13:13] Kecia: It’s going to help us be even more personalized in the future. 

[00:13:18] Bill: Again, as you look across this Big Show, you look at the exhibit floor, you look at all of these technologies and all of these innovations, as you think of 2026 and beyond, what do you want to grow? What do you want to really focus on and innovate and learn more about in ‘26? 

[00:13:36] Kecia: I think it’s all about agentic AI. You’re hearing a lot about that right now. We’re starting to see it. There was some usage of it already this holiday season where agents were out there, they call it crawling, to see how they could pick up and really interact with brands and what brands were resonating. I was really pleased that on Black Friday, we ranked number one in beauty in regards to agentic search, which was great. 

[00:14:01] So we’re on the front side, clearly, of making sure that the agents that are out there through OpenAI, ChatGPT, Google, Gemini, Perplexity, that we are hitting the radar with our content. Content is really important. So that’s what we’re going to be really leaning into in 2026, is how do we continue to create content that is very clear for these agents to be able to pick up and identify Ulta Beauty as the place for the consumer to go to? 

[00:14:33] I think that it’s going to really do two things to really drive the business. I do think holiday shopping next year is going to look a little different than it did this year. In my 30-plus years in business, I think this is fundamentally the biggest change that I’m seeing in a really long time. But we’re ready for it. We’re leaning in. We were announced as part of the partnership with Google Gemini. I think we want to be out there in all of the spaces. 

[00:14:59] So we’re going to continue to build content and make sure that the content is adjustable by the agents that are out there. And then I think it’s twofold. There’s this whole question of, is it going to be just changing your existing consumer into a different shopping pattern? 

[00:15:17] Yes, I think that’s true, but I also think we potentially are going to get a new consumer into our business because they’re just going to the easy place of like, “I’m going to put in this search and this is what I’m looking for,” and we’ll pop on somebody’s radar that maybe had never even thought about us before. So I think it’s really exciting, and we’re really looking forward to leaning in on those. 

[00:15:37] Bill: There’s a lot going on. It was interesting, yesterday I was talking to somebody and they said that the one theme that they hear from retailers that they work with and they talk about AI, it’s we’re behind. And my question back to her was, “Who’s ever going to be ahead?” It’s just every single day. 

[00:15:57] Kecia: Yeah. I don’t think there’s going to be a finish line in this, and I actually don’t think there’s ever a finish — you’ve never arrived in retail. If you have, you’re probably going to die, because there’s no— 

[00:16:09] Bill: You’ve arrived at the final destination. 

[00:16:11] Kecia: Exactly. There’s no point of arrival because there’s always this innovation, and the finish line just keeps moving. 

[00:16:16] Bill: Right, right, right. 

[00:16:17] Kecia: That’s part of what makes retail so exciting. But I just think that those that continue to innovate and push themselves to be even better, and keeping your consumer and the associate, as I mentioned earlier, at the center of everything you’re doing, AI can also assist our associates to be even better enabled to give even better experiences. Experience is really where I think everyone needs to be leaning into. Better experiences for our associates, better experiences for our guests. 

[00:16:47] Bill: Right. So one of the things that I found when I went to Walmart was the emphasis on cultures and how important that was. In the time that I was there, if I interviewed somebody for a job on my team, two other people had to talk to them. If one of them said it wasn’t a culture fit, starting all over again. What is the culture at Ulta Beauty? 

[00:17:11] Kecia: I think culture is extremely important, and since I became the CEO, I had a lot of change on my leadership team. And when you finally get that top job, one of the things that I learned earlier on is you’re only as good as the people that you surround yourself with. And you can’t have a team of individual contributors. You’ve got to have a team of people who play well together. 

[00:17:34] You see it in sports. If you’ve got like one superstar, but they don’t play with a team, it just doesn’t work. I can say right now, I’m fully staffed with all of my C-suite, and I have the very best team that I’ve ever had in my 30 years in retail. And I want to be the best retailer that’s out there. And you can only do that if you have the right people around you. 

[00:17:54] The leadership sets the pace for culture, and we’ve got to keep an open-door policy. And I hear a lot of people talking about that, but I spend a lot of time in stores. I spend a lot of time in our distribution centers, and I ask a lot of questions. I remember back in the day when you’d hear a corporate leadership team coming in, and I remember myself being, like, really nervous and, like, oh my gosh, shaking. Literally shaking. 

[00:18:19] I work really hard to set the team at ease. I’m there to help make their jobs better because if I can make that general manager’s job better or that cashier’s job better, and we can remove friction, that’s going to be a better experience for our guests. And I have that mindset, and I know my leadership team has that mindset too. 

[00:18:39] We also worked really hard, when I joined into the CEO role, to have a really clear strategy. And I think part of it comes from being an operator. I like simple language that everyone can understand from the back room to the boardroom. And we put together this really great strategy called Ulta Beauty Unleashed. 

[00:18:59] Everyone knows the role that they play. Our momentum has been on our side, which we’ve had a great year in 2025 so far. And when you’re winning and people understand the role that they play, that really does help improve the culture. 

[00:19:14] Bill: Oh, absolutely. 

[00:19:14] Kecia: People are working hard, but we’re having fun doing it along the way. I often say we’re selling makeup and we’re selling beauty and wellness products, and we’re here to make people feel better about themselves. This is a fun category to shop in. If we’re not having fun, we got to take a step back and ask ourselves why. What do we need to be doing differently? So like I said, we’re working hard, but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my career. 

[00:19:40] Bill: I want to ask you. I don’t shop beauty, as you can tell. 

[00:19:45] Kecia: I think you’re looking pretty good. 

[00:19:49] Bill: Thank you, thank you, thank you. But it’s the face for radio. But my question is, you are very diverse. You serve a number of different demographics regionally and now globally. How do you learn the, what’s going to fit here that won’t necessarily fit there? Is it, we’ve got a product? Everybody needs this product. This product sells. We’re going to put it here. Or is it more, that’s not going to fit there? I’m just curious about that. 

[00:20:23] Kecia: I think it’s a two-fold answer is what I would have. First off, is that our merchants are some of the best merchants that are out there, and part of it is they have the visibility across all price points, across all categories that are really specified towards beauty and wellness. 

[00:20:39] So that starts to have these professionals that really do understand this industry. We also have 46 million loyalty members in our database, and when we send out surveys, it’s amazing to me how much the response rate is. So if we’re questioning would this brand resonate or not, we’ll send it out to our beauty board, and the beauty board comes back and they let us know what they like about it or what they don’t think they would like about it. 

[00:21:07] I just think that the power and the data that we have is pretty incredible. You mentioned earlier our international expansion. One of the things that I’m really proud of that we’re doing a little bit differently is if you go into our store in Kuwait or into Mexico, we have a lot of local brands, local and regional brands that are in these stores. 

[00:21:26] These stores are really part of the communities that they’re in. I think there’s huge power in us being able to find some of these brands, and I’ve seen a couple of them myself already, that I’m like, these brands could really translate into the American culture also. 

[00:21:41] So I think this is going to be a unique experience that we’re going to be able to not only take U.S.-based brands abroad, but also bring some really unique brands that are curated by these brand founders outside of our country into the country too. So it’s a little bit two-fold. I think it’s the experience that we have, but it’s also being really open and listening to your customer, and putting that at work. 

[00:22:06] Bill: Yeah. If you’ve got 42 million people that you can reach out to and get some direction and thoughtful guidance from, that’s pretty all good. 

[00:22:17] Kecia: Yeah, 46 million. 

[00:22:20] Bill: 46 million. 

[00:22:20] Kecia: And it’s been continuing to grow last quarter. I’m in my quiet period now with fourth quarter, but in the third quarter I was able to share we grew at 4%. So to continue to grow that rich database and people still coming into the ecosystem, that’s a powerful tool that we have. 

[00:22:39] Bill: So when you think, in your leadership and as a consumer as well, what does the retail industry need more of or less of? 

[00:22:48] Kecia: It’s one of my favorite interview questions that I ask a lot of people. I think that we just need — especially with where we’re at right now — we need to be easier for the category to be shopped. It can sometimes be a little bit overwhelming. There’s so much coming at you. And you’ve got varying degrees in our customer segmentation of those that are super users of beauty and those that are light users of beauty. And how do you really communicate each one of them in their segments very differently that makes it unique for them? 

[00:23:22] So I would say how we can be more prescriptive would be very helpful to the consumer. What we could do less of is just really making sure that we stay laser focused. There can be just so much noise out there right now, especially if you look at what’s going on in the world. So if we can just continue to be really focused on what it is that we do and we do well and stay out of that noise. 

[00:23:53] Bill: Right. 

[00:23:53] Kecia: We need to be a safe place for people to come to and experience beauty and have some joy, and have some happiness, and just stay out of the fray that’s going on right now, and be a safe space. That’s everything to me. 

[00:24:12] Bill: Yeah. Our sales in 2025 for specialty holidays like Valentine’s Day and things, we set all kinds of records. And I think it’s because people are seeking joy. They just want that moment to breathe and to look around and understand that things aren’t as bad as they may seem. 

[00:24:29] Kecia: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like we can play that role for the guest— 

[00:24:34] Bill: You absolutely can. I’ve always said, I think that retail stores are the new courthouse steps. This is where people gather, talk, meet, enjoy, interact, and that’s what community’s all about. 

[00:24:51] Kecia: Yeah. And it bridges each other. Whether it’s skincare, or haircare, we’re very democratized— 

[00:24:57] Bill: Yes, very much so. 

[00:24:59] Kecia: —in that. So it’s not like if you have one look, it means one thing. It’s like it’s just a self-expression. And I think the fact that we can allow people to be able to have self-expression is really a powerful tool for us. 

[00:25:10] Bill: I agree. Now we have a section of the Retail Gets Real podcast where we call it rapid fire. I want you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind, but we may discuss it a little bit. And the first thing that comes to mind when I ask you, what’s the last book that you read? 

[00:25:28] Kecia: It just was on my last vacation I just was on. I read “A CEO for All Seasons.” Great book, short read, but it was important to me because I’m coming through my first year as being a CEO, and you often hear of a sophomore slump. I don’t want that to happen for me by any means. It was just talking about the evolution of the CEO and your first year. 

[00:25:55] Usually they’re saying the first season is the first couple years getting your feet under you. I feel like we’ve come out of the gates really strong. So what am I going to do for 2026 and what’s the next phase look like? And I took a little bit of downtime after reading that book and refocused on, OK, what are my goals and my objectives? And I’ll be sitting down with my team on that. But I would highly encourage other CEOs to read it, is “A CEO for All Seasons.” 

[00:26:21] Bill: That’s fantastic. What is your favorite thing to buy at Ulta? 

[00:26:24] Kecia: Oh, that’s a tough one. That’s a tough one. There’s a couple, because one that I use every single day, which is this Clinique face wipe. 

[00:26:31] Bill: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:26:32] Kecia: Because I like speed. And it gets the makeup off really quick, even in the evenings, maybe even after a long day. And then I’d say our Ulta Beauty Collection Lip Oil is a must have, go-to. It’s clean product. I got a granddaughter. 

[00:26:51] Bill: No. 

[00:26:52] Kecia: Yes. 

[00:26:53] Bill: Wow. 

[00:26:53] Kecia: And it’s her “liptic,” is what she calls it. It’s her liptic that she gets to play with, and it’s because it’s clean product. 

[00:27:00] Bill: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:27:01] Kecia: So I feel like I’m introducing her at a very young age, of course, because I’ve got to have a beauty guru here in the family. But yeah, that’d be my other go-to product because I give it to everybody. 

[00:27:12] Bill: That’s fantastic. So I’ll conclude with, because I know that you’re on the road a lot, and you’ve already said you’re on the road a lot, what is your best travel tip? 

[00:27:22] Kecia: Oh, I would say that my best travel tip is that I have an airport outfit. Because I’m generally dressed up, wearing heels all day. And that’s the one thing that changed after COVID, is that, walking through airports in heels, I almost don’t do it anymore. 

[00:27:39] Bill: I haven’t ever done it, but I would never do it. 

[00:27:41] Kecia: I just don’t do it anymore. So I always have my airport travel outfit in my bag, and I know at the end of a long day I can be able to put that outfit on and get through the airport quickly and comfortably. 

[00:27:54] Bill: Comfortably. That’s the most important part. Kecia Steelman, thank you so much for being a part of Retail Gets Real. 

[00:28:01] Kecia: Oh, thank you so much, Bill, for having me. 

[00:28:02] Bill: Truly appreciate it and everything that you’re doing for the industry, for your associates, and for your customers, and helping to lead in this category. It’s fantastic, and we wish you all the best. 

[00:28:11] Kecia: Thank you so much, Bill. 

[00:28:12] Bill: And thank you all for listening to another episode of Retail Gets Real. You can find more information about this episode at retail gets real dot com. From Retail’s Big Show in New York City, I’m Bill Thorne. This is Retail Gets Real. Thanks for listening. Until next time.