Sephora’s Former CEO Is Joining Ulta Beauty’s Board

Ulta Beauty has some new board appointments.

The Bollingbrook, Ill.-based retailer has appointed Martin Brok and Stephenie Landry to its board of directors and as members of its audit and compensation committees. The appointments take effect Sept. 1.

Brok is the founder and chief executive of MB Capital Advisors and operating partner at Advent International, though is well known from his time as global president and chief executive officer of Sephora. Prior to that, he was president of Starbucks for Europe, Middle East and Africa and was the global COO of direct-to-consumer at Nike.

Landry worked as the chief operating officer at Honor Technology, and held a bevy of positions at Amazon prior.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Martin and Stephenie to our board of directors,” said Kecia Steelman, president and CEO of Ulta Beauty, in a statement. “Martin is an accomplished, strategic leader with deep international experience in the areas of retailing, merchandising, and brand strategy, while Stephenie has strong operational and digital innovation expertise and sustainability leadership. Their transformative track records and strategic vision will be invaluable as we navigate our next chapter of growth.”

The appointment comes as the beauty retail landscape deals with seismic shifts. Once dominated by both Ulta and Sephora (key competitors for share of mind and wallet in the prestige market), Amazon is now the largest beauty retailer in the U.S., as reported. Abroad, the U.K. appears to be the latest frontier, with Ulta acquiring Space NK just years after Sephora reentered the geography in 2023.

Brok was pivotal to that debut, having architected Sephora’s acquisition of Feelunique in the U.K. and Zalando in Germany. At the time of his departure in 2022, it was “due to a divergence of views,” an internal memo said.

It’s the latest in a slew of big moves from Steelman, who took the helm of Ulta at the top of the year. Geographically, she’s overseeing expansions into Mexico and the Middle East. On the personnel front, she’s named Lauren Brindley its chief merchandising and digital officer, Kelly Mahoney its chief marketing officer, and also announced the ending of its partnership with Target Corp.