When I started my career in advertising in Chicago back in 1989, I thought I was on the right path. But within a few years, the cubicle life had drained me. I’d grown up watching my dad work hard in corporate America a man who dreamed of being an entrepreneur but never took the risk because he had a family to support. A part of me wanted to take the leap he didn’t.
In 1994, I packed up and moved to California in search of something creative and fulfilling. That’s where I met Sandy Lerner, the cofounder of Cisco Systems. She was launching a beauty brand and saw something in me potential, passion, and the willingness to take risks. Together, we built what would become Urban Decay. Our first products hit the market in January 1996, and the response was electric.
Urban Decay filled a void in the beauty world. Back then, the shelves were full of either bland department-store neutrals or low-quality drugstore makeup. We created something new high-performance cosmetics in bold, edgy colors that made self-expression fun and fearless. By the time L’Oréal acquired Urban Decay in 2012 for more than $300 million, the brand had become a cultural phenomenon.
But during those years of growth, I wasn’t just building a beauty empire I was also raising two boys. They were in middle school when the L’Oréal deal happened, at an age when they needed me more than ever. I stayed on as Chief Creative Officer after the acquisition, which kept me busy, but it also gave my sons a front-row seat to what it looks like to build something from scratch.
Most afternoons, my boys would come to the Urban Decay office after school. They grew up surrounded by creative, passionate women leading teams, solving problems, and making big decisions. That environment became their norm. It wasn’t something I consciously planned, but looking back, I realize what a powerful impact it had. To this day, they have an incredible respect for women not because they were told to, but because they saw women leading with strength and brilliance every single day.
At home, our dinner table didn’t sound like most families’. My husband worked as a startup CFO, so we often talked about deals, marketing strategies, and product launches over meals. We never sat our kids down for formal business lessons, but they absorbed it all the risk-taking, the creativity, the idea that you could build a life outside traditional corporate walls. Those conversations planted seeds that are just now beginning to bloom.
When my kids left for college, I found myself with something I hadn’t had in decades: space to dream again. In 2018, during a surf trip, I paddled onto a remote island and was stunned by the amount of plastic on the beach. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. How many Urban Decay products how many Naked Palettes were sitting in landfills somewhere? That moment sparked something in me, and it became the foundation for my next venture, Caliray.
Caliray is my love letter to clean, sustainable beauty. We use upcycled ocean plastic, sugarcane-based packaging, and carbon-capture materials to reduce waste. It’s not about building another massive empire; it’s about creating something that reflects who I am now more mindful, more intentional, but still passionate about innovation and design.
People often ask if it’s possible to “have it all.” My honest answer is that you can have many things you love, but not all at once, and not without help. Entrepreneurship and parenting are both all-consuming. When both partners have big careers, it’s even harder. You have to find trusted support wherever you can family, friends, childcare and give yourself permission to let go of perfection.
Now, with my boys grown, I can see the influence of those years clearly. My younger son is studying business at USC and dreams of launching his own startup one day. My older son, who studied sports journalism and media, just launched his own podcast. Their curiosity and creativity make me proud because I know those seeds were planted long ago in the Urban Decay office after school, in dinner conversations about ideas and risks, and in the example of what it looks like to build something meaningful.
Creating beauty brands made me an entrepreneur, but raising kids while doing it made me resilient. I learned that success isn’t just about building a company it’s about building a life full of purpose, creativity, and legacy. And seeing my sons carry those lessons forward might just be the most rewarding thing I’ve ever helped create.
