Jo Horgan

As Founder and Managing Director of MECCA Brands, Jo owns and operates a network of 67 stores in Australia and New Zealand. Jo has redefined the Australian prestige beauty landscape through championing retail innovation, and on the Top 50 Most Influential people and the Top 25 Most Innovative Thinkers in the global beauty industry. Jo founded Mecca Cosmetica in December 1997, with the opening of the first store in Melbourne's South Yarra. Today there are 37 Mecca Cosmetica, 23 Mecca Maxima and 6 MECCA doors (within MYER) in addition to mecca.com.au, which houses over 7,000 products from more than 100 brands. MECCA Brands has a keen focus on education, spending three per cent of total turnover on education and training. For the last two years, MECCA Brands has placed within the Top 5 companies in BRW's Best Places To Work study and has been the #1 retailer on the list. Jo has a strong interest in supporting women in work and life, and is a Governor of the St George Foundation charitable organisation, which donates over $2 million to charities that support women and children. She is also a proud supporter of The Hunger Project: a non-profit organisation devoted to empowering women and children to end poverty.