d also became the first female CEO of the French beauty retailer’s North American division. Inside Retail caught up with the CEO to learn more about her history with the brand and her goals for pushing Sephora’s growth even further. Inside Retail: Having been with the company for 18 years, seeing its growth through several stages, and now leading it as Sephora North America’s first female CEO, what does this opportunity mean to you Artemis Patrick: It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to see how the company has evolved over the years and continues to do so, especially across the many roles that I’ve had during my time. I continue to be inspired by what we do, by our incredible workforce across our stores, distribution centers and corporate office, and by our brand partners, and the communities we get to work with every day. That’s what’s helped to keep me grounded as a leader – being rooted in purpose, loving what I do, and best of all, continuing to work alongside the people and teams I’ve had the pleasure of already knowing, and now in this role, of getting to know even better. Assuming the role of Sephora North America’s first female CEO is a profound honor, and also a great responsibility. I don’t take that responsibility lightly, and I feel the utmost gratitude for the opportunity to continue to drive not only business growth at Sephora, but also meaningful change within the industry more broadly. IR: What have been some of your biggest personal accomplishments at Sephora? AP: There have been many proud moments through the years, but one that particularly stands out is Sephora’s signing of the 15 Percent Pledge [to devote 15 percent of shelf space to products from Black-owned businesses]. At the time, I was still the head of merchandising for North America, transitioning into my global head of merchandising role. It was a challenging time not only in retail but around the worldand that had been percolating in my mind for some time. Everything happening was so much bigger than all of us, and many of us were asking one another, ‘What can Sephora do to make an impact in our immediate communities?’ Then the stars aligned – Aurora James introduced her call to actionfor all retailers. We have known Aurora for some time, so we quickly jumped on a Zoom and agreed to join the pledge because I saw it as a meaningful way to hold all of us accountable and take action for lasting change. Like many others, I distinctly remember the beginning of the global pandemic and shelter-at-home. It was such a confusing time for people, but I have so many incredible memories of pivotal conversations Ihad with our brand partners, where we leaned on each other to bounce off ideas, to problem solve for issues we’d never faced before, and just to connect when so many of us were feeling isolated. It was the true embodiment of how we think about our brand partners at Sephora, and the critical importance of that relationship. IR: Sephora has been doing a lot of work on DEI in the last few years, including your work with the 15 Percent Pledge. Where would you say Sephora is in its DEI journey? Where is there still room for improvement, and what have been your biggest lessons learned so far? AP: Diversity, equity and inclusion have been core to our values since Sephora first launched as a new kind of beauty retail destination in the US more than 20 years ago – and it is very much a journey that we approach with a deep sense of responsibility. Merchandising: Diversifying our product lineup continues to be a priority. Since signing the 15 Percent Pledge, we have hit the 15 percent mark in haircare and have more than doubled our overall assortment of Black-owned brands. Our Accelerate brand incubator program has played a key role in this; since revamping the program in 2021 to focus on BIPOC-founded brands, more than 20 brands have graduated from the program, with 12 brands having since launched in Sephora (and many more are on their way). Marketing: We’re also continuing to find ways to carve out more opportunities for underrepresented voices, both in the beauty industry and beyond, in our marketing partnerships. Last year, we partnered with TikTok to launch the Sephora x TikTok Incubator Program, which connects TikTok creators to best-in-class beauty brands from the Accelerate program, helping them learn impactful social content strategies through a series of educational training modules. We also launched a music collective – Sephora Sounds – to support and amplify underrepresented, emerging artists through Sephora’s social platforms. Since its inception, the program has welcomed more than 80 musical artists, with more than half of the signed artists being BIPOC and female. Internal: Most importantly, we want our people to reflect the diverse communities that we serve. To this effect, we’ve made some great strides in improving representation in the company, especially at the leadership level, where more than half are people of color, and 72 percent are women. And of course, we remain committed to building an inclusive company culture and positive in-store experiences, as underscored by our participation in the industry’s Mitigate Racial Bias in Retail Charter. While we’re very proud of the progress we’ve made, we fully recognise that this work is a continuous journey of growth and evolution. At Sephora, our commitment to fostering a sense of belonging – for our customers, our employees and our communities – will continue to guide everything we do. IR: In recent years, Sephora has been expanding its retail reach through partnerships with Kohl’s. What have been the key factors in making this partnership a success? How do you see the partnership continuing to evolve in the future? AP: Our goal at Sephora is to welcome more people into our beauty community and make prestige beauty accessible to everyone. The partnership with Kohl’s has enabled us to do just that. Since openingthe first Sephora at Kohl’s locations in 2021, we’re now in 910 Kohl’s stores and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. One key factor is the quality of the shopping experience. Most of our Sephora at Kohl’s shops are 2500-square-foot, full-sized stores, and each is fully equipped with Sephora-trained Beauty Advisors, offering the same level of customer experience and best-selling products available in our free-standing Sephora stores. Building loyalty amongst Kohl’s shoppers has also been a huge opportunity for us. We hit 38 million members at the end of last year (and only growing), and much of that recent growth is being fuelled byreaching new consumers through Sephora at Kohl’s. Ultimately, by leveraging Kohl’s strong retail presence and Sephora’s expertise in beauty, we’re already starting to see our goal coming to fruitionby making prestige beauty accessible to more beauty lovers than ever before, especially for those who may not live near a Sephora store or have previous experience with our omnichannel/digital platforms. Both the Sephora and Kohl’s teams continue to be inspired by our partnership. IR: LVMH reported that Sephora had another historic year, both in terms of sales and profit, in 2023 and Sephora CEO Guillaume Motte has said he believes the retailer has the potential to reach €20 billion ($22 billion) in annual sales globally. What do you see as the key areas of investment that will drive Sephora’s growth in the North American market in the years ahead? AP: In addition to our merchandising, marketing and partnership efforts discussed, we are going to be investing in updating our entire fleet of stores across the US and Canada. We have built a lot of new beautiful stores over the past several years, but as we reach our 20-year anniversary in Canada and 26 years in the US, we realise it’s time to update some of our older stores so the customer experience is consistent across North America and so that our stores truly reflect our product assortment strategy and how we know our customers want to shop. We are also investing heavily in CRM and personalisation tools so that our marketing recommendations meet the individual needs of our loyalty members. IR: Given your background in e-commerce at Sephora, how do you plan to balance the need to future-proof the business by investing in digital with the reality that customers are still looking for entertainment and inspiration through fantastic in-store experiences? AP: We are fortunate to have long had a solid e-commerce business pre-pandemic that proved to be our strength in what was otherwise a very tough time for retail. While we weren’t immune to the impacts ofCovid-19, in 2020 we had several months where dotcom sales were up more than 70 percent, year over year. Despite our dotcom success, candidly, we were behind in some other areas that make for a robust omnichannel experience. The team swiftly kicked into high gear and adapted to the changing needs of the business. In a matter of months, we were able to build out ‘buy online, pick-up in-store (BOPIS) capabilities and we leaned into some commerce partnerships like Instacart to help expand the marketplace experience. In the subsequent years, we’ve been able to establish a really strong line-up, including same-day delivery and a same-day delivery subscription program, curbside pick-up and auto-replenish, as well as growing our commerce and marketplace partnerships. We have seen the shopping habits of consumers change significantly over the last few years, and our focus remains on anticipating the needs of our shoppers and continuing to be innovative in seeking the places that our consumers are going to shop and find inspiration so that the shopping experience remains intuitive of their overall shopping journey. At the same time, the in-store experience remains a cornerstone of Sephora’s success. Beauty is inherently tactile and gives our shoppers the opportunity for exploration, discovery and personalised interaction, with our knowledgeable Beauty Advisors. We are focused on continuing to make our stores a place where consumers spend time and find value that might not be available in a digital experience. Our Beauty Advisors are equipped with technologies like Skin Scan (formerly Color IQ and complexion scanning, but evolving to include skincare diagnostic) to help them provide more accurate complexion and skincare product recommendations while delivering an even better experience. We’re also piloting new displays in-store based on evolving shopping trends and preferences; for example, we recently launched a body care-specific multi-branded destination, given the uptick in interest in the category. And as mentioned, we’re also beginning the process of revamping the look and feel of our entire fleet of stores to better serve our customers’ shopping journeys and needs today. We’ve long thought about ourselves as an omni-retailer; our business is structured to help drive this very balanced and seamless integration between the physical and digital. By embracing digital transformation while preserving the magic of the in-store experience, and uniting the two via our omnichannel offerings, we are confident that Sephora will remain at the forefront of the beauty industry for years to come. IR: On a more personal note, you have spoken openly about how you fled from your home country during the Iranian Revolution, along with your parents, at just 7 years old, then were eventually placed into foster care in the US at the age of 10. How do you feel your personal experiences have driven your experiences within the retail industry and shaped you as a leader within this field? AP: Having come to America as a young girl and growing up in a very different culture from that of Iran, I wasn’t only new to the culture, I looked different from everyone else. And I can vividly recall what it was like to sometimes feel ‘on the outside’ of something – especially in the world of beauty, where for so long the beauty ‘ideal’ was very narrow. I know firsthand the importance of making people feel like they belong. This has very much influenced the type of culture I want to create at Sephora for our stores, our distribution centers, our corporate offices, our digital presence. I want Sephora to be a place where anyone and everyone feels they belong, a place where they can explore and discover and celebrate their own identity, whatever that looks like. Our tagline at Sephora is “We Belong to Something Beautiful” and Ican honestly say after 18 years at Sephora that it really is a mantra we live by. My experience has also made me incredibly grateful; I know firsthand that life can change very quickly so very much try to live in the moment and find gratitude in any situation. IR: Historically speaking, beauty and fragrance retail has been led by male executives catering to a predominantly female-identifying audience. What is the significance of having someone at the top who is a reflection of the faces of your consumers? AP: We all know the importance of representation. Regardless of your race, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, etc., people want to see themselves represented in products and experiences. I know this firsthand, as I was growing up with dark, curly hair at a time when the ‘Farrah Fawcett’ aesthetic was in. Bottom line, representation is in the best interest of a company, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it makes sense for your business to appeal to a much larger customer base. My daughter is 13 years old, and I always say that I wish I had the cool confidence she exudes now when I was her age. I’m not sure if she completely understands what I do, but I continuously encourage her to follow her goals and passions and not be so hard on herself. She’s young, but she already teaches me so much about myself (and she’s really helpful when I need to know what’s the next big thing going viral on TikTok). IR: Imagine you could travel back in time to your first day working on the Sephora team, knowing that one day you would be in the position you hold today. What would you tell yourself? AP: I would tell myself to live in the moment a bit more and remember that half the fun of getting somewhere is the journey. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more aware of enjoying the little things: the shared laughs with co-workers; the funny traveling mishaps; the successes; and even the failures. IR: What changes would you like to see take place within the company in the next five to 10 years? AP: I would love to see continued diversity in our leadership mix as well as in our brand assortment mix. Beauty is so personal and there’s no reason why the people working at Sephora – as well as the [brand] founders represented on our shelves – shouldn’t look exactly like the demographic of the people shopping in our stores. We have made significant progress in this area, but it’s just the beginning. This story first appeared in the June 2024 issue of Inside Retail US magazine.