Born in London, Jo Horgan spent most of her childhood in the UK before moving to Australia and settling in Perth. After receiving a B.A. in English literature from the University of Western Australia, Ms. Horgan pursued a master's degree in mass communications at Boston University. In 1992, she left the U.S. for a Product Manager position in the marketing division at L'Oreal UK and two years later returned to Australia for another position within the company.

By 1997, Ms. Horgan had identified a disconnect in the Australian market between what was available to consumers and what they were purchasing internationally. After witnessing the surge in sales of niche cosmetics in London, Paris and throughout the U.S., Ms. Horgan realized Australian consumers' need for instant access to coveted products. That idea, coupled with a dedicated customer service model, inspired the launch of her beauty retail business, Today, Mecca Cosmetica offers 40 brands exclusively in the Australian market, counts 31 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand, operates an online store and will open four locations this year. Following the success of Mecca Cosmetica, Ms. Horgan launched a second unique beauty concept in 2005. Kit Cosmetics, a beauty lifestyle store offering 30 brands exclusively in the Australian market, now counts 10 stores throughout Australia.

In October 2010, Ms. Horgan launched Mecca Maxima, an evolution of Mecca Cosmetica that brings an edited mix of prestige beauty brands together into one retail environment featuring more than 4,000 beauty products across 100 brands.

Manufacturing, Beauty, Health, Business Leadership, Publishing, Editing, Lifestyle