Mara Beauty’s Allison McNamara on Successfully Launching In Sephora While Bootstrapping Your Beauty Biz, and The Day She Learned Her Biggest Founder Lesson

Welcome to WorkParty: The Founder Files, where I chat with inspiring entrepreneurs about their journey to building their business. We’ve all heard the shiny founder stories – This is not that. We talk high highs, brutal lows and the secrets to success that got them to where they are today. Tactical, tangible and chock full of takeaways. On this episode, we are diving in with Allison McNamara,  journalist-turned-founder and CEO of the cult beauty brand of MARA. Clean, award-winning, and recently launched in over 250 doors at Sephora, MARA is a heavy hitter in the beauty world and Allison is the real deal. Take a listen as we get deep on topics like launching your brand at Sephora, while also bootstrapping your business (no easy feat!), Mara’s tech stack and secrets to success, and the power of female friendships in the beauty biz.   RESOURCES:  Follow Mara on Instagram  here and on TikTok  here, and keep up with Allison on Instagram  here. This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode. Quility has created a special Life Insurance guide just for Work Party listeners so visit  quility.com/workparty to learn more.  This episode is Produced by Dear Media with research and creative production by  Ali Alquiza. Join Us for 2026 World’s Largest Festival for Women in Business here: https://www.createcultivate.com/festival To follow along with Create & Cultivate: https://www.instagram.com/createcultivate To connect with Jaclyn Johnson: https://www.instagram.com/jaclynrjohnson To connect with Marina Middleton: https://www.instagram.com/marinaamiddleton www.createcultivate.com PR: createcultivate@laruepr.com