Makeup by Mario, founded by celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic, has rapidly emerged as a leading luxury beauty brand. As the company scaled, it required an experienced, high-performing team to support its growth across Supply Chain, Production Operations, Finance, and Executive Support. Lacking an internal talent acquisition team, the brand turned to The Bowerman Group, in direct collaboration with talent expert Meghan Houle, to identify and secure top-tier professionals to drive operational excellence and strategic expansion.
As a founder-led brand, Makeup by Mario had a strong vision and an established brand story but required key hires to build its internal infrastructure.
The primary challenges included:
The Solution: A Strategic Hiring Partnership
The Bowerman Group, in partnership with Meghan Houle, executed a tailored recruitment strategy to seamlessly integrate top talent into the Makeup by Mario team.
Why a Specialized Agency Partnership Was Essential
For founder-led brands like Makeup by Mario, scaling requires more than just hiring—it demands strategic talent alignment. Working with The Bowerman Group provided:
Industry Expertise: Deep knowledge of the beauty and luxury market to attract the best talent.
Seamless Process: A structured approach to hiring, ensuring smooth transitions and minimal disruption.
Brand Storytelling: Positioning the company as an employer of choice, leveraging its strong founder-led narrative to attract passionate professionals.
- Identified and placed key hires in Supply Chain, Production, and Operations, ensuring the brand could effectively manage sourcing, logistics, and inventory management.
- Implemented a talent strategy to align supply chain processes with business growth, enhancing efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
- Secured a Packaging Sourcing Manager with deep industry expertise to drive sustainable and innovative packaging solutions.
- Ensured that all packaging aligned with the brand’s luxury positioning and sustainability commitments.
- Placed a VP of Finance with extensive experience in the beauty and luxury sector to oversee financial planning, budgeting, and growth strategies.
- Provided financial leadership to support scalability, optimize profitability, and ensure long-term financial health.
- Found a high-caliber Executive Assistant to support Mario in managing brand initiatives, partnerships, and daily operations.
- Streamlined internal processes, allowing Mario to focus on brand vision and product innovation.
The Impact
By partnering with The Bowerman Group, Makeup by Mario successfully built a robust operations and financial leadership team, allowing the brand to scale efficiently while maintaining its commitment to quality and innovation. This case exemplifies the power of strategic hiring in accelerating growth for founder-led brands and underscores the value of working with a specialized recruitment partner when navigating expansion.
Looking Ahead
As Makeup by Mario continues its upward trajectory, The Bowerman Group remains a trusted partner, ready to support future talent acquisition needs. For founder-led brands aiming to scale, our expertise in building high-performance teams ensures sustained growth and industry leadership.