Billion-dollar woman: how MCoBeauty's Shelley Sullivan built a beauty empire

Australia’s biggest beauty mogul, Shelley Sullivan, has built three powerhouse businesses from the ground up. At just 21, she launched a boutique modelling agency. While working with models, Shelley spotted beauty fails like DIY lash‑curling burns and patchy self‑tans – which led to her first beauty innovation: a heated lash curler, then “tan‑in‑a‑can”, and the birth of her first brand, ModelCo. In 2016, Shelley targeted another gap: luxe‑looking beauty at mass‑market prices. MCoBeauty launched with 12 products, scaled to hundreds, and earlier this year was sold in a deal valuing the company at $1 billion. In this episode of Something To Talk About, Shelley opens up about building – and exiting – a billion‑dollar beauty empire, trusting her instincts amid doubt, and life after the headlines.