ULTA BEAUTY

THE OPPORTUNITY

Texture inclusion in beauty cannot stop at representation. If a guest can see herself in the imagery but cannot confidently receive service in the salon, the experience is incomplete.

When Pekela Riley joined the Ulta Beauty Pro Team in 2018, she brought a perspective developed through years of working across textures, cultures and client experiences. Her work expanded beyond artistry into a larger question: What does it take for texture to become part of the capability of an enterprise—not simply a specialty within it?

PEKELA’S ROLE

As a Pro Team artist and Ulta Beauty’s inaugural Diversity Strategist, Pekela helped shape the company’s approach to textured hair across artistry, education and the salon experience. She contributed to national imagery and creative direction while helping define texture-diverse skill development for Ulta Beauty stylists.

Her work addressed consultation, cultural understanding, etiquette, service confidence and the complete guest experience. That work evolved into Ulta Beauty’s first enterprise-wide texture curriculum, with Pekela helping strategize the content and cultural context supporting texture education across the organization.

THE IMPACT

Following implementation of the texture education, internal Ulta Beauty reporting showed a 45% increase in texture services in Ulta salons. In 2022, Pekela received NAHA finalist recognition for Educator and Team with the Ulta Beauty Pro Team, alongside a separate Texture finalist recognition for her artistry.

WHY IT MATTERS

For Pekela, the lesson is larger than one curriculum: real texture inclusion requires both visibility and capability.