This profile is part of the Wellth 30, a curated recognition of the leaders building enduring brands, communities, and culture.
Zena Arnold, Chief Marketing Officer, Sephora US
Zena Arnold's view of Sephora is that culture isn't the backdrop for the brand. It's the strategy.
As chief marketing officer of Sephora U.S., she oversees communications, media, creative, loyalty, promotions and operations. Over the past year, that philosophy has been especially visible in the company's expansion into women's sports — not as a sponsorship, but as a way of showing up in spaces where beauty hasn't traditionally been part of the conversation.
Sephora has built partnerships across women's basketball, F1 Academy, softball and figure skating, alongside becoming the official beauty retailer of the Radio City Rockettes. The point isn't just exposure. Arnold's team looks for places where identity, self-expression and community already exist and asks what beauty can contribute.
She has taken the same approach to creators. My Sephora Storefront gives creators their own shoppable spaces on Sephora's site and app; more than 15,000 people applied to Sephora Squad in 2025. The platform turns creators from media placements into participants in the Sephora ecosystem.
Then there’s the physical community. This year's SEPHORiA sold out in under three hours and brought more than 8,000 people together in Los Angeles.
Arnold's job is ultimately about the same thing all of those efforts have in common: expanding the places where people can see themselves in the brand. It’s showcasing a view of beauty that is less about perfection and more about participation.
