So she went to Amazon, bought 11 books on how to make makeup and started mixing in her kitchen. "I went crazy. I had a web site designed, got incorporated, worked out a budget, and hired a chemist." And the rest is history! Well, not yet but with her great ingredients, gorgeous colors and fabulous scents, Marissa is certainly making makeup history.

Marissa has a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University. Through her Theater Arts major and career in television production, Marissa developed keen insights into present day American pop culture that enhanced her understanding of cosmetic trends. Marissa is glamorous and fun and her personality definitely shows through in her products.

Jennifer is very excited to be at theBalm and hopes that her obsession with yoga, dark chocolate and soy chai lattes will prepare her to be National Makeup Artist and VP of Training & Education for theBalm.

Jennifer received a Bachelor of Arts from California State University at Long Beach with an emphasis in Education.

Mary Munoz, Lead Designer
With a lifelong love for design and beauty, Mary naturally flocked to San Francisco to pursue her dreams. Her professional experience spans from event marketing and collateral design to high-end digital photography. After earning her Bachelor’s of Science in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of California in San Francisco she was quickly scooped up and brought on as Graphic Designer for theBalm.

Rebecca Vaughan, VP of West Coast Sales
Rebecca grew up in sunny Southern California and never went far. She lives in Redondo Beach and loves the beach, sunshine, shopping and laid back lifestyle that Southern California offers.

Rebecca earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Southern California. After working in event marketing and promotions on the Lexus account at an ad agency for 2 years, she decided that sales was where she needed to be and wound up working as a sales representative for GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals for over seven years. Having always been what she considers a “makeup and product junkie”, when she heard about the open position at theBalm she jumped on it…it was a match made in heaven. She’s thrilled to be working at such a fun and creative company like theBalm, where she can combine her love of sales and makeup.

When Rebecca isn’t working you can usually find her lounging on the couch with her husband catching up on her TIVO or spending time doing her true favorite hobby… eating! If there is food around (especially Sprinkles Cupcakes), Rebecca is usually not too far behind. She thanks her mom everyday for blessing her with a fast metabolism.

Taylor Barringer, National Makeup Artist & Account Executive
Taylor has worked in cosmetics for over 10 years with some of the largest cosmetic lines in the world as head make up artist. Her clients include celebrities, photographers, and personal clients in both Los Angeles and New York City.
 
Originally from Los Angeles Taylor has lived in Minnesota, Seattle and most recently New York City. She lives with her stinky dog Beatrix in Manhattan. She drinks way too much coffee, eats way too many sweets and reads way too many books in her free time. You can also find her modeling her many tattoos in various tattoo magazines.
 
Taylor is excited about her role with theBalm and can’t wait to have an eye shadow named after her.

Mary Ly, Office Manager
Mary Ly is a graduate from San Francisco State University, double majoring in International Business and Marketing. Recently returning from a year-long study abroad program, she faced the hard realities of job-hunting. With previous experience in cosmetic retailing and participation in Hong Kong’s CosmoProf Asia Expo, Mary jumped at the opportunity to apply for a position at theBalm. With the entire hiring process recorded for the MTV Hired series, she beat out other hopeful applicants and won the hearts of theBalm team. Mary is currently working full-time with her chihuahua, Mochi Ly, in helping with projects and other daily office tasks.

Olwen Maher, VP of International Sales
Olwen Maher obtained an Honours degree in International Marketing and Languages from Dublin City University. She began her career as European Development Manager for Dublin's Financial services centre. Since 2000 Olwen freelanced as a marketing and business development consultant and ran her own cosmetic wholesale company in Ireland.

It was through this venture that Olwen met up with Marissa in 2008. She fell in love with theBalm and has embraced her role as VP of International Sales.

Annie Gribbin, International Celebrity Makeup Artist
Based in Ireland, Annie’s career in make up began 25 years ago when she won a scholarship to the Make up For Ever Academy in Paris where she learned her craft from its founder the great Dani Sanz. Since then she has achieved cult status both in Ireland and throughout Europe for her professional make up talent. She has been running her own Make Up For Ever store and academy in Dublin for 20 years. This is where many of Europe’s leading make up artists have learned their craft.

Listed in the Book "Who’s Who in Ireland" Annie is listed as the leading pioneer in the beauty industry. Annie is hands on in her business as well as being an International Makeup artist. Her credits are as long as her experience which has involved numerous TV appearances and working with A list Hollywood actors and music legends. Including: U2, theCorrs, The Cranberries, Alicia Siverstone, Sylvestor Stallone. The list is endless.

When Annie came across theBalm in New York she fell in love with it and now stocks it in her store and uses it on many beauty and fashion editorials. She is passionate about her craft and is an excellent ambassador for theBalm in Europe. She makes regular appearances on QVC UK for theBalm and can be seen promoting the brand at certain store launches.

Courtney Cecil, Vice President of Marketing
As Vice President of Marketing, Courtney returns to theBalm with nearly a decade of strategic communications and global sales experience under her belt. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism with a B.A. in Advertising, she began her career at ICF International and climbed her way up from Research Assistant to Associate managing strategic communication campaigns for government clients in the health, energy and environment sectors. Extending her expertise into the world of hospitality, Courtney joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 2007 where she represented a portfolio of more than 1,000 hotels worldwide, including the beloved Luxury Collection, St. Regis, W and Westin hotel brands. Working with key group customers in the association, corporate and government markets, she handled bookings from 10 to 10,000 peak room nights, and helped generate $35.7 million dollars in definite room revenue in 2008.

Rem, Lydia & Paw, Shipping and Packaging Experts
Rem, Lydia and Paw are three amazing women with an amazing story. In 2007, they came to the United States as refugees from Burma via Malaysia and Thailand with the intention of rebuilding their lives. TheBalm got lucky and with the help of the IRC (International Rescue Committee), an organization who responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, these amazing ladies came to us. TheBalm immediately snatched up these brave, gorgeous, hard working girls and have employed them ever since. Working in our shipping and packaging department, these fabulous ladies help theBalm get our products out to the world.

For more information about IRC and their humanitarian acts, please visit their website: http://www.rescue.org/