“This is a profound moment for Mecca.” It’s Monday morning at Mecca HQ and CEO and founder Jo Horgan, dressed head to toe in shades of rose, is discussing her most ambitious project to date: a 4000-square-metre, three-storey department store dedicated to all things beauty. The goal, she says, is to build the world’s most beloved beauty destination. As it happens, it’s also going to be the world’s biggest. “This will be the greatest expression of Mecca’s approach to beauty to date.”
We’re inside her glass-walled office, which offers transparency for both chief executive officer and staff, some 800-odd who all seem to possess the kind of dewy glow you’d expect given where they work. Horgan’s husband, Peter Wetenhall, formerly of Boston Consulting Group, is co-CEO but nowhere to be seen (and you’d notice him; 95 per cent of Mecca’s workforce are women).
