Ulta Beauty has launched The Joy Project in partnership with best-selling author, motivational speaker and podcast host Mel Robbins.
The partnership resulted from the so-called "Joy Study"—third-party research commissioned by Ulta Beauty—which examined a sample of how 5,007 U.S. adults and teens experience joy and the common barriers to experiencing it on a daily basis.
The research found that 73% of those surveyed experience negative self-talk, 70% experiencing it don’t recognize negative self-talk when they’re actively doing it and 91% identify negative self-talk as a primary obstacle in their ability to experience joy.
Robbins’ focus on recognizing and addressing negative mindsets is the cornerstone of Ulta Beauty’s new training curriculum for store associates, dubbed "A Toolkit for Joy."
The series of mini courses taught by Robbins will provide all 53,000 associates nationwide the strategies and tangible tools needed to identify their inner critic, interrupt the negative patterns, and inspire themselves and others in the process.
Once armed with this roadmap to joy, associates are encouraged to share those same practices with guests, ultimately sparking a movement with the potential to reach far beyond Ulta Beauty stores.
Ulta Beauty will ignite a social movement inviting influencer and creator communities to join the conversation by posting about their own journey to joy through inspiring content encouraging others to do the same and #joyforward.
The Joy Study was conducted using the YouGov Panel that surveyed 5,007 U.S. teens and adults, ages 13 and up between August 2, 2023 and August 11, 2023.
Michelle Crossan-Matos, chief marketing officer, Ulta Beauty, said, "At Ulta Beauty, we strive every day to use the power of beauty to bring to life the possibilities that lie within each of us, and joy is a feeling we want everyone to experience when walking through our stores. The reality is, there’s a joy deficit in our country, which if left untreated, will only continue to hold people back from living the lives they’ve always wanted. As industry leaders, who care deeply about how people experience beauty and show up in the world, we believe it’s our responsibility to help change this. By taking an inside out approach, in helping our associates unlock their own barriers to joy, and using our platforms to positively influence the communities we serve, we know we can ignite a movement that will help people everywhere live more authentic, and joyful lives.”
Robbins said, "It’s stunning that the research shows that negative self-talk is the biggest obstacle to experiencing joy, yet the majority of us don’t even realize how much we engage in it. I’m proud to work with Ulta Beauty and The Joy Project to address this head on. Knowing Ulta Beauty’s associates hear this self-criticism from their guests every day, Ulta Beauty and I are giving them the tools to help their guests silence the inner critic and experience more joy. There are so many brands and companies publicly discussing well-being, but few are activating in such a meaningful way. I’m honored to work with Ulta Beauty, creating custom trainings that will empower those associates to silence that inner critic and coach guests to do the same all with a mission to inspire a national conversation to spread more joy.”
