Victoria Jackson

As founder/CEO of the global brand, Victoria Jackson Cosmetics, Victoria revolutionized the beauty world of the ‘80s and ‘90s with a more natural approach to make-up—not only creating a sensual new aesthetic for her superstar clientele but also championing the intrinsic beauty of every woman. She then challenged the status quo of the infomercial industry after convincing investors to back her line as the first of its kind ever marketed on television. Within a week after the launch of that initial infomercial, Victoria Jackson Cosmetics hit one million dollars in sales. Twenty-seven years later, the iconic beauty line is still going strong—with a devoted following of satisfied and loyal customers around the world. All the while, Victoria’s role as a “goodwill ambassador for make-up” has continued to evolve. A passionate activist on behalf of women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship she has spent countless hours as a volunteer at correctional facilities, hospitals, and in youth support programs, and currently sits on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as the board of UCLA Health Systems. In 2008, Victoria’s focus shifted dramatically from mascara to medicine after her beautiful teenage daughter Ali was diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica (NMO)—a devastating, rare autoimmune disease. At a time when little was known about this potentially fatal disorder of the central nervous system, Victoria and her husband Bill Guthy—of the infomercial giant Guthy-Renker—established the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation to fund the life-saving research needed to better understand, treat, and ultamely cure NMO. Victoria has led the work of the foundation to achieve quantum progress—and at record speed. Today, with the start of industry-sponsored clinical trials and with funding for new NMO research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there is real hope—where once the future for NMO patients was uncertain. Indeed, the landscape has altered so meaningfully that recent findings promise that NMO can be solved. And that solution will have vast applications for treating other autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus. Victoria Jackson is also a prolific author who most recently joined her daughter Ali Guthy to co-author the acclaimed Saving Each Other (Perseus Books 2012), a chronicle of their mother-daughter journey to overcome the odds of a terrifying diagnosis. Ms. Jackson’s two previous top-selling works include Redefining Beauty (Warner Books 1993) and Make Up Your Life: Every Woman’s Guide to the Power of Makeup (HarperCollins, 2000). As an in-demand lecturer and media veteran, Victoria has been featured in numerous outlets that include the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Huffington Post. She has appeared on such programs as Ellen, the Dr. Oz Show, Marie, and on AARP TV’s My Generation. Together with famed director Jesse Dylan and his team at Wondros Global films, Victoria has produced a series of documentaries about the strides being made to unravel and cure NMO. The proud mom of three children—Evan, Alexandra and Jackson—Victoria and her husband Bill make their primary residence in Los Angeles.