17. Jo Horgan

Company: Mecca Brands
Revenue: More than $100 million*

In an interview with Fairfax last year, Jo Horgan said she sold $1873 worth of product when she launched her first Mecca store in South Yarra twenty-two years ago – but ended up misplacing the cash box.

She eventually tracked down the money and over the next two decades,has been able to build a seventy-strong store footprints for her Mecca Cosmetics and Mecca Maxima imprints, remaining unfazed by big competitors in the beauty sector and banking significant revenue along the way.

Mecca was estimated to hold 12% of the cosmetics and beauty sector in Australia in 2016 and has an estimated annual revenue of more than $100 million.

Horgan said in 2017 her motivation comes from helping women and always being at the forefront of industry initiatives.

“Thinking that we can do something really interesting and innovative in beauty, and actually look after women, is the thing that gets me going,” she told Fairfax.