Shelley Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973 (age 52–53) |
| Occupations | Entrepreneur, businesswoman |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Young Entrepreneur (2005) Retail Executive of the Year (2017) AFR Women in Leadership – Retail (2024) |
Shelley Sullivan (née Williams) is an Australian entrepreneur and businesswoman who founded the cosmetics brands ModelCo and MCoBeauty.
Sullivan was born in 1973 and began organising children's parties at the age of 16.
In 1993, at age 20, Sullivan joined Gordon Charles' Platform modelling agency as a receptionist while running her events business. After 10 months, she started her own modelling agency.
Her mother, Kerrie Martin, provided initial funding for the business, which Sullivan developed into a modelling agency.
The agency grew from a single model before Sullivan sold it to Ben McPherson's Artist and Entertainment Group.
Sullivan founded ModelCo in 2001, drawing on her experience working with models and makeup artists.
ModelCo's early products included a heated eyelash curler, introduced in 2002, and an aerosol self-tanning product.
Sullivan and Karl Lagerfeld launched the Karl Lagerfeld + ModelCo collection in 2018.
In 2020, Sullivan established MCoBeauty with six products. The brand was distributed through Woolworths, Big W and Chemist Warehouse.
MCoBeauty expanded into the United States in 2024 and Canada in 2026. MCoBeauty also ran a campaign featuring Celeste Barber.
In February 2025, Sullivan sold her remaining stake in MCoBeauty to DBG Health and departed as CEO.
She subsequently signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
Sullivan has also worked with Hailey Bieber, Dannii Minogue, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Elle Macpherson in connection with ModelCo and MCoBeauty.
In 2005, Sullivan won the Young Entrepreneur category at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
In 2017, Sullivan was named Retail Executive of the Year at The CEO Magazine's Executive of the Year Awards.
In 2024, Sullivan won the Retail category at the Australian Financial Review Women in Leadership Awards.
Sullivan has spoken at conferences, including the Fortuna One Summit.
In 2015, Sullivan appeared in the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia as one of Mark Bouris's two boardroom advisers, along with Kerri-Anne Kennerley.
Sullivan married her high school boyfriend, Damien Barrett. They have two daughters, Lucy and Emily. In 2016, she married Anthony Sullivan and they separated in 2024.
She has a pet cavoodle named Chilli.