Allison McNamara, Founder, MARA

Allison McNamara is TV host and fashion & beauty influencer who created the clean, algae-infused skincare line MARA.

Allison started her career hosting television and digital programs for outlets like Who What Wear, POPSUGAR, ABC’s Emmy-Award-winning Oscar red carpet pre-show, The Today show, and TV Guide Network.

She then took her experience to Refinery29 and ET Online where she created, hosted and produced beauty videos. But then the media-scape started to change, pivoting to social media, and her dreams changed.

On a trip to Istanbul in 2017, Allison came up with the concept for MARA, inspired by the sea. Growing up in a beauty-centred family, with her father working for brands such as Too Faced and Neutrogena, Allison always saw a future in the industry. And so, MARA was launched in 2018 with just one product.

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast, Allison talks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in chief of TheIndustry.beauty, about her career shift from influencer and presenter to beauty entrepreneur, what makes her line of skincare so special and what her plans are to develop her business moving forward

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Our Podcast series "In Conversation" brings you inspiring stories, retail insights and conversation from beauty's most influential business leaders.