Ulta Beauty CEO says when you get passed up for career opportunities ‘you can either choose to be bitter or you can be better’

Being snubbed or overlooked for a role is a near universal experience in a career journey. When a setback hits, you should face it with grace and persistence, not resentment, according to Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman. 

“There have been times in all of our careers where we’ve been passed up, or we didn’t get that next role when we felt like we were ready for it,” Steelman said at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Conference in Washington, D.C., in October 2025. “And I said that the one thing that’s really true to me is...