How Urban Decay's Founder Made It Big

Urban Decay Chief Creative Officer Wende Zomnir. Courtesy photo.

As Chief Creative Officer and the founding partner of Urban Decay Cosmetics, Wende Zomnir leads one of the most innovative makeup brands on the market. Growing up around the world, Zomnir received an international education and eventually moved to California, where she began mixing nail polish in her cottage in Laguna Beach. Then, she partnered with Cisco Systems founder Sandy Lerner in 1996 to create the cosmetics company. Today, Zomnir lives in Newport Beach, California with her husband Doug, and two boys Crash (12) and Cruz (9), but she travels often to maintain inspiration. We scored her counsel on everything from defining success to living in sin.

My involvement in pageants at 19 was the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. I learned how to go pitch and sell, because you had to go to your community and get sponsors to help you buy your dress. Some people would get it and some people wouldn’t. You’d have men who weren’t convinced this was a good investment and I would have to take the high road and be like, “You’re going to give me a check anyway, right?” It’s a great education in business dealings.

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I graduated from the University of North Texas and finagled my way into ad agency Leo Burnett by winning a scholarship. It was filled with all these Ivy League MBAs, bachelor’s degrees from major schools, and here I was from this tiny school in Texas. My mentor, Christa Walton, took me under her wing. She recognized value in me and told me to rise to the occasion, and look what your peers are doing. She didn’t say this in a mean way, but in a way that showed me she believed in me.

Photo: Instagram

At an ad agency, you have to learn a business quickly. You’re assigned a new piece of business and you have to immerse yourself in it, be your client’s partner, and be valuable to them from day one. In the four years I worked there, I learned to be resourceful. Much of my experience there informed my decision to start a business and helped me when I initially called up potential buyers for Urban Decay. I learned how to present to a room full of people, how to sell ad concepts, and how to pitch.

Success for me used to be about making enough money to do the things you want to do, to go on a trip, et cetera. Now, it’s about having time and balance. The money is important, too, but it’s really about the luxury of time with my great family. You feel like you fall short when balancing family time, even though it becomes bigger and more meaningful. Before, it used to be easier—I could just work harder and make more money and be more successful. It was one-dimensional. Now things are a trade-off regarding time. I’ll want to finish a text or an email and my kids will tell me, “I’m here now!” I just have to turn off my phone and say, “I’m here for you.”

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As for dating advice, I’m going to sound like a grandma, but: Don’t live with anyone. When you live with someone, it clouds your judgment about whether you really need to be with that person forever. You get into a routine with them and then you’re suddenly on a path; it’s that inertia thing. Once you decide you want to be married/committed to a person, move forward with cohabitation with that decision being made. I can advise on this because I serial-lived with people throughout my twenties. I had three serious relationships and moved in every time without a clear vision of whether it was right for me. It’s hard to extract yourself when you don’t feel the relationship is right, and you end up spending too long in the relationship.

I’ve always been into makeup. I got sent home from school when I was 13 for wearing too much. A priest at school told me I hide behind my mask of makeup and I was like, “No, this is me telling the world who I am.” I was offended by it. He’s saying I’m hiding and I’m telling him something about me. I realized then no one is going to tell me how to look or dress. For the record, I wasn’t a Tammy Faye stunt double—I was just having fun with it.

My mom was a flight attendant who grew up on a cotton farm with no running water in central Texas as one of 13 kids. When she and her sisters would go pick cotton, they’d wear makeup because they felt it protected their skin. This was really innovative thinking at the time; no one talked about that kind of thing then.

Most girls buy a lip gloss or a lipstick on their first makeup shopping trip. My mom bought me foundation when I was 13. We went to Merle Norman and I got an oil-free one. In my early twenties, I’d wear hot-pink shadow to my brows, ‘80s style.

I’d tell my 20-something self to vet anyone coming near my brows. Once I let a makeup artist on a photo shoot in the early ‘90s do my brows and he full-on Pam Andersoned me. I felt like a plucked chicken, naked. Afterward, I didn’t recognize myself. I had a fine, tiny line and I used to have full, thick brows. I looked like a drag queen.

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I’d also tell my 20-something self not to believe I can do everything myself. Don’t be afraid of people bigger, smarter, and with more experience than you. Try to surround yourself with capable people—not halfway people you can be the boss of, but find those who can really add value and tell it like it is. Second, be super confident. If you really believe in your concept, don’t sell yourself short about where you can go with it. Believe in your worth and value.