Mary Harcourt grew up on the East Coast and was born with an adventurous soul. Between drives to New York and Atlantic City, hiking up waterfalls in Pennsylvania, and going to find the nearest beach, Mary lived life with an exploration mindset from the start. At a young age, Mary dove into hard work and typically held multiple jobs at the same time. She would keep one job for living expenses, and one for the fun things. Once she discovered her love for travel, Mary got really serious about it.

Over the course of a few years,  taking months off at a time, Mary spent all her spare time traveling. She visited 64 countries and hopes to add more!  After settling down in Los Angeles, Mary bought a salon and grew her business over 5+ years into the area’s leading eyelash extension spa. She ran a fully staffed, fully booked, 5-star Yelp-reviewed salon.  With lots of lashing/client time on her hands, she imagined what the perfect light for lashing would look like, what it needed to do, and how to get away from lights made for other industries. There was not a light made for lashing, and she’d tried everything: makeup lights, photography lights, Ikea lamps... nothing fixed the issues she’d had as a lash artist. She knew that if she was frustrated and struggling, everyone around her must be too.  

Mary tried to imagine what that process of building her perfect lash light would be like, thinking to herself, 'I don't come from a manufacturing background. I don't even know what the word means!'  Learning that manufacturing is "the skill and process of making things," grew her curiosity and her explorative mind and personality traits took over… Maybe I COULD do this! Mary knew this lighting idea would innovate the entire industry,  and that is exactly what she did. Starting with prototypes in her salon, tweaking them, adding upgrades and changes along the way, it was exciting to see this idea come out of her head and into reality. But... how would she ever find the time to launch her light project while working full time, managing a staff, and taking clients?  Where there's a will, there's a way!

When Covid hit in 2020, Mary’s salon was shut down by the state for 9 months. We all know this feeling, and Mary ate a whole king-size bar of chocolate, drank some wine, then cried it out for a week. Next, she got down to business and pivoted - Mary knew lashing would be back, but right now she had the one thing she’d never had: the gift of time and a free schedule. Unable to work, no ability to travel, and a head full of ideas - the rest is history., and the CosmoGlo Light was launched in 2020.  

Mary is just like you. She's an artist navigating the world, encountering obstacles, and finding ways around them! She took an unplanned situation and turned it into a remarkable product. If she can change the world with an idea thought up in a lash room, you can too! You just have to be willing to take the leap and go for it.

Starting is the first step to all of it,  so we welcome you to join Mary Harcourt, Founder, and CEO of CosmoGlo on her new podcast Ready.Set.Glo! Mary is excited to share the knowledge she’s learned over the years from traveling to mindset shifts to growing a business and learning everything there is to know in a totally new industry. You’ll learn more about the process behind starting CosmoGlo, how other leaders created their unique pathways, and pick up tips on how to begin your own journey.