Hana Zalzal (CivE 8T8) managed to turn a teenage love of makeup into a successful Toronto-based cosmetic business that are both the favourites of many Hollywood celebrities and women, generally.

A civil engineer by training, Zalzal worked in various jobs, until she figured she wanted to be her own boss.

“I wanted to do something that would get me excited to get out of bed in the morning,” said Zalzal, 46, who founded CARGO cosmetics in 1996, which includes a professional brand that is used by the film and television industry.

She doesn’t see it as a job, simply a passion. She is happiest, she says, looking at what makeup women are wearing on the subway or spying on women put on makeup in public.

“I joke I’m the makeup whisperer. I listen to makeup artists. I listen to women and I bridge that gap,” Zalzal said.

As a busy mother of three, she often gets ideas for products when she’s with her kids, from a liquid foundation pouch modelled on a Kool-Aid Jammer to a blush and bronzer all-in-one.

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