Trading her investment banking job for a beauty brand banked Mona $150 million

Born in the US to Iraqi parents, Mona Kattan moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2002 to pursue a career in finance. 

Instead, she helped build two of the biggest beauty brands in the Middle East; Huda Beauty and Kayali perfume. Now she's worth hundreds of millions.

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"I was an investment banker before starting in the beauty and fragrance industry, which is a male-dominated industry," Mona tells 9Honey Style.

"One of the reasons I left is that I was never treated the same and felt extremely excluded."

So she left to help launch Huda Beauty with sisters Huda Kattan, a prolific YouTube beauty guru who went by 'Huda Beauty' online, and Alya Kattan in 2012.

Breaking into the beauty business in the Middle East was tough for three women, but the sisters had one another for support.

Working with her sisters had its drawbacks at times, but the three of them leaned on each other so much at the start of their business journey.

"It added a lot of value in the very early days as we were trying to build the business and pioneer together," Mona says, then laughs.

"[We] don't work closely anymore, which is probably for the best."

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Now Huda Beauty is valued at around $1.2 billion and in 2018 Mona struck out on her own with fragrance label Kayali, the first sub-brand of Huda Beauty.

The name means 'my imagination' in Arabic and it became a viral sensation off the back of Huda Beauty's popularity.

"I was really inspired by the Middle East and their beautiful rituals surrounding fragrance and layering," Mona says of the idea behind the brand.

The perfumes, which retail for up to $133 for just 50ml, are unique in that they're formulated to be layered over one another or with other perfumes.

Few Australians are in the habit of mixing fragrances, but Mona insists it will give Aussies a more full-bodied and long-lasting scent.

"You can layer as many fragrances as you want," she says, but it's best to start simple.

"You should start with creating a good base for your fragrances … I recommend going for fragrance notes like amber, sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, musk or oud."

Once you've spritzed yourself with a perfume like that, add your signature fragrance or something seasonal.

Mona's go-to at the moment is Kayali's Eden Sparkling Lychee | 39, a fruity fragrance that makes her feel "radiant and confident".

Then just add a touch of vanilla perfume at the end to round out your layered fragrance and ensure it lasts all day.

If you don't have a signature scent yet, Mona suggests investing in a discovery set of mini fragrances so you can try a bunch without paying a fortune.

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Eight years after starting Kayali, she's proud to be part of the new era of Middle Eastern businesswomen proving sexist attitudes wrong.

"Although the beauty industry is better [than investment banking], it's not completely there yet," she says.

"The best advice I can give is to never give up and never change who you are."

It seems to have worked for her; Mona is reportedly worth between $140 million and $300 million today.