Features Lifestyle

Meet Victoria O’Brien, Founder of Maud’s of Beverly Hills

Mauds of Beverly Hills - Victoria O'Brien

I connected with Victoria through one of our previous posts, 44 Reasons Why We Love Los Angeles. I loved her answer so much that I featured her in the piece and also wanted to try out Maud’s of Beverly Hills. I was looking for a place to get my eyelash extensions done after months of traveling. When I finally met Victoria in person, I knew that I wanted to introduce you to the woman behind the business.

From the corporate world to motherhood and now successful entrepreneur, Victoria O’Brien is a true, hardworking Irish success story. Born and raised in County Down, Northern Ireland, Victoria worked in the airline business in her early career before heading to Australia, where she established herself working for 3 major blue chip corporates in regional operations roles.

After moving to Dubai with her husband, motherhood intervened as Victoria took a sabbatical for 8 years to raise her 3 children. Two years ago, Victoria had a vision for her own business.

Her global experience, combined with her extraordinary passion for LA, led her search for the right opportunity. She designed, created and only months later, launched Maud’s of Beverly Hills, a boutique beauty parlor with only 3 lines of service and named after her grandmother Maud.

With such success in her career to date it was no surprise that Maud’s was immediately a huge hit and nominated by the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce for a Golden Palm Award. Given the competitive nature of the business, especially in Beverly Hills, the achievement is quite extraordinary. Maud’s goes from strength to strength as Victoria looks to expand the business during 2017/2018.

Clients and friends know Victoria for her kind and generous spirit. A Deacon at the local church in Beverly Hills and an active mother at her children’s school, she is committed to her community as a volunteer, as much as, she is a woman in business.

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Tell us about yourself.

I’m 42 years old. I’m married. I have 3 children and a dog. I’m known for being fearless. I’m kind and very thankful for my blessed life.

Where are you from?

I am from a town called Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland.

What brought you to LA?

Living in LA had been a dream of mine for over 20 years and I was determined to do move here before I turned 40. (I just made it 3 months before my 40th birthday!)

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What’s your favorite thing about LA?

Aside from the adorable, gangly palm trees, LA has a magical ‘anything is possible’ vibe about it. It has always appealed to me.

What is your favorite LA neighborhood?

It used to be Beverly Hills, but now that I live here, I favor the Hollywood Hills.

What has been your favorite LA experience?

Over my years of visiting LA, I had already experienced so much of it, but since moving here, my absolute favorite experience has been setting up my business and watching it thrive. Its success has succeeded all my expectations.

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How did you come up with the idea to start Maud’s of Beverly Hills?

The idea came to me when we were living in Qatar. I had wanted to move to LA and start my own business. It had to be something that would work with my family as I’m a mum to 3 children. I’m not a beautician, but having lived in various cities around the world (Sydney, London and Dubai) and experienced many different salons and spas of varying quality, I decided that I wanted to combine the best of my experiences and create my own salon.

I decided that I would select the best lash brand, Xtreme Lashes and the best wax brand Lycon and this is what we would focus on. The name was easy… if it was going to be a beauty business then it only made sense to name it after my beautiful grandmother, Maud.

What do you love about your LA customers?

We have a fabulous mix of clients that I wouldn’t get anywhere else in the world. Our clients are so diverse and I love it!!

What inspires you?

I get inspiration from different things. In business, I’m surrounded by a lot of successful working mothers who have achieved so much, and continue to do so.

Look at Alli Webb who created the Dry Bar… she and other working mothers are truly inspirational to me! The Maud’s point of difference was always intended to be about quality and service and so when I continuously receive positive feedback from our clients, it inspires me to keep doing what we’re doing.

In my personal life, I am a bit of prayer warrior lol! Daily morning prayer never fails to provide some inspiration for the day ahead.

What’s next for you?

Maud’s is still young and I’m still growing the business here in LA, but I see a demand in what we do and the quality and consistency we offer and so I feel like expansion will naturally be the next step. I’m getting inquiries for international locations so who knows where we will pop up next!