Orange County Business Journal to Celebrate the 21st Annual Women in Business Awards

IRVINE, Calif. - May 13, 2015 - PRLog -- The Orange County Business Journal proudly hosts  the 21st Annual Women in Business (WIB) Awards. Awards will be presented to five extraordinary professional women. Winners are chosen by based on the nominee’s accomplishments and contributions to the local community by a panel of judges (comprised of representatives from the event’s Diamond and Platinum-level sponsors in addition to a representative from the OCBJ).

Since the program’s inception in 1995, the Women in Business Awards have grown to become the largest women’s event in Orange County. Slated to take place at noon on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at the Hotel Irvine, the ceremony will celebrate female empowerment and the accomplishments of Orange County’s many outstanding women.

Founder and Previous Chairwoman of NYX Cosmetics and CEO of Butter Ventures Toni Ko will deliver the event’s keynote address. Ko is the founder of the multi-million dollar cosmetics brand NYX, which was recently acquired by the largest beauty company in the world, L’Oreal. Discovering a gap in the cosmetics market between prestige brands sold in department stores and mass brands sold in drugstores, Ko created NYX in 1999, with the goal of delivering professional, richly pigmented products at affordable prices. Working as a one-woman show from a 600-square-foot showroom in California, Ko began selling a single item – makeup pencils. She impressively generated two million dollars in sales during her first year, and quickly grew to become a leader in the color cosmetics industry, gaining the respect of such retail giants as Target, CVS and Ulta.

Ko credits her family as the primary influence on her education in the beauty business, having worked in their family-owned beauty supply store in Los Angeles, which her mother opened shortly after they immigrated from Korea when she was 13 years old. By the time Ko was 25, she had amassed over a decade of experience in the beauty industry, and was ready to find her own niche. At the time of sale, NYX had revenue growth of well over 100 million dollars and is currently available in thousands of retailers in over 70 countries.

Event Sponsors: Diamond Sponsor Union Bank; Platinum Sponsors Cox Business, Wells Fargo, Lugano Diamonds, BNY Mellon, Chase, Lindora, Bank of the West; Gold Sponsor St. John; Silver Sponsor HMWC CPAs & Business Advisors, Girl Scouts of Orange County, Allergan; Bronze Sponsors Preferred Hotel Group, Opus Bank, Hotel Irvine, UPS, Auto Club of Southern California, University of Phoenix

Tickets are $150 or $1,500 for a table of 10. Price includes parking.

For more information on the WIB Awards or on other OCBJ events, please visit www.ocbj.com/bizevents.