Vanessa Kuykendall is Chief Engagement Officer and Co-Founder of Market Defense, a leading marketplace agency helping beauty and lifestyle brands grow across Amazon, retail media, and emerging commerce channels. She leads enterprise marketing and client engagement, shaping how brands connect with today’s increasingly complex, non-linear customer journey.

With nearly three decades in the beauty industry, Vanessa has held leadership roles at The Body Shop, MAC Cosmetics, Estée Lauder, Tiffany & Co., and Beauty.com—one of the first pureplay online beauty retailers, which reached nearly 2 million monthly visitors and was later acquired with Drugstore.com by Walgreens for $500 million. During her 10-year tenure, she ultimately led the Beauty.com business, working with over 4,000 brands and helping bring breakout names like IT Cosmetics and Paula’s Choice into ecommerce.