About Us

In a nut shell

Sullivan Beauty is a supplier of professional haircare, skincare, makeup, nailcare, tools, equipment, education and consultation to licensed barbers and beauty industry professionals throughout the six New England states of MA, CT, RI, NH, VT & ME.

Our headquarters, professional showroom, and Learning Center are strategically located in Southern New Hampshire, enabling next-day shipping to all of our territory’s clientele from this centralized hub. Our team of widespread Sullivan Beauty Consultants, paired with our Inside Sales Concierges and Customer Care members, pride themselves in accommodating our client’s needs to the best of their ability while maintaining the high level of professionalism and customer service that our former C.B. Sullivan Company famously set the standard for.

• To take advantage of any of the on-going education classes readily available to you, explore and signup at: www.sullivanbeauty.com/edu
• To learn more about the ever-growing portfolio of brands that we offer please explore our 24/7 web-store at: www.sullivanbeauty.com
• To request service or samples at your place of business, please contact us at: Customercare@sullivanbeauty.com

Sullivan Beauty Owners, Tyler, Lauren & Kerry Sullivan

70+ Years of Roots 

Sullivan Beauty is New England’s longest standing independent beauty supply distributor. C.B. Sullivan Sr., and his wife, Claire, founded C.B. Sullivan Company in 1945 as a traveling “route sales” barber-supply operation that would eventually evolve into the largest independently-owned and family-run professional beauty supplier on the East Coast of the U.S. with 32 professional stores throughout N.E.’s 6 states.

Left: Claire & Charles “Sully” Sullivan, Founders of C.B. Sullivan Co.; Right: Sully & his 1st child, “C.B. Jr.”

After our father, C.B. Jr., bought the family company from his parents in 1980, he and his 4 siblings grew the business from their parent’s NH-based beauty supply store to N.E.’s benchmark beauty supply distributor. This change of hands would enable Cosmetologists, Barbers, and Beauty Professionals alike to rely on “C.B.’s” as their primary source for products, equipment, professional tools, education, consultation and epic inspirational hair shows.

The Family Behind the Name, (from left to right) C.B., Rick, Donna, Claire, Charles, Mark & Jeff Sullivan

During his 30-year tenure at the helm (1980-2010,) C.B. achieved many significant milestones and contributions that would make him and his reputation legendary throughout the beauty industry. A few of his notable pioneering achievements included:

• Developing seasonal promotions like, liter duos and holiday kits, that are now common practice for manufacturers

• Securing the nation-wide distribution for all of the “JC Penny” brand salons

• Introducing and building brands like, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Matrix (Biolage,) Tigi (Bed Head,) Farouk (CHI,) Aquage, Nioxin & others who are now household names

• Earning Modern Salon’s “Distributor Of The Year” award

• Single-handedly hosting the largest “Beauty Classic” annual trade-shows in New England for thousands of beauty professionals

Presenting the “Claire M. Sullivan” Award at the Annual Awards Banquet

The next chapter

C.B. Sullivan Co. is acquired in 2010, sub-dividing the business into SalonCentric & P.M.N.N.E.

In 2010, after 50+ years of servicing N.E. beauty professionals, it came time for our family to embrace the inevitable changes, that were affecting the nation’s largest distributors, and sell our company. This would be the most difficult decision that C.B. had to make in his entire career. Nevertheless, he made the decision to sell his baby after carefully evaluating his options. In June of 2010 SalonCentric, a division of L’Oreal, purchased C.B. Sullivan Company, adding New England’s largest distributor to their portfolio of acquisitions and to their network of 900+ stores across the nation.

That wasn’t the end of our reign, however. It was an opportunity to reposition ourselves for the next evolution of beauty supply distribution. C.B strategically arranged to maintain the exclusive distribution of John Paul Mitchell Systems in the states of New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. This would allow us to set up a separate distributorship and keep our family and name in the beauty industry. For the next 7 years (2010-2017), we would operate under the name, Paul Mitchell of Northern New England, continuing to manage one of the primary brands that brought us to the dance a few decades prior.

The 3rd generation of the Sullivan Beauty Family takes over; (from left) C.B., Linda, Kerry, Lauren & Tyler Sullivan

This exciting time in our careers allowed for a few key benefits that have shaped how we do business today. Firstly, we were working with our father as a direct business partner and our CEO. It was a Master Class in first-rate distribution with an emphasis on what was truly important in a complicated business model. It also presented an opportunity for our current Board Of Directors, Tyler, Kerry and Lauren Sullivan, to hone our strengths under the wise guidance of our father. And it gave us the ability to thoroughly dig into an amazing collection of JPMS brands, rich in programs and support, which resulted in significant growth in our market place and provided a number of significant milestones in our career. One of our proudest being when we hosted our first 1,000-person hair show with the brilliant Robert Cromeans & team!

Legends Never Die

“The most positive and enthusiastic human being I’ve ever known!” – J.P. DeJoria, of John Paul Mitchell Systems, on his good pal, C.B.

In 2015, our founding father, CB, left our side here on earth to become Sullivan Beauty’s guardian angel. As so many of our caring customers have had questions about CB’s unexpected death, the following is a short synopsis of how the event unfolded.

In October, 2015, CB was having a wonderful vacation in Colorado with his wife and some of his best friends, John Paul and Eloise DeJoria. Due to his cancer radiation treatments years prior, he had been fighting a jaw infection with an antibiotic which he had forgotten at his home in California. Therefore, dad’s oncologist prescribed him a similar antibiotic that he picked up in Colorado. Due to an unusual, but not unheard of, reaction to the newly prescribed medication, CB had a sudden anophylactic reaction which cut off his airway. When news came of CB’s accident our whole family flew to Colorado to be with him. Although all life saving measures were taken, four days later with his family by his side, dad passed away. After fighting and beating a struggle with throat cancer nearly ten years prior, it was shocking that something so unexpected took him away.

During this tumultuous time, we found great solace in the onslaught of support from so many lives that dad touched. His iconic presence in the beauty industry is emphasized now throughout our network of acquaintances who continue to shape our trajectory and lend to our success, almost like a stronger force is behind them. Dad’s teachings remain with us and his spirit lives on through Sullivan Beauty.

Sullivan Beauty – The Phoenix Rises

Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes, Sullivan Beauty is Reborn in it’s Modern Iteration of N.E.’s Longest Standing Beauty Supplier

By recovering the usage of our name, we honor our deep heritage, we challenge ourselves to maintain the strong reputation of customer care that our former C.B. Sullivan Co. was known for, and we capitalize on the familiarity of our name. And most importantly to us, is that it’s a nod to our dad who is our company’s founding father and the front-man who made the “Sullivan” name industry-renown. Dad helped us to define our mission, build our team, and bestow his core principles upon us which are the foundation of Sullivan Beauty.

We pride ourselves in representing quality, responsible, supportive brands that align with our principles. Our mission is to help beauty professionals grow through innovation, inspiration, and education. We will provide the finest service, products, and tools that support your business and goals. Our team embraces C.A.N.E.I. (Constant And Never Ending Improvement) in order to best serve our clients. We believe that our motto, “your success is our success,” one of dad’s favorite quotes, truly only happens in that order.

Talk To Us

Sullivan Beauty’s Executive Directors, Kerry, Lauren & Tyler Sullivan

We warmly accept and encourage any feedback or recommendations that you may have. Contact our Board Members directly at the below email addresses.

Kerry Sullivan, President & Director of Sales: kerry@sullivanbeauty.com Lauren Sullivan, Director of Customer Experience: lauren@sullivanbeauty.com Tyler Sullivan, Direct of Business Development: tyler@sullivanbeauty.com

Business Development Director

“I love being part of Sullivan Beauty because we carry on a legacy of helping professionals succeed.”

Client Experience Director

“I love being a part of Sullivan Beauty because we all work hard to uphold the reputation of this 3rd generation family business for the purpose of benefiting our incredible customers.”

President & Director of Sales

“I love Sullivan Beauty because we are able to pioneer new ideas to bring our customers success and uncharted waters are so thrilling and can be sooooooo rewarding”

Operations Director

“There’s always a plan.”

Distribution Center Director

” In the years I have been with the Sullivan Family  I have been given the  amazing opportunity to learn and grow with the Company both professionally and personally.”

Purchasing Director

“I appreciate the people at Sullivan Beauty, both the Sullivan Beauty Team and our family of Salons! All are such Fantastic people to work with 🙂 and all have a PASSION for what they do!”

Client Care Specialist

“I love being a part of Sullivan Beauty because we are all like family, and we strive to make our customers feel the same way!”

Client Care Specialist

“CB Sullivan was a large part of my professional career and now I get the privilege of working with this exceptional family to help fulfill their vision. YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS!”

Showroom Supervisor

“Managing Sullivan Beauty’s Professional Showroom gives me the great pleasure of meeting and helping so many wonderful professionals. I especially enjoy all of the new additions that we continue to add, like our barbering department.”

Sullivan Beauty Consultant

“My aspiration is to help salons stay inspired by using the latest products and providing them with the latest techniques in the beauty industry while helping them to grow their business.”

Sullivan Beauty Consultant

“Being a part of Sullivan Beauty gives me the opportunity to bring the best products in the industry to salons.”

Sullivan Beauty Consultant

“I love being part of Sullivan Beauty because it feels like family! Our mission, our culture and everything we do is about make people’s lives better, it’s a beautiful thing.”