About Nancy



“Betty is Wildly and Wonderfully original – Nancy is one part Nancy Drew, one part Benjamin Franklin”
- Vogue Magazine

Nancy Jarecki has always played by her own rules. The innovator behind the multiple award- winning company bettybeauty, inc., was born in Kansas, studied art in Texas, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an artist. Recognized as one of the up and coming Southern California artists by LA Weekly, Nancy showcased her art at numerous shows and in corporate art collections.

As Nancy continued on her entrepreneurial path in Los Angeles, she was tapped in early 1986 by the creators of a startup cable network to help develop and launch a cable network called Movietime. The following year she was an instrumental part of the launch team for the network now known as E! Entertainment Television.

During this time, Nancy met her husband, Andrew Jarecki, who was visiting Los Angeles to launch his company, MovieFone. She soon moved to New York to join him, helping him develop the business, and starting their new family. In 1999, the Jareckis sold MovieFone to AOL Time Warner started a movie production company as well as moved their family to Rome, Italy, where they were completing work on the Oscar-nominated film Capturing the Friedmans documentary.

While in Rome, where they lived for two years, Nancy had an experience that gave her the impetus to start her own innovative beauty products company, bettybeauty, inc. Visiting a hair salon, she noticed women leaving with small “take home” bags. When she inquired as to what they were, the receptionist told her they were a bit of extra hair color for “the hair down there – to make it match!” Realizing that women across America would love a commercially-available product to color this important area, Nancy began developing the first safe color for the hair down there to fulfill this unmet need in the beauty market. Now know as the popular and award winning specialty hair color kits as: BLONDE betty, BROWN betty, AUBURN betty, BLACK betty, FUN betty, and LOVE betty. Nancy’s creation of these innovative products won her multiple awards in 2007 and 2008; ‘Innovator of the Year’ by Independent Cosmetics Manufactures and Distributors. As well as winning the 2008 prestigious Cosmetic Executive Women’s, ‘indie’ award*. (*considered the Oscars of the beauty industry)

In addition to running her bettybeauty, inc. business, Nancy had the biggest challenge of her life this past year when she suffered a massive burst brain aneurysm. Nancy is now working in concert with Inkwell Literary Management and Creative Artists Agency, on a book and media projects about her miraculous recovery from her near fatal death and dealing with the subject of adversity, spirituality and business.

Nancy has had a lifelong interest in charitable causes. She believes business and philanthropy are one with each other. Nancy is a member of Robin Hood Foundation Leadership Council board of directors. She has also served as chairman and sits on the board of Project ALS (the leading organization raising funds and awareness to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and was honored with the organization’s David Niven Award. She is a board member of New Yorkers for Children, an organization changing foster care and aging out group homes.

Nancy lives in New York City with her husband and three children.