Cosmetics entrepreneur, medical research trailblazer, and Women’s Hall of Fame inductee Victoria Jackson founded the global powerhouse brand Victoria Jackson Cosmetics. With her creation of the “No Makeup” makeup aesthetic, she irrevocably altered the beauty landscape and became the first person to market a cosmetics line on television. During her decade-long run on QVC, she developed more than six hundred products and generated a billion dollars in sales. Then in 2008, when her young daughter was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder and given four years to live, the mother of three shifted her focus from mascara to medicine. She and her husband, Bill Guthy, founder of the marketing behemoth Guthy-Renker, established The Guthy Jackson Charitable Foundation to fund research on NMO treatments and a cure. Victoria’s unrelenting determination proved effective: In 2016, the foundation developed the first NMO therapeutic, and soon after, three therapies received FDA approval. The unprecedented pace of that accomplishment prompted the American Academy of Neurology to declare 2019 “The Year of NMO.” In recognition of Victoria’s unswerving dedication to the NMO community, as well as her foundation’s groundbreaking research, feminist icon Gloria Steinem inducted her into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2016. The following year at the Vatican, Victoria accepted the Pontifical Key Advocacy Award for her personal and visionary approach to advancing the understanding of NMO around the globe. She has authored four books, including The Power of Rare: A Blueprint for a Medical Revolution. In 2021, her entrepreneurial journey came full circle when she partnered with Ellen DeGeneres to launch Kind Science, a skincare line.
"“In THE POWER OF RARE—an important book that paves the way to the future of personalized medicine—Victoria Jackson has given us a practical, user friendly blueprint for healing ourselves and our world.” - Dustin Hoffman ""I don't read books, I'm way too busy for that, but if I did I'd read this one. Victoria Jackson is one of my closest friends and one smart strong woman. Even when she texts me I read it over and over again because it's so well written. So I feel I can say with 100% confidence if you read this book you will learn something and see why I love and admire her so much."" - Ellen DeGeneres ""This book has everything: an uplifting, unforgettable story that sheds light on the widespread reality of 'orphan diseases', the transformational power of activist patients and parents, an empowerment manifesto that will change how you think and feel about what it means to be rare."" - Sherry Lansing, CEO, The Sherry Lansing Foundation ""I once said that it takes either desperation or inspiration to transform vision into reality. THE POWER OF RARE is the gripping story of how Victoria Jackson drew from the desperation to save her daughter from a life-threatening illness and used inspiration to create a revolutionary blueprint for curing rare and common diseases alike.” - Tony Robbins, New York Times bestselling author, internationally-acclaimed speaker, and peak performance expert “This is an important story about a mother’s push to transform the world of biomedical research. Victoria Jackson’s book is a reminder that power lives all around us, often in the most unlikely places.” - Maria Shriver “I have watched for a decade as Victoria Jackson has been funding and creating circles instead of hierarchies and has brought a new and unprecedented collaboration between NMO researchers, drug companies not prone to collaboration, and otherwise isolated patients.” - Gloria Steinem “Victoria Jackson has been an endless source of inspiration to me. Through the power of a mother's love she has transformed the competitive world of medical research. I'm so glad she has shared her blueprint in THE POWER OF RARE so more people can benefit from her tireless efforts.” - Reese Witherspoon"