From e.l.f. Cosmetics to the Catholic priesthood: The unlikely journey of Scott Borba

Once known for building the beauty empire behind e.l.f. Cosmetics into a household name, Scott Borba spent decades immersed in boardrooms, branding, and the fast-moving world of consumer culture.

Today, however, his focus has shifted from profit margins to parish ministry. After years serving as a Catholic deacon, Borba now stands on the threshold of an even more profound calling: ordination to the priesthood.

In 2004, Borba — alongside father and son Alan and Joseph Shamah — founded the cruelty-free makeup brand e.l.f. Cosmetics, which stands for “eyes, lips, face.” By the mid-2010s the brand had reached immense levels of success thanks to its affordable prices and ethical products. By 2014, the makeup brand reached $100 million in sales.

Living a life of luxury, in his 40s Borba began to experience a call from God. In 2019, Borba gave up the fortune he had acquired from e.l.f., donating it all to different charities, and entered seminary in the Diocese of Fresno, California.

Borba was ordained a transitional deacon on June 21, 2025, and will be ordained a priest on May 23.

In an interview with “EWTN News Nightly,” Borba shared that he first felt the calling to the priesthood when he was 10 years old but, feeling unworthy, he “ran away from the call and in the process I was running away from my faith also.”

“I had a very big conversion when I was 40,” he added. “At that time, I was in transition of different businesses and through the help of God I was able to understand the state of my soul and where I was headed. I really wanted to recalibrate my life with him and to re-entertain what he offered me when I was 10.”

It was during a house party that Borba realized how lonely, empty, and unloved he felt, despite having everything in terms of material wealth.

“That was another grace from God that he gave me to understand my unhappiness,” he said. “Then he allowed me to ask him the question, ‘Help me be the man you created me to be, but I can’t do it without your help.’ And that’s when the love and mercy came into my life.”

Borba explained that after that moment, his journey continued with the sale of one of his luxury cars. All proceeds were donated to charity, and when he saw “how it could affect people’s lives with positive change — helping with the poverty and the homelessness — that was the key that God, Our Lord, used with me to open the floodgates for the rest of it to go.”

Letting go of the material wealth was one of the hardest aspects of the transition from secular life to religious life, Borba shared. The former beauty mogul went from owning houses to “living in a little tiny room” when he entered St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.

“You can’t fit everything in there, so you have to make a decision to hold onto it or not. And the seminary gives you the opportunity to figure that out — to either unite to his will or not,” he said. “So, for me, it was to have to give that up. It took me years to get comfortable with that, but now I’m actually in tons of peace knowing that I don’t have many possessions and that I can actually travel and focus on where ministry and Our Lord takes me.”

“Once I surrendered to him and understood the reality of why I’m here, why we’re all placed here, is to get back in union with him, it literally changed my life,” he shared.

Borba encouraged those who might also be ignoring God’s call in their lives to “not give up.”

“If Our Lord is calling you and you’re just not ready for the call, ask him to have patience with you and to direct you in the life that you’re currently in. But let me tell you, if we orient ourselves to God right now, he takes care of everything for us in this life as well as prepares us for the next,” he said.

“If we’re able to do his will, the joy and the love and the success will come, but itʼs oriented to his divine providence. That’s what I didn’t know, that is the truth, and that’s what I want to let everyone know: Put him first and everything will fall into place, I promise you.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/from-e-l-f-cosmetics-to-the-catholic-priesthood-the-unlikely-journey-of-scott-borba