Avalon Lukacs has always been resilient. But when she entered the corporate stratosphere, she quickly realized her tenacity would be capped and her would be ambitions curtailed. 
 
 
So she became her own boss and founded Aura Inner Beauty. Last week, Lukacs's story and success were celebrated when she won the RevolutionHER Momentum Small Business Award. 
 
Upon finding out that she had won, Lukacs was surprised and humbled.
 
"I am so used to being behind the scenes and pushing so hard, being all about the brand," she said. "That feeling of being celebrated...I was very happy."
 
When Lukacs made her foray into becoming an entrepreneur, she wanted to change the conversation about health supplements.
 
"I wanted to normalize the conversation," Lukacs said. "I want to educate people on the idea that we should invest in ourselves and in clean beauty."
 
Aura Inner Beauty specializes in creating and selling supplements that have no synthetic components in them, making them more unique and refined than the typical drug store brand. The company's motto is: Nourish your beauty from within.
 
Lukacs explained that part of the conversation in health and wellness comes down to cost. She underlined that one of the reasons her products may seem more expensive is because of how they're sourced and what they are.
 
"There are no synthetic ingredients," she said. "You know if we refrained from some of our daily purchases, like coffee, which is sugar and caffeine, we can invest in things that are better for us."
 
Lukacs vision and products even got on the radar of Hollywood starlet and powerhouse entrepreneur in her own right, Gwenyth Paltrow, and her brand Goop. Goop partnered with Lukacs to feature her products on their website. 
 
Maria Locker, the Founder, and CEO of RevolutionHER said that while the competition in the Momentum Small Business category was formidable, Lukacs stood out above them.
 
"She is a big proponent of educating the community and letting them know about alternatives to supplements and nourishing your body from the inside," Locker said. " Her inspiration for other women, whether they're looking to start a business or just following their own passions and pursuits, she really hit on so many of the target. And ultimately, that's what our winners do."
 
Over 1,600 women in the awards and Lukacs was competing against five other businesses in her category.
 
"She's really taking it to another level and, and showing alternative ways to really stay healthy," Locker said.
 
Locker, who herself is the founder of the globally recognized, socially-driven media company, RevolutionHer™ said that the role of women in C-suite roles is ever-evolving and changing for the better, and with companies like Aura Inner Beauty and with founders like Lukacs, the C-suite, women are given the opportunity to have strong, female role models in leadership roles. 
"I have a young daughter, she's 13. So for her to know that the word CEO can be attached to a woman and that she doesn't even bat an eye," Locker said.
 
For her part, Lukacs said that one of the driving factors of her businesses' growth is her own story.
 
"I’ve learned to trust myself, to be resilient, to deal with rejection, to keep finding new paths forward, and to somehow manage all of the stress knowing that [with] every step forward I take, it is all happening for a reason," she wrote in the finalist essay for the RevolutionHER awards.
 
For Lukacs what she does ignites a fire inside her, one she can't explain, but one that has propelled her products into some of the most luxurious and well-known stores across the globe, including reaching the zenith of luxury, Bergdorf Goodman in New York. 
 
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