Hayek founded her own film production company, Ventanarosa, around the year 2000. In April 2007, she became CEO of the company after negotiations with MGM, and then in May that year she signed a two-year deal with ABC, under which Ventanarosa would develop projects for the network. The first film she produced was “El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba” (1999). She has gone on to produce other projects like the Showtime movie “The Maldonado Miracle” (2003), which she also directed; the NBC television show “Ugly Betty”, which aired from 2006 to 2010; and the film “Frida” (2002), which she co-produced and also starred in. Additionally, she has directed music videos for artists like Prince and Jada Pinkett Smith.
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her acting in the film “Frida”, and she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special for “The Maldonado Miracle”.
Since February 2004, Hayek has served as spokeswoman for Avon cosmetics. Other brands she has been spokeswoman for include the cosmetics brand Revlon (in 1998). She has modeled and starred in advertisement campaigns for brands like Chopard, Campari, and Lincoln cars. Additionally, Hayek has engaged in various entrepreneurial pursuits. She co-founded the juice delivery program Cooler Cleanse in 2008, with Juice Generation. Then, in 2017, she launched the beauty subscription delivery service Blend It Yourself along with Juice Generation founder Eric Helms. Through the service, customers could order pre-prepared items like organic frozen smoothies and ingredients for acai bowls. In 2011, Hayek also launched her own line of products at CVS in North America, Nuance by Salma Hayek, which included cosmetics, skincare, and haircare products.