Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) is a prestigious, non-profit international organization dedicated to empowering women in the beauty industry through networking, education, and career development opportunities.
Do you have any tips for getting the most out of CEW membership?
Read, read, and read the industry updates, interviews and attend the virtual speaker series. Go through the Forum Posts to see if you can be of any help to fellow members by making recommendations. Also utilize the messaging feature on the website to connect with fellow CEW members. The database is very well organized and it is a great way to connect.
What advice would you give someone who is inspired by your career and one day wants to be in a similar position?
Don’t think you’re done learning after a few years in the industry, it changes almost every second, it seems. Also, don’t think you are entitled to a position/title just because you think you are. You have to earn it and earning it takes time and experience. Then make sure you can hold the title for more than a day. This requires constant learning and continuing to push yourself and in my case, my team as well.
What do you feel is the most important quality for someone to possess in order you have a successful career?
No Phone texting to friends during your work hours (that’s why people work all night), Be honest to your co-workers and don’t think you’ll be going home at 5pm unless you earned it.
In which ways has the events surrounding Covid-19 affected your company and your day-to-day role?
In some ways, it didn’t affect us at all and it was business as usual. We’ve always worked with brands globally and had systems in place for communicating, tracking projects and files and we knew how to work remotely. But, we lost all our hospitality work in a matter of days and things certainly slowed down. The stress was really not knowing how long it would last and not being able to huddle as a team around a table to draw and work out design concepts.
What advice do you have for any beauty entrepreneurs, who are inspired to start their own companies during this time or entrepreneurs who already have a small business?
Know what you need and not just what you want. There are 4 things that must be known to start:
- Know your whitespace
- Know your message
- Know your audience
- Know your competitors
And 3 things that need to be followed.
Keep it simple – Focus on what matters most which should be on great product development and getting the brand off the ground. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. This doesn’t mean cutting corners or being cheap but spending on what matters most – product development, a strong brand image, packaging and a great website.