Beatriz graduated in 2013 with minors in Marketing and Japanese.
She studied abroad in Japan at KCP International Language School.
Beatriz currently works as the Manager of Global Creative Operations at Estée Lauder.
Beatriz‘s Current Role
I work within a creative team and manage one of the biggest skincare luxury brands. Our marketing team requests seasonal assets for digital and in-store use. After they make the request, I manage the assets to ensure that they create it in time and within the budget. As such, I am the middle man between many stakeholders (internal/external).
Beatriz’s Career Path
I did marketing for a software company right after graduation. I then went to Japan to teach English for 2 years through the JET federal program. Upon returning, I worked at a dental office before getting referred into Scholastic to work in creative project management. I then worked at a travel company in NYC before being referred into Estée Lauder’s Global Creative team.
Beatriz on her Experience Abroad
Ever since I started learning Japanese in high school, I knew I wanted to study abroad in Japan. Although Japan is a metropolitan city like New York, they are not very similar. Not only are the trains punctual and the roads clean, the culture is different. For instance, Japanese people are distinctively polite, which can make it challenging to form deep connections because it’s hard to know what people are truly thinking. Another challenge was the limited English assistance in Tokyo at the time. Despite these challenges, I valued the experience as it allowed me to learn and grow. While NYC offers exposure to people from all around the world, living in another country allows you to fully immerse yourself in that culture. You are also forced to be entirely independent in a new environment.
Beatriz on Skills needed in the Beauty Industry
Be flexible. Industry trends are always changing quickly in the beauty industry, especially in Asia. As we are competing with them, we have to be very vigilant to any developments. Furthermore, sometimes even American brands will launch something competitive (towards us) that will require us to pivot really quickly. As such, be open to change, and keep up with what’s new!
Beatriz on Keeping Up with Trends
Since beauty trends are always changing, use platforms like social media to follow industry giants and their competitors. Also, think globally — don’t just focus on America. Korea and China have big markets for beauty, and they also use platforms different from us. For example, China uses Weibo. As such, explore different avenues to keep up with trends.
Beatriz’s Advice for Students
Networking: As an introvert, I wasn’t fond of hearing my professors harp on the need to network. However, I learned and realized that building connections goes a long way. I got my job at Estée Lauder through a connection! Getting internships and actively building relationships at work is a good way to go about this.
Be flexible in your career: You won’t always know what to do from the get go so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you have the opportunity to change jobs and try something new, do it. Especially when you are younger, you are able to try different things before settling on a career path.