Rachel Kirchem, Brand Manager, Molton Brown
Please introduce yourself
I am a Brand Manager for Molton Brown. I started my career in Beauty as a licensing assistant in product development and from there moved across to Marketing, I love what I do and as someone who has always been a huge follower of beauty trends and brands it's a dream industry for me to be working in. For most of my career I’ve specialised in niche, luxury beauty so has worked with some really beautiful and exclusive brands.
What’s your favourite aspect of working within the Beauty and fragrance industry?
I truly think I’ve worked with some of the most amazing people I've ever met, I've worked for some really inspirational women who have taught me so much and helped me carve a career that I'm really passionate about, in terms of the day to day job, nothing beats the feeling of seeing something that you have worked on for months come to life; be that a big promotional site, a press event or an amazing piece on a website you've shopped on yourself for years, its bringing something to life that started as a conversation with your team, as a Brand Manager I can see the idea go from a concept to generating sales and that's always really exciting.
The industry has been going through some incredible changes. What are the most exciting opportunities for someone looking to start a career in the beauty industry?
The beauty Industry is so exciting, when you first get an insight into how it all works and you get to exercise your creativity, you start to realise how much you can do, the opportunities are endless. There’s always new, innovative things being created and amazing people to be inspired by. You can work with mass, affordable products or really exclusive, luxury brands across all different types of retailers which means that whatever experience you gain there is always more to learn. Marketing has changed so much with the shift to digital and there is still so much that hasn't ever been done so it's an amazing place to explore what you are capable of.
What’s your number 1 most important part you will take from last year and what’s your new focus for 2021?
One of the biggest lessons was that you have to be ready for anything, you can have everything planned out but realistically, like everything in life you truly never know what's around the corner. You have to be adaptable and trust your instincts, this year, not only in Beauty but across all industries some brands have really gone above and beyond to help and support and these are the brands that you aspire to work for.
Going into 2021 I want to continue adapting and focus on what we can do as a brand to keep up with the change in shopping culture, making sure our customers have an enjoyable shopping experience and feel inspired by what we are doing as a brand.
What’s your key Beauty tip or quote?
One of my greatest pleasures during lockdowns has been really making the most of at home self-care rituals, it's been a really vital part of 2020 and using more luxurious bath and shower products can really turn your day around.
How important is Copra to you?
Copra is really important for keeping the beauty world connected, I went to my first Copra ball a couple of years ago and seeing how much it brought everyone together and celebrated the whole industry was amazing. I knew it was the perfect fit for us as a brand. In times like these Copra has been amazing for bringing people together digitally like the interesting Instagram live series that have helped give people in and out of the industry a good insight into what everyone is up to. Having said that I know I am not alone in looking forward to 2021 to the days when we can all get together and celebrate the industry achievements face to face!
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