Alumni

DIOR Partners With Beauty Business Management Students in Capstone Course

In their senior capstone course taught by Ashley Vilgiate and Tina Perez, students in the Bachelor of Science in Beauty Business Management Program were paired with top New York beauty brands to work on real-world projects specific to their business needs. Over the course of two quarters, the brands (Dior, Fresh, NARS, Indie Lee, Victoria’s Secret, Givaudan, and Pink) have been meeting online once a month with the students to check on progress, provide feedback, and oversee next steps. The students will be traveling to New York, March 20-23, to present their final projects to the beauty brands. We caught up with Team Dior (FIDM Students Alexandra Bernal, Ashley Tran, Jennifer Lee, and Rachel Schmitt) to learn more.

Briefly describe the Dior project you're working on: We are currently working on our senior capstone project and were paired with Parfums Christian Dior. The company needs help finding various strategies to create synergy with their couture and beauty, titled a “One Dior” experience. After conducting market research as well as having a deeper understanding of Dior Beauty, we have decided to pitch a “pop-up” museum experience that will integrate a 360 marketing approach to raise awareness of their couture and beauty collections.

What are some of the things you're learning about as you work on this project with Dior? We have immersed ourselves in a lot of research for this project. This project focuses a lot on event planning and marketing strategies. We are learning to understand the necessary steps that are needed to create a pop-up event along with understanding how important the consumer's journey is.

What kind of feedback has Dior provided? Working with Dior has taught us the importance of professional communication with coworkers as well as higher-ups. It has also taught us how to be detail-oriented with projects. Lastly, we have gotten the opportunity to improve on our public-speaking skills since we consistently present to the Dior team about project updates.

What is it like collaborating with your teammates? It's been great working with such an organized and well-communicative team. As our future careers will be collaborative, working as a group really prepares us for real-world experiences. This helps us develop the necessary skill sets needed to be successful in our professional careers.

When will you be traveling to New York to give your final presentation to Dior? We will be going to New York between March 20th - March 25th. So sometime in between then! We are very excited!

Alexandra Bernal was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan. She attended Granite Bay High School in California before FIDM where she earned her A.A in Beauty Marketing and Product Development and is now in her senior year of the B.S Business Management Program. She said, “I would like to start my beauty career in product development working on formulations and packaging. FIDM has provided a lot of resources for us to be successful, which I'm very grateful for. My passion lies in luxury beauty so to be able to work with a luxury beauty brand is my current goal.”

Ashley Tran was born and raised in Orange County, California, and attended University High School. With her A.A. in Beauty Marketing and Product Development, she will be graduating this year with her B.S. in Beauty Business Management and plans to work in marketing for a luxury or prestige skincare company. “The beauty marketing industry is so niche that it can be extremely challenging to break through if you don't have a source or connections. FIDM really helped me break into the industry while providing me with the necessary skills to achieve success,” said Ashley.

 
Jennifer Lee was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, and attended Issaquah High School. She has her A.A in Beauty Marketing and Product Development from FIDM and will soon be a graduate of the B.S. in Business Management Program. ”My career goal in the beauty industry is to be a content creator or a photographer for a beauty brand,” said Jennifer. “I always say my dream goal is to work for Fenty Beauty at their San Francisco HQ. As a creative person, I like to design and create content. I'm working on my own magazine at the moment, doing beauty editorial shoots. I find myself jumping all over the place because I’m always down for new opportunities; but ultimately will stick with a beauty brand I believe in and the luxury field as well. FIDM has guided me where to go especially when I started off wanting to pursue marketing; slowly each class gives me deeper insights into what interests me and what I want to keep doing once I graduate with my Bachelor’s degree.”

Born and raised in Santa Clarita, California, Rachel Schmitt attended Hart High School before pursuing a Makeup Artistry Certification at Make-up Designory in Burbank. She earned her A.A. in Beauty Marketing and Product Development from FIDM and is on track to graduate this year with her B.S. in Beauty Business Management. “Based on all the courses I’ve taken within the Beauty Management major,” explained Rachel, “I find myself most interested in product development and eventually want to work for a large beauty company, developing new products and formulations. FIDM has prepared me immensely for any segment of the industry I choose to partake in by giving us a vast range of curriculum and courses taught by industry professionals.”

Dior Photo | Courtesy of Z Graphica, Unsplash

Categories:  Beauty Business Management Beauty Marketing & Product Development Alumni Student