Alumni
Cruelty-Free Makeup Brand Hires Grad for Product Development Position
Born and raised in Orange County, California, Carla Ramirez was a freelance makeup artist who had a full-time career in education working with middle school aged kids for more than a decade. From a young age, Carla dreamed of attending FIDM, but life's challenges got in the way. But in 2015, Carla was able to make her longtime dream come true and she enrolled in the Beauty Industry Marketing & Product Development program. After earning an A.A. degree in 2017, she pursued a B.S. in Business Management at FIDM, and graduated in 2019. Today, Carla is the Product Development Coordinator at the cruelty-free makeup brand Dominique Cosmetics. We recently chatted with her to learn more about her story.
What was your path to FIDM? Working as a makeup artist, I was always fascinated with utilizing different products and always questioned if the product or packaging could be improved. The formulation is key as a makeup artist, as well as multi-purpose usage. This led me to change my career and pursue a new one in the beauty industry in marketing and packaging.
How did you decide to study Beauty Industry Marketing & Product Development? I took a leap of faith and made an appointment with Susan Pope at the OC campus and went from there. My dream at a young age was to enroll in FIDM, but sadly life happens and things are not always sunshine and rainbows. I couldn't afford to go, so I had to go with my other plans. As I grew older and was able to afford to attend FIDM, I made the decision to attend.
What led you to continue at FIDM for a B.S. in Business Management? I wanted to be able to work with any corporation in the beauty industry and fully understand what goes on behind doors. I wanted to get the correct education to fill in the gaps that I needed to work successfully with a beauty brand or maybe one day start my own skincare line.
Did you have any internships or part-time jobs while in school? I always worked full-time while attending FIDM. My career was in education working for a non-profit school program as an assistant supervisor for middle to high school kids. I also interned with Manna Kadar while working full-time and commuting to the LA campus from Orange County.
What do you love about the beauty industry and why? That it can be for everyone! There's a suitable product that can apply to any person. We're developing products to bring and accentuate the beauty within out.
Tell us about your current position at Dominique Cosmetics: I recently started as the Product Development Coordinator. I love that I can help develop a product from the ground up and enjoy swatching and customizing a product.
Do you still work as a professional makeup artist as well? Yes, I do it in my free time. My passion for beauty is endless. I enjoy lifting my client's spirits and introducing them to try new things, but because of Covid I'm currently not working with clients at the moment.
What are your ultimate career goals? At the moment, to gain as much experience as needed, complete my esthetician license, and maybe develop my own skincare company. I always suffered from acne-prone skin from a young age and taking care of my skin was one of the reasons I got into beauty.
You can keep up with Carla on Instagram @_carlitajoan.
Categories: Beauty Marketing & Product Development Business Management Alumni
