Alumni
Grad is the Founder and CEO of Girl Consulting
Valerie Lozano was born in Del Rio, Texas, raised throughout California, and lived in England on two separate occasions thanks to her father’s military career. After earning a degree in Merchandise Product Development from FIDM in 2006, Valerie worked in sales for over 10 years and successfully launched products in retail stores such as Nordstrom, Sephora, Ulta, Dillard’s, Walmart, and Macy's. In 2017, she went out on her own as a business consultant. Now the FIDM Alumni Chapter Representative for Las Vegas and the Founder and CEO of Girl Consulting, Valerie just launched her first two e-book workbooks, Building your Brand Identity and How to Find Your Ideal Customer, which are available on her website. We recently chatted with the FIDM Alumna to learn more about her exciting journey.
What was your path to FIDM? When I first found out about FIDM, I was attending community college. I was taking a Fashion Merchandising class, and at the time was very into fashion (making my own clothes, thrifting, and shopping for unique finds). My instructor told us about FIDM, so I decided to take a tour of both the Los Angeles and Orange County campuses. After the tour, I was sold! FIDM screamed creativity and that is where I knew I had to go.
How did you choose your major and campus? I was torn between Merchandise Product Development or Merchandising & Marketing, but felt like MPD had a little bit of both so decided to go with that. I liked both the Orange County and LA campuses and attended OC my first year and LA my second year. By attending both, I had the opportunity to experience the smaller campus vibe my first year, and once I was acquainted with FIDM as a whole, I attended and graduated from the main campus.
What were some key lessons you learned at FIDM? I learned that the more you put yourself out there in life, the more you will get out of it. I think this lesson has played out continuously in my career and has benefited me significantly. When I was at FIDM, I was always looking for ways to network with other students, connect with others in the industry, and volunteer my time to get hands-on experience at fashion shows and with many non-profit organizations.
Any favorite FIDM memories? First and foremost, I met one of my best friends at FIDM. We had the same History of Costume class and immediately clicked when we met. No matter the distance, we still make time to catch up and I am very grateful for our friendship that began at FIDM. When I went to the LA campus, I always enjoyed when we would get to visit different fashion spots downtown like the California Mart, Santee Alley, and many others. There was so much culture and unique style at school, it was definitely fun to see and get ideas from for my own style.
Tell us about your work experience over the last 10 years: I had only been living in Las Vegas for a few months, and scored a job at the corporate office of a sunless tanning company. My position started out as an Assistant to the Sales Director, but in a few short months grew into so much more! I helped launch this brand in some of the biggest names in retail: Sephora, Ulta, Macys, Dillard’s, Nordstrom. After four years, I was hired as an Account Executive for a sports supplement company. I continued to work with corporate accounts such as GNC and Vitamin Shoppe, and went out with a bang when we secured Wal-Mart.
When I was working with this company, I was representing many beauty brands on the side. In 2017, I started thinking to myself, why don’t I start my own consulting business? I launched my first business, Mia Mac Brand Consulting, in 2017 and have been going strong since. The main goal with Mia Mac was to help beauty brands increase their distribution and sales. Fast forward to 2020 — Girl Consulting was born!
How did you come to found Girl Consulting? I had outgrown the Mia Mac brand and wanted to create a new business identity that was catchy and clearly identified my target audience. My goal for Girl Consulting is to provide business tools in the form of e-book workbooks for entrepreneurs who need assistance in branding, learning how to find their ideal customer, and mastering their sales pitch. In addition to the ebooks, I will continue to work with brands, ultimately helping them see what is working in their business and most importantly what isn’t. This is the foundation for building a successful brand strategy, ultimately growing a business that’s here to stay!
What is the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur? Helping business owners build their dream brands. I love seeing the before and after of working with a brand. Plus, the flexibility and working on your own terms isn’t so bad either.
Did Covid play a role in the services you currently offer? With entrepreneurship on the rise, especially since Covid, I launched my e-book workbook series to offer affordable resources to help new/existing business owners. Check out my e-books titled Building your Brand Identity and How to Find Your Ideal Customer on my website and use code GIRL to receive 25 percent off through midnight on December 31, 2020.
Anything else you’d like to add? If you have any other questions I can help with, please don’t hesitate to fill out my contact form on my website or DM me on Instagram. I look forward to connecting!
Learn more about Valerie and Girl Consulting when she does an Instagram takeover @fidm on December 21, 2020.
Visit Girl Consulting online at girlconsulting.com and on Instagram @val.girl.
Categories: Merchandise Product Development Alumni
