Alumni
Keana Hoard Hired at New Los Angeles Beauty Brand Petite n Pretty
As a teenager, Keana Hoard developed an interest in beauty product development. She decided she wanted to create beauty products that would make girls happy the way they did for her. This inspiring alumna, who also just participated in the NY Beauty Study Tour, was hired at Petite ‘n Pretty, a new beauty brand that launched this summer in Los Angeles.
FIDM Majors: A.A., Beauty Marketing & Product Development; A.A., Beauty Industry Management; B.S., Business Management
Tell us about the NY Beauty Study Tour: This Beauty Tour taught me so much about the industry. It opened my eyes and showed me a different perspective—from the brand’s point of view—that we as consumers don’t often see. We met with amazing companies including Intercos, Dior, Philosophy, Tula, Victoria’s Secret, Fresh, and Coty. A huge thing I learned was that brands aren’t as scary as I thought they’d be. We went into it a bit intimidated, but the people we met were really interested and invested in what we had to say, especially our advice for the brands moving forward based off a consumer’s standpoint as well as research.
What are the differences in the NY beauty industry compared to LA’s? The NY beauty world and the LA beauty world are the same but different. In LA, everything is more laid back; many brands are smaller therefore they work in a less corporate environment. While in NY they run very corporate; it seems more cut throat looking in from the outside. But when you are actually in the world they seem to mesh together very well.
What was the best part of the NY Beauty Study Tour? Receiving feedback from the brands about what we had to say. Also, it was an amazing networking opportunity. Whether you plan to move to NY or not, you may work with these brands through different aspects of your career.
How did you hear about FIDM? Through media as well as social media. When deciding which college path I wanted to pursue, I decided on FIDM because of their beauty major. Growing up, beauty was my only creative outlet. I developed an interest in beauty product development. I wanted to one day be able to create products that would make other girls happy the way they did for me when I was a teenager. Incidentally, I now work for a children's beauty brand, which couldn’t have been more perfect when it comes to why I decided to get into this industry in the first place.
What are your career goals and how is FIDM helping you get there? FIDM helped push me to get myself into the industry in any way I could. They pushed me to network and intern as much as I could while I was in school in order to make it somewhere after. My dream job was to be part of a product development team, and I have succeeded in this pursuit. My director taught me to get out there and be known, push your name out into the industry and network as much as you can and take every opportunity that is presented to you. At the same time she also taught me to not settle. When I was looking for an internship I was about to settle with a brand, just desperate to get myself into the industry. But it was so far from what I wanted to do and where I wanted to end up. She told me the right thing will fall into my lap if I kept looking, and it eventually did.
Do you have an internship? I started interning for Petite ’n Pretty back in January of this year. On the last day of my internship (four days after I graduated), they offered me a full time position and I accepted it.
How did you find out about the Petite ‘n Pretty opportunity? The Executive Director of Product Development at my company reached out to Tina Perez, beauty director at FIDM, looking for interns. At the time I was looking for a product development internship and she sent it over to me. I applied, interviewed, and was offered the position. It’s so important to build relationships where you intern. Everyone knows someone in this industry who knows someone else, so you can end up working with anyone in the future. I was fortunate to land a job with a startup company that had industry experience. I have been able to learn so much from my boss as well as the founder about product development. I’ve learned so much applying my skills to real life work.
Follow Beauty Alumna Keana Hoard on Instagram @keana_hoard16.
Categories: Beauty Business Management Beauty Marketing & Product Development Business Management Alumni
