It's been such a long time since I've last written a blog post. I've been so lazy because of life getting in the way, but that's still NO excuse to not get the job done! I promise I will try to have atleast 2 blogs uploaded a week, including atleast one youtube makeup tutorial up!
Now, this whole week I'e been off from work (got all 4 wisdom teeth taken out!), I've been contemplating what topics I wanted to speak about. Especially because I am a very personal person & I do not want to put too much of my personal life out here. But, I realized I have a lot of friends & family who ask me the same question. Why did I quit my job at MAC cosmetics to work for Sephora?
This is a touchy topic for me bc it wasn't an easy decision. It was actually really hard for me to take this huge step in my life bc I'm only 19, in a state where my parents don't live, trying to figure out what I really want out of my life. Well let me start from the beginning.. The VERY beginning.
Back in September, I flew from Atlanta, GA to Salt Lake City, UT for school at LDS Business College to study in Social Media & Marketing. It wasn't really my choice, but my parents wanted me to go to school where I was surrounded by people from the church I grew up in (The Mormon church) I'm not your typical Mormon girl you meet in Utah. I'm very sassy, rebellious, & also adventurous compared to a lot of Mormon girls you meet in Utah. I'm different, I was raised different, & I also had a lot of challenges I've faced in my life that changed me into who I am today. -- Anyways, I came here for school September 2015 for fall semester, & I remember the first thing I did the first night I was in the hotel room with my parents. Applied for Mac & Sephora. -- I applied for a Sephora down at City Creek, & I applied for a MAC counter inside Nordstrom. I barely had any experience with makeup other than having a Youtube channel & instagram full of pictures of me & my clients. I never worked retail in my life, only fast food during my senior year of high school. I was just praying that whoever was reviewing my resume would give me a chance.
3 weeks later after settling into my dorm & my parents left, I had both Sephora & Nordstrom MAC call me in for an interview. Both were in the same week. I was so nervous because I couldn't believe they were interested in me. -- I prepared myself to not get the job at MAC bc I felt like people who worked at MAC were these huge professionals that travel the world & work on people like the Kardashians. Boy was I wrong.
-- My first interview was with Sephora at City Creek Mall. I was in a group interview with 2 other girls. One was a worker from ULTA, & another girl was a florist. I was so nervous but I was confident bc I felt like my makeup looked good (it really didn't now that I look back..) & I was little over my head back then & thought I was better than everybody. Well joke was on me bc after the interview, I never got a call back! I waited a whole week, called the store back, & the store director sugar coated to me that they will have an interview fair soon & I can come back for another interview. Moral of the story, I didn't get the job at Sephora nor did I get the chance to come back for a second interview. Bummer.
-- Second interview time! MAC over the phone interview. It was easy, fast, & I got my second interview over the phone set up! I was so nervous for my second interview bc I already didn't get a 2nd chance from Sephora. I wore all white to my interview (I tried to stand out & be different) & boy did it work. The interviewer saw me & told me how beautiful I looked, & how much I stood out (I was so relieved!) The interview was quick and easy, & she asked me if I was interested in working at Mac, Chanel, or Nars. I told her my #1 choice was MAC. Well, she fulfilled my wishes bc I was put on the MAC team on the spot! It wasn't that easy though. I still had to do a makeup demo for the MAC managers & I was a beauty on call till I quit my job. But, I still felt I was apart of the team bc I did everything an official MAC artist would do on a daily basis.
Now, for the highlight of this blog. WHY did I quit MAC & HOW? hahaha... Well simple, I just left. Yes, I did the one thing most management hate with a passion but I left! Why did I leave? Well, I was miserable. Simple as that. At MAC, we had sales goals. We also worked on commission, & I only got paid twice a month. My hourly wage was pretty low considering I only worked a few times a week during the month, but commission was nice bc it helped my checks look better than it would if it wasn't there at all! I was constantly stressed at work bc if we didn't make our goals, hours would get cut off, we would get lectured &brainwashed by the fact that if we didn't make our goal 3 times -- we'd get kicked off the team & put on as a free-lace artist (meaning NO hours probably) It was horrid bc I just turned 19, & I was in school part time! I couldn't handle the stress. It was too much for me.. I also had an incident where my manager had an issue with me wearing other brands on my personal social media networks. She told me it was "forbidden" for MAC artists to wear other brands on social media but I've seen about 2 million MAC artists mention Anastasia Beverly Hills or Too Faced on their captions when they tag other brands in their captions. -- I was tired of being pushed around constantly. I was tired of not being able to brand out towards other brands. I was tired of stressing about how I'm gonna make a sales goal when my hours don't match up with the goal. So I left & never went back. I had enough of it. It was one of the scariest things I ever did in my life bc everyone dreams of being a MAC artist at such a young age. But me, that wasn't my dream. I wanted to be my own boss. I wanted to be included in something. I never felt included. I always felt.... trapped.
So a week after I quit MAC, I applied for another Sephora at Fashion Place Mall (which was way closer to my brother who I moved in with after I left school) I got a phone call about a week later to come in for an interview! I was so excited, & moral of the story -- I got the job quick & easy (after 3 more interviews after that LOL) It was all worth it bc I LOVE my job here! Everyone is so friendly & nice, it's more like working with family than "co-workers." I got pretty cool with most of my co workers super fast, & everyone is so different here. I get to meet brand reps that come into our store & teach us about the products which is amazing! & I get Gratis (free makeup) that I get to play with & take home so I can try it out & let any of my clients know how the products worked out for me personally :) The only downside I can say about my job is that if your not certified yet, you can't do custom 45 minute makeovers but I should be certified by September (yaasss my birthday month!)
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So now, hat you know my story of my experiences with MAC & Sephora, I feel you have some type of insight of who I am. I love exploring different options so never forget who you are, your standards, & don't ever settle for less! I learned my lesson & I am still growing as the years go by. I am thankful everyday for God's blessings, & dream for more things to come in the future.
Happy Sunday my loves <3
xoxo Jackie
