When I started ASU Online, I had just transferred from a beauty-and-fashion-focused school with my associate’s degree, and I was craving more! I decided Business Communications would be the best next step for my bachelor’s degree because it dove further into the world of finance, management, operations, and human resources—all of which are key to the fashion industry from behind the scenes. While learning a new field, I didn’t want to lose my beauty focus, which was the entire reason I wanted to go to college! To integrate my business bachelor’s with my passion for beauty, here’s what I do:
The main thing I do is tailor my assignments in class to be more beauty-related whenever I can. By doing this, I’m learning more about the industry I want a career in while still completing the required coursework! This tactic helps me stay up to date with the latest beauty trends and innovations. For example, in my digital audiences class, we were asked to pick a brand to analyze and improve their social media. My classmates chose things like Disney and Starbucks, but I chose Glossier. Glossier is a beauty brand that’s known as an industry disruptor because they are sold solely online and have had major growth since it was founded just a few years ago! Through this project, I was able to learn so much about small startup beauty companies and how they get their products known and sold online, which is very relevant to me.
Employers love when people take the initiative to be experts in their fields. This is so important when wanting to pursue a career! Wouldn’t you hire someone who knew all about the industry they were going into or the brand they were trying to work for?
Like I mentioned, the best way I’ve achieved this is by writing papers and creating final projects centered around beauty topics and brands whenever I can. In my global marketing class, I chose to write my final paper on expanding Milk Makeup to be sold in Canada, and in another class, I analyzed L’Oréal advertisements. Centering a broader degree on what you love is possible if you take the initiative to incorporate it into your schoolwork like I’ve done! It also makes me more excited to learn the material for my classes and complete assignments because I am learning more about the career field I’m aiming to enter. I know this isn’t realistic for every class, but throughout my last three years earning my degree online in Business Communications, I still feel like my education has been all about my passion for the beauty industry.