Beauty Enthusiast Turned Beauty Brand Marketing Intern!

Hi Everyone! My name is Kayleigh Lewis and I am a senior advertising student with concentrations in account management and brand strategy. I have always admired the beauty industry for the creativity and level of expression that can come from cosmetics. So, I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to be a brand marketing intern for Tarte Cosmetics, one of the top pioneer brands in the field. It has been really exciting to get some insight into what happens on the back end of marketing for such a high-profile brand, and see how each department works together throughout the process – from product creation to the launch and beyond. As a brand marketing intern, I specifically worked on making sure that all marketing materials stayed on brand and cohesive with its identity internally and externally. Some of our work included pulling together a competitive analysis for product launches, creating a cohesive master deck of all Tarte products, writing potential copy for email and content, sitting in on creative meetings for mailer cards for PR send-outs, assisting in setting up influencer events in office and more. As interns at Tarte, we have also been given a capstone assignment to compose a creative and strategic pitch for a marketing activitation which will be presented to the board of directors.

Throughout my experience, I admired marketing in the beauty industry and I loved when we would be able to express ideas for the creative content marketing team to use for product photoshoots, and being able to be in the planning room for creative tangible materials. There were many positive learning opportunities that I have experienced, like understanding the art behind product development and the testing that goes into packaging production, which are aspects that I never dove into before. Also, I thought it was noble to see how many initiatives Tarte takes to give back to different communities and people. This was inspiring to see and while there is more work to do in the industry, I see an effort to go down a more generous and inclusive path. I was also inspired by the higher-ups on the director’s board because I hope that one day I can be in their position of being successful in an industry that I love. Also, working in a predominately women-run office was a joy to be a part of.

I am very grateful for this opportunity and beforehand I had a lot of expectations for the internship and what I wanted to take from the experience. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the overall process of putting all of the marketing materials together from brainstorming to decision making to launch. I expected there to be more collaborative work and there was more independent work time between the other marketing intern and me than I had anticipated. I also expected to be able to sit in on more marketing meetings; I would have liked to be able to just sit in and listen to get a fuller picture of what was occurring within the department outside of the independent tasks we as interns were given. If I were to change anything about my experience, I wish I would have been more outspoken with my ideas rather than simply having them on documents or presentation decks.

I would advise anyone who is looking for an internship to not stress about comparing your experiences, opportunities, and early timing to others. This thought process will be negative energy being put towards your search for opportunities. Everyone has different timelines and the opportunities that are meant for you will come at the right time for you. Also, LinkedIn is truly an amazing platform to use. Connect with people you admire, people who are in industries, and roles that you want, and network with these individuals. For example, I was reached out to by the Head Of HR at Tarte Cosmetics after attempting to connect with her regarding my application and was able to set up an interview then and there. Being present on LinkedIn opens the door for opportunities. Lastly, any experience or personal project that you can do is a great one, no opportunity or experience is too small.