The Art of Success

faster is not always fireproof

CLICK HERE for the audio version of this newsletter, narrated by Rafaella

I wasn't good in sales, for the same reason I was amazing in sales.?

If you had to read that twice, your brain isn't broken -?

It was confusing to me too, at first.

On the one hand, I received near-constant criticism from the corporations I worked for (as a makeup artist & beauty advisor):?

"You take too long with customers"

"You let them talk too much"?

"You aren't pushing them enough for a higher UPT"

In the eyes of a corporate conglomerate focused only on short-term profits, this meant I wasn't good in sales. And it's true - I often didn't get the highest UPT like some of the others employed by the same brand.

One person I worked with regularly managed to cajole her customers into purchasing 10 extra products when they originally only wanted to buy 1 thing.?

The corporation loved her.?

But they never paid attention to the fact that those same customers would wait until it was my colleague's day off, then come back to the counter and return everything:?

"I didn't really need this but I didn't know what to say"?

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings but I really can't afford all of this"?

Meanwhile, I had a lower average UPT overall... and nearly zero returns. Ever.?

After an initial 1-3 months of getting to know my clients, and having genuine conversations with them whenever they stopped by my counter (many of those conversations were not immediately focused on making them buy something) - my list of loyal customers grew and grew. Not exponentially, but gradually. Sustainably. With little to no attrition at all.?

People started asking for me by name. They waited for me if it was my day off, before buying anything - because they knew I would tell them the truth. I would not tell them to buy an extra product when I knew:

1) they didn't need it

2) it wasn't right for their skin type or lifestyle etc

3) they had something else at home that would do the same thing.?

And yes - this often meant that in the short term, my clients bought less per transaction. But you can bet they kept coming back, and they wanted to throw their credit card at me - because they knew that I cared more about THEM than my sales quota or my monthly commissions.?

My clients loved buying from me.?

So… I was bad at sales, for the same reason I was great at sales.?

But my point here is not about the money, or the growth, or corporations vs people - it's about the MEANING in these things and the way we live our lives, whether we are in the office or not, whether it is 1994 or 2024, or 2094.?

It’s easy to get all wound up about the new things going on in tech - like AI - and get caught in a vortex of nostalgia, resistance and fear. But the truth is: “back in the old days” wasn’t really all that different.?

Impersonal, profit-driven techniques in business have been around for a long time. In that sense, AI itself is nothing new. But what IS new about AI is the fact that it offers everyone a brand-new toolbox to do what humans always do: exploit, or empower.

Since the dawn of time, humans have always opted for one or the other. The choice hasn’t changed. But the way we express that choice on a daily basis continues to evolve.?

Because of this ever-present fork in the road, the immediate ripple effects of what AI can do will continue to grab the attention of companies and individuals who are only looking at what they can gain in the short-term. Kind of like those higher UPTs that always got rave reviews.?

If you are only looking at the here and now, then sure, AI can be intimidating - because, in the short term, it can take something (sometimes many things) from you. In my case, companies - like the one I mentioned in my story - cut my pay multiple times, as punishment for lack of performance compared to others on the same team who got those massive UPTs.?

But I never let the threat of losing stop me. I never stopped caring about my clients. Many would come by the beauty counter, just to tell me about their day. They would tell me what they were worried about, they would tell me what they were excited about. The fact that they felt heard, seen and appreciated - whether or not they ever spent a dime - mattered more to me than any UPT ever could. And that went a long way in building client loyalty, which - when you get right down to it - is the greatest indicator of wealth in the long term.??

What a lot of makeup companies don’t understand is that a beauty product is much more than skin deep: wearing makeup, buying skin care products, having your own routine at home, getting an appointment at the hair salon - these are all deeply personal things, and people will shop and buy (and pay top dollar for) experiences that reflect these values.?

In the same way, what a lot of AI proponents completely miss is that tech is more than making everything move at the speed of light. Faster is not bad, but faster is not always better. AI offers incredible opportunities, but such possibilities only have meaning and value in proportion to the PEOPLE who are using them.

People have money, and people want to spend their money. But people also want to be treated like human beings, not data on a spreadsheet. People want to participate and feel like they belong somewhere - not like they are increasingly being replaced and discarded, tossed aside in favor of the latest sugar high delivered by supercomputers.?

The truth is - all the issues we deal with on a daily basis aren’t dramatically different than the issues I faced years ago when I worked at those beauty counters: do we care about people, or do we care about profit? And if we care about both: where is the balance between serving clients and exploiting them? And how can we nurture and reinforce that balance through our responsible use of tech??

The most ethical and empowered way to do business - or leverage AI - is to prioritize people. Tech, AI, and beauty products are really all the same: they offer an advantage insofar as they are defined and utilized as a tool, or set of tools - not as a replacement for talent, a substitute for personal identity, or as an excuse for predatory practices.?

Whether it’s at the makeup counter or somewhere in the furthest reaches of the metaverse, making the choice between exploitation and empowerment means making the choice to connect with clients on a meaningful, personal level.?

Sure, there will always be the nay-sayers, the hecklers who tell you you’re bad at something - and chances are, you’re only “bad” at it because your choice to prioritize people over profit isn’t padding their pockets fast enough. So let them criticize you - and then keep on showing up to amaze the people who actually count.?

Welcome to Choosing Beauty - I’m glad you’re here!

My name is Rafaella - I’m a beauty journalist, long-time pro MUA and stylist in the entertainment industry, and founder of Beauty for Survivors?

I created this newsletter to share more of my thoughts on beauty, identity and self-worth -from the vantage point of personal stories and observations, along with my lifelong love of all things tech, neuroscience, makeup, art, and ethics.

Choosing Beauty is published weekly and includes highlights from my work in film and fashion, insights for staying healthy and grounded in the new AI-saturated landscape, and practical tips for integrating sustainable self-care into your daily routine - because being human is beautiful, and being you is even better.

Thanks for joining me and I’ll see you next time, here on Choosing Beauty - take care!