This month we spoke with the Adelaide-based beauty expert about the recent accolade, her career highlights, challenges, and tips for others working in retail pharmacy.
Congrats on winning the Priceline Pharmacy Beauty Advisor of the Year award. What a great achievement! What was it like winning the award? What does the award mean to you?
It was quite surreal. To a have room full of people you’ve never met before say how proud they are of you is very heart-warming. The award means the world to me. To go from being in awe of all the beautiful things in Priceline as a little girl to being awarded Beauty Advisor of the Year is really a full-circle moment.
How long have you been working in retail pharmacy? How did you get into your current position?
I’ve been working in retail pharmacy for eight years and all of those have been with Priceline Pharmacy Firle. I walked into Priceline just after finishing my Beauty Services certification with my best red lipstick on and haven’t looked back.
How did you come to work within the industry? What drew you towards a profession in retail pharmacy?
I’ve always loved makeup. I have vivid memories of putting on my grandma’s lipsticks at three years old and wanting many of my own. But my passion really started to become a possible career when makeup artistry become popular with beauty YouTubers in the early 2010s. So I went to TAFE, was taught by some legendary Adelaidean MUAs [makeup artists] and was drawn to Priceline Pharmacy immediately. I love the different types of people that pharmacy brings in. It’s not just beauty fanatics, but all different demographics. It’s fun meeting lots of different types of people every day.
Tell us more about your role as a beauty advisor. What does that role entail?
My role is really to be the go-to girl for all things beauty. I need to know all about our products, who they’re for, what they do and how to use them. This includes helping customers with their skincare routines and colour matching foundations and explaining techniques like contouring, for example. I also manage inventory ordering and merchandise stock in my department.
Talk us through what a day in your life would look like.
A typical day would, of course, start with my OTT skincare and makeup routine, then on to playing with my puppy, a full day at Priceline, maybe dinner with friends, followed by more OTT skin care and very important ‘research’ on TikTok.
You’ve been instrumental in ensuring Priceline Pharmacy is a standout destination for beauty care and advice in Firle. Tell us more about that. How have you been able to achieve that?
By spending too much time on TikTok and other social media! A large percentage of our sales are ‘viral’ products that are in high demand. I make sure we have plenty of those products in stock, find out as much as I can about them and try them out for myself. I think it’s this and just getting to know my customers as people, being that familiar face you can chat about beauty with and share a laugh.
What are the qualities of a good beauty advisor?
A good beauty advisor is someone who is not only knowledgeable and passionate about beauty but someone who has great empathy. A good beauty advisor sees their customers as people, not transactions. They would give honest advice to their customers for their specific needs, not just sell them products to reach their KPIs.
What have been some of the highlights in your career so far?
Some highlights have been attending the national Priceline conference in Canberra this year, winning Beauty Advisor of the Year, our store winning Store of the Year for SA in 2019, and helping to raise more than $12,000 last year and $15,000 this year for our Sisterhood Foundation. But most of all, it’s the little things that I also really cherish, like helping a little girl choose her first mascara. Also, seeing customers go from being a single woman, to engaged, to married, to pregnant, to first-time mum and then second-time mum. It’s so beautiful to help them in that small way throughout their life stages.
What have been some of the challenges and how have you overcome them?
For me, a challenge I had when starting at Priceline Pharmacy was learning so many new things about pharmacy – like S2 medicines, pharmacy medicines and general health advice. It was very overwhelming. But with lots of training (such as on Pharmacy Club) and speaking to pharmacists and other more experienced pharmacy assistants, I’m a lot more confident.
I understand you’re instrumental in coaching and developing the beauty skill set of new team members. Tell us more about that.
Yes, because I’ve been in the industry for a little while now and have spent maybe thousands of hours over the years absorbing information on beauty, it would be a shame for me not to share it all. I like to help new team members by talking to them about key products in our store, discussing their features and benefits, who the product would be suited for, who it wouldn’t be suited for, and possible contraindications. I also make up product booklets that act as a quick reference guide that can assist with sales. For example, if you have a customer from a particular age range that wants to use their fragrance at a certain time of year and day, what is a go-to fragrance option for them? What are that fragrance’s notes, what scent family does it belong to?
How important is ongoing professional development when working within retail pharmacy?
Very important. There are constantly new formulas, new ingredients, methods and trends to market. Pharmacy is so different, even from when I started only eight years ago. I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I’m not doing some form of training.
Let’s talk more about social media. You also manage your store’s Instagram account. How important is maintaining a good social media presence for retail pharmacy these days? Why is it such an important way of business marketing?
It’s very important to have a good social media presence these days because it’s how most customers connect with brands now. Especially since the pandemic began, we know customers are spending less time in-store and not visiting as often, so it’s great to let them know information relevant to your store that they wouldn’t otherwise know without visiting. For example, when you have new products in and when high demand products are in stock, and other important communications, such as information on flu vaccines.
How would you describe working in retail pharmacy to anyone new to or considering the profession?
It’s fast-paced, crazy, fun, rewarding and, honestly, there’s something new every day. You’re never bored.
What is your advice to retail pharmacy assistants in terms of achieving career goals and stepping up within the industry?
I would say stay motivated, set goals and don’t be afraid to believe in yourself (as cheesy as that is). Never in a million years did I think I would be awarded Beauty Advisor of the Year, but here I am. Remind yourself what your standard of customer service and experience is and stick to it day after day. Set the goal that you want to be the best pharmacy assistant with the most satisfied customers, and who knows? You just could be.
This feature was originally published in the August issue of Retail Pharmacy Assistants e-magazine.
