How She Got There: Rochelle Jacobs Silpe, Co-Creator of June Jacobs Spa Collection

Name: Rochelle Jacobs Silpe 
Age: 39
Job Title and Description: co-creator, June Jacobs Spa Collection; serial entrepreneur – I oversee and am responsible for of all aspects of running a global beauty brand. In my free time always looking for the newest trends and have been involved in different ways with start-ups that enter the beauty world and are somehow able to find “white space” in a crowded and often overwhelming category.
College/Major: Syracuse University - BS/Finance
Website: www.junejacobs.com
 Twitter Handle: @junejacobsspa 
 
Her Campus: What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day? 
Rochelle Jacobs Silpe: My daily responsibilities vary so widely that there is definitely no such thing as a typical day.  I have to know that whatever I am doing is either 1) Helping to grow my business (this has a lot of different meanings–it can mean making sure we are launching cutting edge products that have a need or re-evaluating our distribution and strategy) and 2) Making sure our we have the right people on our team and that they are always learning, thriving, and happy so that I can stay focused and know that #1 above is always my top priority!
 
HC: What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it? 
RJS: I had many entry-level jobs before I entered the beauty world and I was lucky because it was my mother’s business.  Having said that, I was hardly “given” my current position.  I literally had to interview with my mother and her business partner and I put together a PowerPoint presentation (that I often refer back to) to tell them how involving me in the business was going to be the best decision they had made since launching.
 
HC: What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now? 
RJS: Even though I didn’t start my career in beauty, I grew up in the industry from as far back as I can remember.  Many of our clients today have known me since I was a teenager and walked tradeshows with my mother. I was very lucky as the transition into beauty was less of an industry adjustment and more of a career adjustment–I had only worked in very large public companies when I joined my family business and I was the 8th employee.