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.
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HC: Who is one person who changed your professional life for the better?
RJS: Without hesitation—my mother. Without even knowing it, she has been grooming me since birth.
HC: What words of wisdom (well-known quotes, an anecdote from your boss) do you find most valuable?
RJS: My mother has taught me how to make the impossible possible and persevere; in order to succeed you can never give up as long as you learn from your mistakes along the way; in order to move forward you must be persistent; you get more bees with honey; there is no such thing as failure, only early attempts at success and the only real failure in life is the failure to try. For every rule, there is always an exception, so find it! Never take yourself too seriously and never forget this, ‘people are funny’.
HC: What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
RJS: The biggest mistake you can make is not owning up to having made it in the first place. Take responsibility for your actions and try to understand the consequences without overthinking it because you may miss an opportunity. I move quickly. For better or worse. I have matured, I have learned that early on in my career I did not listen or hear others and as a result, there may have been great ideas or opportunities that I missed out on. There is really no major ‘thing’ that I have done on my own that wouldn’t have benefited in some way from a team.
HC: What is the best part of your job?
RJS: I love that I have the opportunity to work side by side with my mother. Some people may think that this would be a nightmare, and believe me, there are definitely some challenges. But for me, I’ve been able to learn so much from her and continue to do so everyday. It has also allowed us to experience the ups and downs of life and has enabled me to fully appreciate who she is as a person: both as a mother and a business partner. Her trust in my decision making process has allowed me to soar. She is my rock and I don’t know what I would do without her!
HC: What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
RJS: I think to myself, “If I met this person outside of an interview, would I like them? Why? Do the strengths they have match the business’s needs?” In many cases, I’m not hooked on somebody having had prior experience in the role we’re looking to fill as often times, they can help us see things differently and often better as long as they have a good mentor to show them the way. So much of our business is now done over the telephone and you can truly tell a lot about a person on the phone. I try to speak to them on the phone before I meet them in person. I believe people can “hear” your smile. If they don’t sound happy, the person on the receiving end can sense it.
HC: What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
RJS: Know what you want and go for it! Don’t let anyone or anything stop you because if you want something badly enough, it can be yours.