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July 11, 2019
Product Marketing Specialist at Clarins Dubai
I am the Product Marketing Specialist for Clarins Dubai and have been a Makeup Artist for more than 10 years. I handle the Clarins shop in Sephora, Dubai Marina Mall, where I do sales and makeup demos. My job also involves moving from one shop to another especially if there are new products.
Upon arriving at the shop in the morning, I check the displayed products, make changes (if necessary) and entertain customers. Coffee breaks are spent for meals, coffee and a quick browse of my phone for messages. The mid-afternoon is usually the busiest time as many customers arrive then. After driving home, I deliberate on the day’s occurrences after a few minutes of rest, and I ask myself if I did things right, and how I can improve what I do.
My job may seem glamorous, but it is also rigorous. I frequently shuttle from one Clarins shop to another to do demos for new products; fashion shows, photo shoots for popular fashion magazines. The job requires flexibility as I regularly have to adjust my timings in a day’s routine.
As the current Product Marketing Specialist, my functions also extend to Skincare Consultation and Product Responsiveness. I get to express myself and educate an audience on new products being released. As a typically shy person, this became an opportunity to improve my public speaking skills. Being in different situations, I learned how to think fast and think out of the box (especially when doing avant garde makeup). One of the perks of my job is that I always meet different people from different nations, even celebrities. The typical fan in me always gets starstruck, and I end up taking photographs with them if given the chance.
One of the most remarkable experiences I had was when a photograph I did the make-up for won several international including the: Egypt International Biennale for Photographic Art, 2013; Photograph of the Year-Silver Award (Emotive Portrait Category); The Al-Thani Award for photography, Doha Qatar-2013(Gold medal); 2013 Trierenberg Super Circuit-Austria 2013 (Gold medal – Portrait category). The photographer was Mario Cardenas, with Rocky Gathercole as the concept artist.
In addition to that, one of my collaborations with Chris Calumberan, ‘Code Blue World Oceans’, won in the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2017 in Tokyo, Japan (Bronze winner). Photographs of the make-up I did on models were also featured in the severals magazines: Pose, Mondanite and Audi here in Middle East, Extravagant Magazine in United Kingdom and in the Fashion Look-book for Jahaanara Collection and Nona Hekmat Creation. I also participated in various fashion show collaborations held by the Association of Designers in Dubai (2008), Galleries La Fayette Fashion 2011 for Autumn/Winter Collection (featuring the designs of Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera and Marc Jacob to name a few) and Dubai Fashion Biggest Cosmetic Make-over 2012.
While the awards gave me many reasons to improve my craft, the words of appreciation I receive from clients are equally uplifting. After looking back at my career and achievement, I realize that I shouldn’t rest on my laurels. I believe that there are many things to learn from and many more opportunities to seize ahead of me. My years here in Dubai are ruled with patience, seeded with hard work and sacrifice, and sealed with faith to keep me going. Without these, I will not be where I am today. As cliche as it sounds, life goes on, hence we should never cease to be.
“Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.”
-Soren Kierkegaard
Sponsorship and Sales Manager at Bride Dubai
As an Exhibitions Sales Manager for Informa Exhibitions handing the BRIDE shows Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I deal mostly with fashion companies both Arabic and Bridal. My job also takes me around the world to see other shows of the same profile and find opportunities to partner with the shows and of course, do prospecting. With BRIDE it’s pretty exciting dealing with different profiles from Arabic fashions, Jewellery, Beauty and Wellness, and Bridal where I deal a lot with Filipino designers. On my part I make sure I give them extra love and open up opportunities for them such as fashion shows and participate in competitions as well.
My typical day varies depending on the season. Closer to the show dates it’s very hectic and stressful, trying to get close to targets while dealing with 1001 exhibitor requests and qualms. When the show is over I work on rebooking them for the next year’s editions. It’s more relaxed but I want to get things done early and get achieve my goals early on so there will only be a small portion to work on closer to the show. It’s a never ending challenge and continuous learning process. Even after handing the show for 8 years there will always be new things to learn in the industry as well as the people.
BRIDE show deal a lot with home based businesses, and our clients are mostly locals who have Abaya businesses. I am proud to say that my account retention is at 75% and that I have clients who have been with me since I started handling BRIDE shows. I have overseas clients too who would call me and tell me they met someone in Paris fashion week or Milan Fashion week who equates BRIDE to Ruby (that’s me). That is really humbling. I also got a new name “Ruba” as my local clients call me this instead of Ruby.
Hard work pays off although I know we Filipinos by nature are hard workers. Sometimes, we just need to find the right opportunity and when we find it excel in it and show them what we can do. At the end of the day we have to be honest with ourselves that we are here to make money and in the process of doing that we have the opportunity to hone our skills and come back to Philippines better and wiser with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
We are a force of nature and we are strong and that strength helps us cope and endure all the challenges of being away from our family.
Proud to be Filipino!
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