As an entrepreneur student, I’m only required to have one internship as the next would be my official business implementation. The thought alone scares me and also excites me at the time. I knew that I was destined to be in the business world ever since I was young. Even in the playground during elementary, I would sell “mud balls” to other children in the playground. As an indecisive person, I knew that I had to make a decision on what specific business field I wanted participate in.
One of the choices for local internships that was provided was Benefit Cosmetics, which was located in BGC. I wanted to try something new as I already dove into the world of sustainability and I’ve never entertained the idea of lodging myself into the beauty industry until the opportunity was brought up. There’s no doubt that I love makeup, the idea of just enhancing your features would make such a huge difference when it comes to self-esteem and self-confidence. In my heart, I knew that I wanted, actually scratch that, needed to apply for Benefit Cosmetics. And honestly, the idea of having free makeup excited me too.
As an intern, I worked under the marketing department for Benefit Cosmetics. I technically already started working before my required start date, June 4, 2018, and had to experience the brow wax and give feedback to one of my bosses. I was given a free brow wax session and had the full user experience. I also got to get a sneak peek of the unreleased product, Hello Happy! I felt so honored that I was able to see a Benefit product that hasn’t been released yet and in that moment, I knew that I wanted a Hello Happy for myself because it had a great shade range. Considering that I was a morena in a mestiza-loving country, I was so grateful that Benefit was paying attention to medium to dark skin tones.
My first day to officially start working was underwhelming to say the least. I thought that I would be bombarded with tons of work as an intern just as movies portrayed it to be, like Devil Wears Prada for example. During my orientation, I was told that I would be in charge of their Instagram account, the stories specifically, and become an “influencer;” creating content, filming and all that jazz. I created a content document that was full of ideas and a complete schedule with one of my fellow intern, Queenie, and emailed it to them so that they could prepare the products and perhaps props we could utilize for the content creation.
Out of all the planning we did, we were only able to produce 3 out of the original 24. And only 1 was ever released but we were able to make some on-the-spot content which was more fun! Unfortunately, I didn’t really do much from what I was originally tasked to do during the orientation because I was never given the chance to. I managed to make a marketing poster for the surprise Sale-abration that Benefit sprouted on their customers and felt so proud to see it displayed in the boutique in Central Square, BGC. I also felt extremely inclined to document the moment and so I did. I felt like Kris Jenner when she was taking pictures of Kim whilst saying “You’re doing great, sweetie!”
Instead of content creation, I had to do a lot of store visits, give more feedback and update the main office on whether the stores were up to their given standards. Store visits meant a lot of travelling, and travelling also meant transportation and its’ costs. My fellow interns, Queenie and Pat, learned how to use the MRT and LRT to cut down on costs. Safe to say, we got in a good exercise during our time in Benefit. A lot of lifting, walking, and transporting!
Things started to look up when the Hello Happy product launch event started approaching. We volunteered to go to Divisoria since there was nothing for us to do in the office. Who am I to turn down an opportunity for an adventure and a great storytime in the future. I wasn’t allowed to talk according to Pat and Queenie as I might attract unwanted attention and might lower our chances at a great bargain due to the fact that I can only speak English. Before we entered, they coached me on what to say such as “Magkano, po?” and “Walang tawad, po?” We went to Divisoria for two days straight because of the harsh weather conditions. The first day of Divisoria was focused on scouting and looking for the best bargains available whereas, the second day was the official shopping day!
Hello Happy was released on June 28, 2018. Little did people know, that there were minor complications behind the scenes. The press kits, for the event, were expected to arrive 3 days before the event however, it only arrived after a week after the event. We knew that we needed to think fast and act fast, it was a good thing that there were stacks on stacks of “apple pie” boxes that Benefit had available on hand.
The event was gorgeous, it held such a girly, happy-go-lucky atmosphere that reflected the product perfectly. I was in charge of registration and instructing the guests about the various activities and games, which meant a lot talking, and I wasn’t complaining! There were numerous of influencers and well-known individuals during the event so, it was exciting to see everyone from computer screens to seeing them in person. The DJ kept the beat pumping which ultimately led to cheering and screaming, and a lot of dancing! It was a great night and I felt honored to be part of the experience and the process of it all. We even managed to get closer with the other interns who worked at Benefit too!
The following days after Hello Happy, we were required to deliver packages, reorganize shelves, count inventory and a bit more store visits. I’ve even developed some friendships with some of employees in the Benefit stores due to the store visits and the office invasions. I thoroughly enjoy Office Invasions, which is a series of event that require the National Brow Artist and her team to raid an office and offer free brow waxes. I enjoy the preparation and the interaction with the customers during 6 hours we’re there. I thought a life in Benefit Cosmetics would be more but I found it different working under the corporate aspect when I know I’m meant to do more field work.
There are some days where we’re really busy and time flies by like crazy however most days we pack and deliver packages. Another fieldwork that I throughly enjoyed was the MCA shoot with some artistas in Universal Studios Philippines. We got to mingle and once again create more beautiful memories and connections. I felt so proud and honored to be representing Benefit Cosmetics Philippines.
From this experience, I learned that I wanted to be part of the beauty industry and it made me also understand that I’m not meant for the Sit-Down-In-An-Office world. The last day was bittersweet, I felt happy that I finished my internship but at the same time, I felt sad that I wouldn’t see my fellow interns, Pat and Queenie, as often as I usually would and my bosses! We even had a goodbye lunch in Tori Ichi near the office before we pitched our final presentation.
Truthfully, everything that I learned in Enderun was incredibly applicable while I was working in Benefit Cosmetics. Especially during the pitch I needed to do for a potential partnership with Benefit Cosmetics and another brand. I used a lot of my Entrepreneur skills such as communicating and planning and also the creativity side of it. I also used some of the marketing skills that I attained during my course at Enderun. I have no doubt in my mind that it was my majors as well as my minor subjects in Enderun that helped me get through my internship.
I guess I wanted a challenge but at the same time, I was grateful that it wasn't so demanding since I'm going to tackle my Entrep majors soon! But the funny thing is, we're still involved with Benefit and helping when we can even though we're not interns anymore and I love it so much. For example, we still wanted to work and help during BenefitxLazada live show with 2 known influencers. We stood by as models and represented a makeup challenge each to showcase some of Benefit's products!
I had To wrap this blog post in a pretty pink sparkly bow, I would say that I’m proud that I got to experience what it’s like to be a Benebabe. And I hope that I'll remain close with the people I came to know. Off to new adventures!