As many of you already know, I work for Estee Lauder and I love every minute of it. My job, everyday, is not only to make women look beautiful, but to make them feel beautiful by giving them the confidence to put their best face forward every single day. My job is fun. I get to meet a lot of different people, each of them with their own story. Discussing physical appearance puts women in a vulnerable place -- a place where they are likely to share things that they don't disclose frequently. My job is to erase her insecurities. Each day, I hear stories about busy mothers, working women, students, widows, etc feeling like they aren't comfortable in their own skin. Their stories are personal and touching -- I get to be a part of that! What these women don't know, is that as much as my work changes their life...their stories change my life.
Last week, a woman came in and said "I've had cancer and now my skin is just so dry." That's where we started, with dry skin. I sat her down and showed her some products that would help. She LOVED them! Then I said, "this skin care system will make the perfect base to put your makeup on flawlessly in the morning -- the results will totally wow you!" Her response? "I don't wear makeup. I like to look in the mirror as little as possible." I was cut to the core. This woman was strong enough to fight and survive cancer, but unable to look at herself in the mirror? She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't feel it. She went on to say that the chemo had made her skin blotchy and her teeth yellow and her hair brittle. She was so strong, yet so vulnerable. I said "give me 5 minutes to change your mind." I did her makeup in silence (if you know me, you know I'm never silent). I didn't know what to say and I was scared that I might start to cry after hearing her story. I made sure every stroke was gentle and clean. I made sure every color was perfectly picked. Before I showed her the mirror, I said "let me give you a complimentary hand massage...I can feel your anxiety, let's relax before we try to take this all in." After the longest hand massage of my life, I timidly handed her the mirror. Her eyes filled with tears and so did mine. We didn't say a word, but I knew that I was witnessing, for the first time since her cancer struck, this woman feeling beautiful. She glowed. She flashed a smile and said thank you. I said "Your story matters -- thank you for sharing it with me."
These are the moments I live for. This is why I love my job. The beauty industry is something that seems to be portrayed as negative. My own wife posted a video this week about how we shouldn't strive to be pretty. I'm here to tell you that, while good looks aren't everything, there's no shame in wanting to feel beautiful. I'm also here to tell you that I do more than make women pretty all day. I change lives. I give women the courage and confidence to show the world that their story matters.
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| (Image from Pinterest) |
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