Catherine Bossom is the founder of Yellow Flamingo – an agency which works with beauty and wellness brands at all stages of development to help propel their sales growth and help them flourish within the industry – and here she charts her journey to the top.
Bossom uses her breadth of industry experience from years of working as a professional beauty consultant to support businesses with their brand vision, commercial strategies, business structure and retail distribution.
She has collaborated with hundreds of brands and retailers, including Harrods, Space NK and Selfridges.
Here, Bossom details her career journey and how she landed a coveted job in the beauty industry, while also sharing the essential skills a cosmetics industry professional needs to possess to suceed.
Tell us about your first job in beauty?
My first job in beauty was as an Assistant Manager in the cosmetics hall at UK department store Harrods after completing two years on its Graduate Training Scheme.
I quickly became obsessed with the wonderful characters who worked for the various brands – from La Prairie and Estée Lauder, to Sisley and La Mer – and their extraordinary knowledge of their customer base.
It made me realise how powerful those connections brands have with customers in-store can really shape a person’s experience of the company.
What was a lesson you learned early in your career?
Relationships and your [industry] network are everything to you.
It does not matter who you are or what job you are doing, just treating everyone as you would want to be treated is so incredibly important.
Do not give up, trust your gut, and surround yourself with people who know more than you do
Is there someone who has helped you climb the ladder or provided some key advice?
One of my first bosses at Harrods, Marigay McKee, who was Head of the Beauty Department, was instrumental in helping me climb the ladder, and I am forever grateful for everything that I learned from her.
In later years, industry legends such as Tracey Woodward and Hilary Dart provided key advice when I was starting my own consultancy, telling me: “Do not do anything that will damage your relationships, and do not do things for a quick win.”
What is the best thing about your current job?
The huge variety of clients and brands that I get to meet, spanning all corners of the beauty industry.
Plus, feeling like I am able to help make a difference to
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