Hannah Vaughn

Honestly, I think having so many things to overcome in my life has put me in a position where it's like, I never even thought I'd make it this far. I'm just grateful to be here. I was told I wouldn't make it out of my teens with my eating disorder - I had a heart attack at 23. It just wasn't always in the cards to make it this far for me, and so it put me in a really good position to just be grateful for what I have and what I'm doing every day. I'm able to pay my rent, I'm not sitting in a cubicle, I'm not with people that I disdain and can't stand and won't listen to me. I'm content and happy, and I'm still doing it my way, you know, as Frank Sinatra would say. That gratitude and perspective from overcoming adversity is what drives me.

The best advice I've received came from my professors at FITM, who are professionals in the industry and really got my vision. One of my professors and I did mentoring for a while, and we talked about how important it is to just be authentic to yourself and what you do. There's that cliche - if you love what you do, you won't work a day in your life - and that's the goal I want to keep in mind every day when it comes to my career. If I'm not enjoying what I'm doing, if I'm starting to not like it, I need to change something. For example, I started hating making content, so I delegated that, and now I hate it less. It's about doing what you love and not doing what you don't, because it's not going to come out authentic or aligned. I've been in places where I was not aligned, and I'm like, how long do I have to be here? That's uncomfortable. So staying aligned with what you love is crucial.

Don't be afraid to go outside of the box and think outside the box. When it comes to marketing, thinking about how you can stand out and make things different is really important, because we are so bombarded and overstimulated - we have so many things thrown at us every day. I forgot the exact statistic about how many ads we see a day, but it's insane. So if you want anything to stick, you've got to think outside of the box. Authenticity is going to be important, and maybe authenticity itself is the thing that's outside of the box. That's what's going to make you stand out in this oversaturated landscape.

I would say when it comes to social media, there's a lack of authenticity - or rather, it's so oversaturated with people doing ads all the time that it feels like we need a refresh for socials. We need to rethink how we use them, what they really mean to us, how important they are, and how else we can market. It's getting a little boring, honestly. I don't even scroll anymore, I'm so bored - I'd rather play Tetris or something. The challenge is that traditional marketing approaches, especially in beauty, rely on telling people what they're lacking and that they're not good enough if they don't have a product. I don't like that approach. The opportunity is in doing it differently - in creating marketing that uplifts people rather than exploits their insecurities. Beauty is never going to slow down as an industry because it's almost a fundamental human psychological need, but we have to do it right, or get better at it, or do it differently. That's where the real opportunity lies.

Authenticity is probably top tier for me - it's the most important value I hold. And secondly would be kindness. I think leading with authenticity and being kind is the most important thing you can do, no matter what. These values guide everything I do in my work and personal life, and they're especially important in beauty marketing where we have so much power with our advertising and marketing and the words we put out there. It's really important not to tell people that they're lacking, especially coming from the beauty industry, because that's what marketing is so good at doing. I believe beauty marketing should be about uplifting the whole person and enhancing the way you feel about yourself, not putting someone down.