Influential Woman · Beauty

Tracy Hamilton

National Sales and Education Manager/ QVC and HSN Account Manager/HSN Guest Host, Future Beauty Brands (formerly PPI Beauty)

Chicago, IL

Her Story

About Tracy

I've been in the beauty industry for over 25 years, and it's been an incredible journey. My biggest mentor was Trish McAvoy - I worked with her for 10 years, and she was very close with me. She was tough, but I could handle it, and she really taught me a lot. I started out as a regional makeup artist with her, then progressed into an international trainer, traveling overseas a lot and leading master classes. After that, I went over to NARS for a couple years on the West Coast as their lead national trainer, but when my son started kindergarten, I moved back to Chicago to be closer to him. That's when I really started my role with Too Faced as an account executive, then worked my way up to being global lead, managing our global artistry team. I also built a masterclass program with Too Faced and led their events globally into Canada, but mainly in the U.S. They asked me to be their on-air guest host, and I was able to do both QVC and HSN networks, which normally doesn't happen because of conflict of interest. Now I'm the National Field Sales and Education Manager for Future Beauty Brands (we had a big merger last year), and I'm also the account manager for OnAir at QVC and HSN. I manage all the business behind the scenes - everything that goes digitally, on-air, off-air, including supply chain, products, pricing, kits, everything. I'm also the on-air guest host for HSN, where I sell self-tanning products like Tan Lux. I've been doing QVC and HSN for about 8 years now, with this company for about 5 years.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tracy

01What do you attribute your success to?

Honestly, my perseverance and work ethic have brought me to where I am today. I think a lot of my talent comes from being able to be in front of people, educating and training, and leading master classes. I knew that would push me somewhere that was going to bring me to where I wanted to be - the ultimate level. What makes me most happy and passionate is making people feel uplifted and good, whether that's through self-tanning or makeup - it's really about inspiring people to want to purchase a product that's gonna make them feel better, and them actually doing it. I've started from the bottom, working behind the counter, but it really takes a strong work ethic, knowledge, asking questions, being perseverant, and saying 'I want this' and speaking up for yourself and owning your talents. It's also about honing in on your talents and wearing many hats - I can lead events, manage a team, handle supply chain, work with Excel documents, and create education programs. Finding your niche and what makes you the most successful comes out of all of that. It's not where I've gone, it's how I've got there. I don't give up. I'm not one of those people that's like 'oh, forget it, I can't do this.' I just figure it out. Nothing's always perfect, and if something happens that's not great, then find a solution and keep going.

02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

My biggest thing is to have people feel empowered - I'm such a huge advocate of that. I don't know what it is, it's just this niche that I found. I just want people to have someone to look to and be like 'wow, that's amazing, I'm gonna do what she says, because I want to feel that way too.' What makes me the most passionate is making people feel uplifted and good. I really want to inspire people and be that go-to for uplifting tips, makeup, confidence, inspiration quotes - a safe place where people can feel good about themselves. I like to be recognized not just for having 25 years and accomplishments, but for how I've got there. I don't like to talk badly about a product - I only like to show things that actually work. That's really important to me.

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