Lunch with the Claudia!!

Today we had one of our "Make Your Mark." luncheons. These lunches are when influential people are invited into the mark. office to speak with us about their life journey and how they have made their mark. in the world. Claudia Poccia, the President of mark. spoke with us today. What intern gets the opportunity to sit with their company's President for lunch and hear about her life? mark. interns are so lucky! (This is Claudia and Lauren Conrad)


Here is a recap of what Claudia talked about. She began by saying that she never intended to run a beauty company; she always wanted to work for the United Nations. She had a passion for languages (Italian being her first) and wanted to be a translator for the UN. In college she ended up getting a job at a make-up counter in a department store (because her mom hooked her up with the job) and was quickly bored. When the next opportunity came, she jumped at the chance and started a new job; she traded in make-up to be a flight attendant. She said that she loved traveling the world and thought it was a great job, but things quickly went sour. Claudia had to start to worry about her safety because in a 2 month span, she was on flights were two planes were hijacked and directed to Cuba. She explained the horror she felt as guns were held up to her head, and how quickly she learned to stay calm in emergency situations. Claudia moved from being a flight attendant, to being more of a counselor and educator for the airlines. She began training employees how to handle situations like she had been in.

When the airline she worked for went bankrupt, Claudia was forced to go out into the world and find another path. She fell back into the department store make-up counter and slowly started to enjoy making people feel better about themselves (especially when it came to perfumes--her specialty).

Claudia had big dreams though, and began looking for bigger and better things. Sales came easily to her and she wanted more. After accepting one position after another and working her way up the ladder, Claudia was happy. But in 6 months time, her world shut down, as she was fired from her job, lost a close family member, and her marriage was falling apart. It was here when she learned who her friends were, and who would always support her. These tough times made her who she is today.

Claudia always had a dream of owning her own business and began looking into its possibilities, but her lack of experience within marketing held her back. So, Claudia made a decision to take a lower ranking (and paying) job in the marketing field (with Avon) to really understand what it was all about, so one day she could have her own business. Things were finally looking up for her, or at least she thought they were. She was working hard, learning a lot, and moving up in the world again. One day though, Claudia was asked by a friend and mentor, "Are you blissfully happy?" When she couldn't answer "yes" to that question, she knew it was time for a change.

Claudia redirected herself and got a job with Este Lauder (and worked with them for 11 years). During that time however, she learned an important lesson that had the capability to ruin her career. The situation goes as follows: she was due for a promotion with Este Lauder and thought she was going to get it, especially over the other options. Everyone thought she was going to be promoted--BUT she did not get the job. When she heard the news that she was passed over, Claudia was devistated and ran to her office to hide. It wasn't long until her friend and mentor Robin Tolvin (who spoke to us at another Make Their Mark. luncheon) found her and said, "This is a defining moment. What are you going to do about it?" Claudia answered that she wasn't going to come into work the next day to see her co-worker get "crowned" the new position. Robin sternly said, "I don't care if you don't come in for a week, but you will be there tomorrow. If you don't come to support your team, your career will be ruined forever. You have to be a team player."

To make a long story short, (I know it was already long enough wasn't it?) Claudia was looked very highly upon based on her behavior and was asked to lead the acquisition in the newest asset for the Lauder team, Stila! This position gave her the most authority yet, and was more than just marketing and sales, but it also included production and creative work. After about 3 years, Avon approached her about leading the mark. team.

Claudia respectfully declined the job twice before getting a personal call from Andrea Jung (Avon's CEO). Andrea said, "I don't want you to come here and run another trend brand, but to re-invent direct selling and make it relevant for generations to come. I want to find another way to empower women."

That was all it took for Claudia to finally cave. And the rest is history!! Claudia Poccia has been with mark. ever since!! Being able to hear our President's story was so great because she is obviously someone we look up to. To know that her life wasn't in any way perfect, and she didn't follow half of her life plans, but still turned out okay--it is comforting and inspiring to know that we can make it too.

And a few quotes from Claudia: "Be present in the moment wherever you are." "You can't please everybody." "The ability to actively listen guides you through all." "If you wake up every morning and look in the mirror and really LIKE the person you see and everyday you want to make a positive influence and you are proud of yourself because you do things the RIGHT way, then you are truly lucky."

Claudia was amazing. I can't believe we had the opportunity to meet, talk with, and really get to know our President of mark. I feel like every post I say how lucky I am as a mark. intern, but I really feel that way. Look at all the opportunities in front of me--they are endless in this big city!