How I Became… Nars Cosmetics’ Deputy General Manager of Global Marketing

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When Jennifer Jackson began her career in New York, she held a PR assistant role that was “definitely that ‘paying your dues’ job,” she told BoF’s commercial features editorial director, Sophie Soar, during her Building a Career in Beauty LinkedIn Live session.

Armed with a Journalism and Business degree at New York University, Jackson interned in PR at Saks Fifth Avenue. She then went on to work at a PR agency, collaborating with the likes of Net-a-Porter and Coach, before moving in-house at global fashion labels including Calvin Klein and Alexander Wang.

In order to further her career in marketing, Jackson soon realised she would need to explore opportunities outside of fashion: “I realised that a lot of the fashion companies that I would have probably wanted to work at were actually not based in New York,” she shared. “I figured out I wanted to do a global role, versus a market role at that particular moment in my career.”

Jackson pivoted to beauty — an industry she loved as a consumer but had no direct experience in — and began her journey at Nars Cosmetics as senior global marketing manager. “I had to learn some of the mechanics behind it, but I picked it up, and I think that was really the key.”

Today, as the company’s deputy general manager of global marketing, she leads on strategic initiatives that elevate brand equity and deepen consumer engagement across diverse platforms. In her current role, she is responsible for international brand storytelling and increasing the awareness of Nars in global markets.

Now, Jackson shares her career advice for breaking into beauty, and the key lessons she’s learned from her 12 years in the industry — from leaning on your network to facilitate career moves, to the value of retail experience.

For the full interview, watch our LinkedIn Live, Building a Career in Beauty with Jennifer Jackson.

What is key to breaking into beauty?

I think first and foremost, just really loving the industry, really loving the product side and being interested. Don’t become reticent to be on social channels or to embrace the new [ways of] marketing, [and] be prepared for constant change. Be willing to be scrappy and [to] not just accept the status quo.

Always think about how you can change, how you can improve, how you can learn and really bring that passion through to what you’re doing.

How did you leverage your PR experience to work in-house?

If anybody remembers New York PR assistant days, it was definitely that “paying your dues” job, but it really helped [me] to learn the industry. It helped [me] to learn the network of assistants, everybody who was just starting out, but it also really taught [me] how to get things done.

I learnt that every client is going through a different thing at a different time. […] So I happened to be working on when Net-a-Porter was just launching in the United States, which would have been a very different situation than a heritage brand like Coach that was looking to reinvent itself a little bit.

[…] It really allowed [me] to see what type of client I would like to work with if I went in-house, but supporting people at different places of their journey was super interesting, because some people needed more branding help; some people needed help on events; some people needed help with more typical PR placements. So again, it helps you to see […] what facets are interesting to work on should you ever go in-house.

Why and how did you transition into the beauty industry from fashion?

I had always loved beauty as a consumer. […] Nars was a perfect fit for me because it bridged what I loved about fashion, but also had the beauty component. I was, and definitely still am, into makeup […] so [a career in beauty] was perfect for me.

When I was interviewing, [they asked me questions like], “You don’t have any beauty experience, tell us why this could work?”, and I think that it is very important to be open-minded about […] figuring out what you can bring to the table.

Don’t become reticent to be on social channels or to embrace the new [ways of] marketing, [and] be prepared for constant change.

So I could bring the branding, or the fashion angle. I knew there was a founder at the brand, which was important. If you think about my experience — I had all of that. A lot of the creative teams we worked with at Alexander Wang [were also the same] — so the Nars team also worked with [advertising agency] Baron and Baron. There were a lot of intersections.

I just didn’t necessarily have makeup experience, but I was a consumer. I could step into the role and know what we were talking about in a meeting. I had to learn some of the mechanics behind it, but I picked it up, and I think that was really the key.

How can you lean on networking for a career switch?

It should really start with your own personal network. […] Is it talking to a friend that might have experience with [the company you want to work at]?

Of course, you can do different things on LinkedIn, and that’s important — so [start by] thinking about if there’s a company you are interested in working at, type it in, see who you have in common there, even if it’s a second-level connection. […] Reach out to that person, see if they can set you up for an exploratory coffee or chat. Think about how you might want to attend events [the company] is [hosting] or, how could you interface with understanding [them better].

How would you advise gaining experience in the beauty industry?

Putting [retail experience on your CV] is really helpful. […] You’ll be able to talk about insights into what sells well with consumers, like what if you worked at Sephora or Ulta [Beauty] or a department store — you would be able to share that insight in terms of ideas. [At Nars,] we speak with our field teams, we speak with consumers — they’re the front lines. So that insight you can bring in terms of ideas is super important.

You just never know exactly how your experience is going to lead you to your next step. For entry-level jobs, it can be hard — [hiring managers] will say they want one to two years of experience. That’s not always easy, but if you can come in with the experience of working in a retail channel, well — there’s your experience. You already have a wealth of competitive knowledge, consumer knowledge, and marketing tactics that you’ve seen.

What does your day-to-day entail as deputy general manager of global marketing?

It definitely depends on the day, but I think what’s very exciting about my job day-to-day is I’m working on some things that are out right now — I might be looking at the performance of a new collection that we have out, seeing if we need to do something different on social [media]. […] Are we taking real-time insight from what consumers are saying and applying that to something down the pipeline?

Always think about how you can change, how you can improve, how you can learn and really bring that passion through to what you’re doing.

I’m also working on 2027 and 2028, looking at trends with the team and seeing what makes sense for the future, thinking about our campaigns. We also get to travel sometimes, which is really amazing — to spend time with the local teams and understand what their pain points are. To experience Nars all over the world and see how consumers are reacting and how we can help the teams, it feels really special, [particularly] when we can make a difference or make something successful together.

What are some of your key learnings from your 12 years at Nars?

I feel like I’ve had a lot of different roles here [over the past] 12 years, and it does not necessarily feel like that and that’s because the industry has changed completely. We’re relearning marketing every day, every year. You have to keep educating yourself and learning about the platforms and consumers.

I know it sounds very obvious, but just listening and learning — absorbing information, asking questions. Also — raising your hand for a project where you could bring value, [rather than] someone having to ask you to do it.

When you have different managers, they are looking for people to come to them and say, “This is what we should be doing.” Everyone is really busy and so it is sometimes hard for leaders to know exactly what’s what, but the reality is — [when] you’re working your way through, you actually see where the big opportunities are.

That’s what I love about Nars, but also this size of company, is that people will come to me or I still go to my manager and say, “We have to do this — this could be great,” and we do it. I also just think that being scrappy is really important. We get things done and I think it’s something that the fashion industry and PR really taught me. There’s always a way to make something happen.