Lessons from Kylie Jenner
In 2019, Forbes labelled Kylie Jenner who was 21 at the time, the youngest self-made billionaire. Though this claim was later disputed, it is undeniable that Kylie built a very successful cosmetics brand, of which she is the CEO. You can find Forbes’ explanation on why Kylie is no longer a billionaire here.
Kylie Cosmetics recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and the brand is definitely a massive success with Kylie’s Instagram audience as Statista labeled the brand #2 of the leading consumer beauty brands by user engagement on social media in the United States in 2019.
Though the Kardashian-Jenner family is somewhat contested, Kylie’s story is definitely worth looking at.
So Here are Five Lessons We can Learn From Kylie Jenner:
1. Use your network
Kylie collaborates with her sisters on a regular basis. All of the Kardashian/Jenner sisters have a massive social media following thus Kylie Cosmetics can benefit from this increase in audience. As Kylie is also the youngest sister to her four sisters who all run successful business ventures of their own, Kylie was able to leverage from this considerable knowledge pool when starting her own company.
→ We might not all have four sisters to work with, but we can definitely make use of our own network, family or professional, to work together and find people to cooperate with. After all, it’s much more fun working with someone you know and get along with! And don’t forget the huge knowledge sharing base within your own network! If you need advice, you’ll be sure to find someone in your network who can help you out. If not, your contact might be able to refer you to someone in their circle who has the knowledge you are looking for. Later on, you might be able to return the favor while strengthening your network ties at the same time!
2. Ignore the negativity
Over the years, Kylie has faced a lot of backlash. The cosmetics mogul has many critics and some of them are very vocal. While positive criticism is good, negativity and hate isn’t. Kylie has never let that stop her from pursuing her business goals.
→ There will always be someone who doesn’t like what you do -university subject, career choice, etc. – However, it is very important to focus on what you want to achieve and not on what others say or do to stop you from reaching your career goals.
3. Do what you’re good at
Kylie’s strength is her popularity on social media as well as her family’s fame. Her Instagram has turned into a huge marketing platform for her cosmetics business. Moreover, make-up seems to be things that she enjoys doing and similarly to marketing, it is something that she is very good at.
→ Just like Kylie, we can make use of the resources available to us. There is no use in doing something that you don’t enjoy , or that you’re not good at. Put your time and effort into the things that you enjoy.
4. Think big
In January 2019, Kylie Jenner sold 51% of Kylie Cosmetics to publicly traded Coty, Inc., meaning that she can now turn part of her attention to other projects.
→ Kylie started her brand at a young age, we don’t know whether or not she had always planned to sell part of her company at some point. What we do know is that she continuously worked on growing her brand striving for even bigger success. At the start of your career, the first really positive feedback or the first promotion will feel like a big milestone, which it is. However, that should be viewed more as a confirmation that you’re on the right track and it’s time to scale bigger! After all, you have successfully completed the first step, what should stop you from achieving more!
5. Start early
Kylie Jenner founded her company in 2014 at the age of 16. By the age of 23, Kylie has now added a skin care line to her brand, sold part of the original company, and is constantly introducing new products to her millions of Instagram followers. She is also collaborating with various department stores in different countries to sell her products.
→ This goes to show that it is never too early to start your career. Be it a business venture, writing a book, or any other passion that you might want to turn into a full-time career at a later point in time. Of course, Kylie had a considerable advantage due to her upbringing, but building a successful career always takes time, so why not start now!?
Of course, there is much more that can be said about Kylie Jenner’s career. Let us know if you would like another blogpost about Kylie or any other celebrity in the comments below!
If you’re interested in reading about women you’ve already established a successful career, check out this post on Paula Begoun and her skin care brand and this post about how Jaclyn Johnson and her way to Forbes 30 under 30.
See you soon,
Hannah 🙂
