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L'Oréal Australia and New Zealand

4.2
  • #4 in Retail & consumer goods
  • 50,000 - 100,000 employees

Grace Evans

Grace studied Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) & Bachelor of Business (Marketing) at Monash University and is now working as Lancôme Management Trainee at L'Oréal Australia

7:00 AM

Rise and shine! I have tried to get up before 7:00 am for a while now but my sleeping mask prevails and stays on my eyes right up until that clock hits 7. I will try and go for a quick walk along the Yarra river first thing in the morning to clear my head before the day ahead. A big yummy breakfast follows if I am working from home for the day (I’m talking eggs, avo, feta, mushrooms, tomato….the lot), otherwise if I am heading into the office it’s a quick vegemite toast and banana for me!

8:00 AM

After some morning pats for my dog Cooper, I now get in the car and drive to my friend’s house who lives just up the road - we then carpool to work together! This is a sacred time for deep debriefs about what we have both been doing for the last 14 hours we haven’t seen each other for.

8:30 AM

After our lovely walk through Fawkner Park to the office, it's time for coffees at the café (or in my case, Chai). I often receive flack for having a Chai rather than a coffee, but I consider it character building. They also used to be free for all staff all of Jan….I do miss this situation a lot. The café is on the top level of the building, so we enjoy a morning chat with some splendid views of Melbourne. You will 99% of the time bump into other colleagues here you want to chat with also, so time goes very fast and it suddenly becomes 9 am out of absolutely nowhere.

9:00 AM

Off we go! First thing I like to do is open my emails and scan them for anything urgent I have to action, or any responses I was waiting on from agencies or our headquarters in Paris from the night before. I add any new responsibilities to my to do list and ensure I organise my priority of tasks for the day amongst my meetings in my calendar. My future self silently thanks me for this habit.

Day in the life Grace Evans Loreal Australia

9:30 AM

I may then have a Lancôme Team catch up where we get together in the office (and online if anyone is working from home) to update each other on any events coming up, results of projects we have been working on and focuses for the week. With 20 minutes allocated to this meeting, it allows us to pump out the topline info so we don’t delve into some possibly off topic conversations…..which still happens no matter how much we try.

10:00 AM

There are whispers that the Staff Shop registration list is up on level 12…time to pounce. On Tuesdays and Friday’s various time slots are allocated throughout the day for us to enter the Staff Shop. We can browse L’Oréal products across all brands under the company at impressive discount prices. Of course, there has to be a quick Facetime with mum in store asking if she needs a 14th YSL perfume…and the answer is yes. Always.  

11:00 AM

The stomach is grumbling, and I don’t understand how I still cannot just wait for a 12:30 pm lunch. This is where packing some sneaky grapes or another banana in my bag can tire me over for the next little while. Around this time, I may have a WIP (Work in Progress Meeting) with my amazing manager Jenny, where we will discuss any tasks that need to be done to support our Lancôme e-Boutique site. The site has grown an immense amount post COVID-19, so our focus is to ensure traffic and sales stay above our KPIS. Tasks may include briefing in new onsite assets to our design agency for an upcoming campaign, creating an eDM directed to our loyalty customers to ensure they are aware of our exclusive offers coming up, thinking of new and creative ways to capture the attention of our consumers through our Instagram & Facebook paid advertisements…it really could be anything!

12:00 PM

A Teams message pops up on my laptop...’FREE PRODUCT ON LEVEL 10 COME QUICK’. The race is on to the lifts. Once the doors open, it's everyone for themselves. Boxes of free product layout in the kitchen, where you will already find a group of people scurrying through trying to find the perfect lip colour they want or their match for a foundation or bronzer shade. I personally have had a few products I picked up in a rush and have come home and questioned….blue sparkly lipstick for example…hmm maybe one day I will have the nerve to try to pull it off.

12:30 PM

My stomach is saved by lunch. If the weather is treating us well, the Grad group will head off to the park for a bite in the sun. Otherwise, we will head upstairs to the café and enjoy lunch with a view for the second time in the day. If this is the case, the famous Chicken Jalapeno toasted sandwich from the café is an option not to miss, maybe even taking precedence over the lunch you brought from home to eat to save money.…oops.

1:30 PM

In times working from home, after lunch there would be optional 30 minute Teams meetings to join a Meditation session or a Pilates Class! This was the perfect way to unwind after lunch and get back into the zone for work. Alternatively, when in the office, walking to and from the park for lunch is a perfect way to get the heart pumping before sitting down again for afternoon meetings.

2:00 PM

At this glorious time, for 3 months a year (summer), we finish on Friday afternoons. I personally wouldn’t mind if they implemented this throughout the whole year but even, so I am grateful for the months we get it. In those months we don’t, we reminisce the good old days and continue to power through until next summer!

3:00 PM

By this time, I may have been on calls with some of our agencies we work with, discussing the possibility of A/B testing our upcoming campaign assets on socials to ensure we optimize them for our consumers. A few emails have probably come through from our co-packer regarding our upcoming skincare sets being packed off by the warehouse to hit stores (David Jones & Myer) & pharmacies and be available to online shop in the next month! This may involve problem solving & abstract thinking to ensure each part of our packs and being created to our desire so when they are ready to go, we are 100% happy with them. I also may have been working with our PR manager to discuss the most suitable influencers to send our new products to in order to encourage trial. We want to ensure only those that align with our brand and have the appropriate audience reach work with us!

3:30 PM

Another cheeky Chai goes a long way here after the afternoon calls and meetings. Some days in the afternoon we may also be invited to join an online Learning Webinar from an external speaker in their area of expertise. These sessions are invaluable, and in the past have given me a lot of inspiration and insight into how I can develop myself both personally and professionally. The Resilience Project has been one of my favourite speakers so far, teaching us how to practice gratitude, empathy and mindfulness in our everyday lives. I bought a journal quick smart after that and still write in almost everyday to this day. Another good session was the Virtual Presence and Presentation webinar where we were taught how to effectively present ideas across in a virtual format. Even post COVID-19 these skills will help me to grow my confidence in presenting both on and offline.

4:30 PM

Time for the final pump out of work tasks. I find this half an hour/hour of power is one of my most effective times of the working day (conveniently coinciding with the sugar hit from a snack I also ate). I use this time to also organise my list of things to do for tomorrow, so when I arrive back at the office the next day I know exactly what my priorities are.  

Day in the life Grace Evans Loreal Australia

5:30 PM

And that’s a wrap! I clean up my desk, say my goodbyes to the team and walk with my friend back to the car where we have another deep debrief of the past 4 hours we haven’t seen each other for since lunch. We also discuss the new podcast she has recommended me to listen to (Too Peas in A Podcast) that I now listen to religiously and talk about upcoming plans for drinks on Fridays with the other grads.

6:00 PM

If I am having a chill night, as soon as I get home from work I may change into running gear and go for an afternoon run to clear my head after a busy day! I also chuck on a podcast or a motivating playlist on Spotify to get me through those glorious hills. A quick shower is in order, then I sit down for dinner with the fam (thanks mum for your home cooking, I will never take this for granted when I move out). Otherwise, if I have plans, I’ll be out the door again off to dinner with my boyfriend or friends for the night!

10:00 PM

Getting ready for bed, I try and meditate, do some yoga & journal 3 things I am grateful for to finish off the day (Thanks again to the Resilience Project). I also set out my clothes for the next day and set aside some leftover dinner (if my brother hasn’t eaten it all) in the fridge to eat for lunch tomorrow. I turn on my fan (yes, I sleep with a fan every night it's weird) and put my sleeping mask on and doze off within minutes.