July 11, 2014
Celeste Fay, Fox & Bear Digital Marketing
At a Glance
Bio The path that led her to this point
I have loved beauty products, and beautiful things, my whole life. Make-up, skincare, gorgeous candles, luxe packaging – these little luxuries in life have always called my name. I managed a fragrance counter at Myer during university, and from then on, I was absolutely hooked.
I first discovered Adore Beauty while working in ad sales as a 21-year-old public relations university graduate. I stumbled upon the Adore Beauty forum while procrastinating at work, and happily connected with like-minded people – and the business owners, whom I admired from the get-go.
Fast-forward 12 months, and I was hired at Adore Beauty as their assistant manager. This role led to several promotions as the company expanded and my skills grew. I was at Adore for five years, the last two as sales and marketing manager.
Adore Beauty is where my knowledge and interest in digital marketing began, and fortunately, I discovered I was quite capable! Digital marketing just made sense to me, and having studied PR and marketing, I had a good understanding of the backbones to build upon.
I left Adore in August 2012 to move back to my hometown of Geelong, and worked for a local fashion business for 18 months; but my passion for beauty had not abated. So, when a previous client of Adore Beauty contacted me and asked if I could help her out with social media, I jumped at the opportunity.
The seed was planted, and I planned and networked and called beauty brands I had relationships with, and built a clientele that would allow me to quit my job and focus on digital marketing for beauty businesses full-time.
The long days of working a 9-5pm job, only to come home and work on my business, paid off after about three months, and Fox & Bear Digital Marketing was officially born.
Six months in, Fox & Bear is still very much in its infancy, but we are growing and work with a fabulous stable of brands.
I feel so proud that new business has come from recommendations from my brands; it feels wonderful to know that I am helping these businesses to grow their online presence, and I love every second of it.
Q&A Insider advice & tips
What's been your greatest achievement to date?
Being able to resign from my day job and work on Fox & Bear full-time is definitely my greatest personal achievement. Aside from that, gaining new clients (and not losing any!) tells me that what I am doing is working, and that is very satisfying.
What's been your biggest challenge so far?
Learning when NOT to work! I find myself sitting in my office, typing away at midnight; at any given opportunity during the weekend; and worrying about it when I am out of the house. I write lists upon lists so I can keep track of what I need to get done, but I still struggle to let go and relax.
Best lesson you've learned along the way?
I'm glad I met with an accountant before quitting my day job, so I knew exactly what I had to put aside for tax, discussed what I could and couldn't claim, and had someone to call with any questions. The accounting side of running a business is very new to me!
A website, book or resource that has helped you in your business or inspired you and why?
I really like Freshbooks for easy accounting. I also love MailChimp for making it simple and beautiful to send newsletters. Finally, Renegade Collective magazine is the only magazine I buy, and devour. Subscribing to this publication is a must for me now.
Which person or brand do you most admire and why?
Lisa Messenger, of Renegade Collective. What a woman! She runs an amazing business, inspires other women (and men!) to work hard and achieve their goals, as well as creating resources to help entrepreneurs feel like they're part of a community. I'm a massive fan.
What advice would you give someone starting an independent business in your industry?
Make sure you have great networks in the industry. It's absolutely vital. In my opinion, relationships and reputation are the most important things in marketing.
Finish this sentence
Everything changed for me when…
I backed myself, and put my everything into driving Fox & Bear from a dream to my reality.
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