Spotlight: Ananta Doodnauth
Age: 23
Degree: Master’s in Business & Corporate Communications
Position: Corporate Retail Experience Trainer at European Wax Center
LADIES. PAY. ATTENTION. Major #BossBabe alert and her name is Ananta.
As you all know, I spotlight young professionals in the community that love what they do and write about their experience achieving their newfound role as well as their advice to others in similar positions. Couldn’t have picked a more perfect start to 2019 than with this story. I’m very happy to highlight Ananta’s path and journey of personal growth and how she found her passion in the beauty industry!
Prior to being at European Wax Center, Ananta actually started at Sephora and was there for five years before leaving for her new gig. She wasn’t really looking for a job all those years ago. As a tomboy growing up, she knew every single sport and watched football on Sundays. But, when she approached middle school she struggled a lot with self-esteem, so started watching makeup videos and learning small ways to make herself just feel a bit better!
“I stopped in Sephora to buy something in one of the videos. The manager said I was really pretty and we connected over a Naked palette. The manager asked if I was looking for a job, and although I wasn’t really, I took her name and number in case I was gonna interview.”
She went home and thought about what it would be like to work there- what it would be like making people feel empowered just as she felt. So she just went with it and after that, there was no turning back. Ananta says, “I loved being a product consultant and through my work ethic, I was promoted from product associate to the assistant manager. A year after, I became a manager and then a training manager.” She spent the rest of her time at Sephora as a training manager and leading a team of fourteen.
Similar to her current role, she would connect with her team through self-awareness and reflective activities to increase group performance as well as personal growth. For instance, one thing she would do is have everyone create “What’s my Why” vision boards, and they would write down why they wanted to work at Sephora and that it had to be deeper than the money, but something for the long run that would contribute to their purpose.
Unfortunately, her experience changed as management did, and she found herself not as excited to go to work anymore. Upper management was focusing too much on sales and everything started to feel less and less centered on the empowerment of their people. Working at Sephora for as long as she did, it was a big decision to leave. This was everything she knew and had grown immensely over 5 years.
Ananta’s “aha” moment came while she was in a performance review, and all her district manager had to say was, “Keep it up.” She really just couldn’t believe that was all there was to say about her work. At 23, and younger than all of the other managers, she had one of the lowest turnover rates in the nation as a training manager for the company. That’s when she knew it was time to start looking elsewhere.
“I was miserable. I would wake up and knew I wasn’t loving it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be. I felt my personal growth was at a plateau.”
She was approached in August from European Wax on LinkedIn for a training role, one that was a higher level in corporate to train in retail products for the brand.
So she went to an interview with the European Wax Center, and that’s when she immediately knew it was the right decision. When she visited the corporate office, she said the vibe made you feel like your best self- there were uplifting sayings everywhere in the office, and pictures of empowered women all around. She had a really good feeling because the company had values that aligned with hers.
“I even met the CEO, and I appreciated the fact they took the time to make sure I embody their company mission as well.”
Her new job is a lot more flexible than her previous retail experience. She travels to different regions to conduct workshops for groups and teams of about 20-30 people. The workshop content involves the DISC personality approach and bringing self-awareness to the group in order to better work together. Ananta stresses the importance of knowing your purpose while in your role and presses the group to think about their daily lives and how they’re contributing to their purpose through work and home. The group from her first workshop in her new role were very receptive to this training and was the first to receive 5 stars in the evaluation.
What would your advice be to young professionals who think a dream job doesn’t exist?
“When I hear that, I think of it as a mental state. You’re not aspiring to do more because you don’t FEEL like you can do more. Personally, I write things down. I believe if you write things down and put it into the universe it’ll happen. I wrote in January of last year that I needed a new job by August, and by September I got it.
So write it down, a job or something that you want. I never imagined working for a company that stresses so much about the positive mental state, but we’re allowed the opportunity to be in our own space to really understand all that we currently feel. Just know if you’re not there (yet), you’ll get there!”
Do you have any mentors and/or role models? What inspires you?
“My role model has only ever been my mom. We only know a fraction of the people that we admire or follow online. My parents separated and she still provided a great life for me and my sister aside from going through everything. She’s strong and coaches people on how to have a better life. She’s always stressed a balance between being happy and successful- it has to be one idea. You have to find for you a career or path that merges those things together otherwise you won’t ever be happy. Her attitude is impeccable and I have always admired her, without a doubt that is where I get it from.
What inspires me is empowering people; being able to make someone’s day better. When they go home, they’ll remember you even just for a little bit, and how you made them feel in that very moment.”
Are there any misconceptions people have about makeup or about the beauty industry in general?
“YES. I got into beauty because of an insecurity. What I’ve learned is that people always feel like they have to cover up the things they don’t like but it’s all internal. You’ll never feel complete, and that’s okay because you’re not alone. We all have the one thing we’re insecure about and it’s not just you. Everything’s filtered and no one shares what else they’re going through.”
“I am honest with the people that follow me. Makeup enhances your features but will not change or fix your insecurity until you become okay with it!”
Aside from being a makeup artist and corporate trainer, Ananta LOVES football. She wants everyone to know that she is definitely a GIANTS fan. She enjoys other sports and will root for mostly New York teams because of her parents. She also published a poetry book when she was 14! Wanting to get back in her writing, she hopes to get a writing coach in the near future and continue working on her goal of writing a novel.
I chose to spotlight Ananta after I found out how much she loves what she does, and how much she wants to bring the community together through her work and passions. Although we went to the same high school, it’s been a few years since we have gotten to really chat and catch up. Meeting and having a deeper conversation with Ananta about life has really connected us, and I am so grateful to know this beautiful soul!
I will be supporting her event, “2019- the Best You Yet” workshop this Saturday as she brings together allll the #bossbabes in the community for a great afternoon of learning and networking. Can’t wait for all we can do together this year! <3
Thank you, Ananta!
-Ziz