Q&A With Rare Beauty's Lauren Peterson

Lauren Peterson via LinkedIn

Lauren Peterson, Rare Beauty’s Senior PR and Influencer Manager for North America, knows what she wants and goes for it. By following her interests and taking every available stepping-stone, the 30-year-old California native has found a seat at the decision-making table.

After graduating from The Ohio State University, Peterson began working at Full Picture, an agency where she traveled up the ranks from Public Relations Account Coordinator to Senior Account Executive over the course of six years. In October 2021, she decided to follow her passion for beauty and cosmetics and made the jump from an agency to an in-house position at Rare Beauty, a cosmetics company founded by Selena Gomez. So, what brought her to where she is today, and what are her insights? I spoke to Peterson about her experience in the industry and any tips she has for aspiring PR professionals. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. 

Juliana Berkowitz: Looking at your position now, people probably wonder, “how did she get here?” Did you know going into college you wanted to work in Public Relations?

Lauren Peterson: In college, I was introduced to a business fraternity that specialized in Sales and Marketing. There was a Vice President of PR on the executive board and, that role really interested me, more than the Vice President of Marketing position, which is what I was studying at the time. I ended up running for that position and stepped into that role my senior year. I really enjoyed the projects and took on paying clients for our chapter, which was exciting! I wound up changing my major from marketing to strategic communications—moving from the business school to the communications and journalism school. I didn't have this great vision that at 30 years old I was going to be working in PR in the entertainment or beauty industry, it really was small stepping-stones of following the things that truly interested me. That’s the strategy that I've always followed: if something is interesting to me, then I want to do that, and I’ll excel if I really care about the work. 

Berkowitz: You worked for an agency called Full Picture and over six years, rose through the ranks from Account Coordinator to Senior Account Executive. Do you have any tips for sustaining that longevity and moving up the ladder?

Peterson: There are a couple of things; the first is always trying to be vocal about your interests and being an advocate for yourself. When you're in a work environment, you think, “Oh, someone's going to recognize me since I'm doing a great job,” but you really can't forget to tell everybody about the great work that you're doing. You need to ask for what you want and be vocal about what interests you. No one's going to know that you want to work on a certain account or project if you're not saying, “Hey, that's really interesting to me, I'd love to join that team.” I also found my niche doing the work that other people thought was boring because that was my foot in the door–the way to get on the coveted accounts I wanted to join. 

Berkowitz: Why did you decide to make the move to working in-house and were there major differences compared to working for an agency?

Peterson: Agency life can be incredibly grueling, but also very rewarding. You get to learn how to do every facet of the job and how to think quickly, problem-solve, and put out fires before your client even knows a fire exists. Personally, I knew I was ready to move to an in-house role because I wanted to focus on one industry, one brand. I wanted to play a larger role in big-picture strategy rather than just executing. When you're in an agency setting, a lot of times clients come to you and say, “Here's our plan for 2023 and this is what we want to do.” I wanted to be on the other side and think, “What are we going to do in 2023? What are those key moments, those cultural moments that are important to us as a brand? What partners are we looking for? Who do we want to reach?” I wanted to be part of the decision-making and planning versus carrying out the action that the client was asking us for. With all that said, agency life is a fantastic training ground for any PR professional. It’s the foundation I needed that helps me to do my job now.

Berkowitz: What’s the most interesting or challenging project or experience you’ve faced at Rare Beauty?

Peterson: Oh my gosh, every day is exciting. I can talk about when we launched our Kind Words Matte Lipstick and Lip Liner collection—that was the first time we were launching a product at the same exact time all across the world. We were doing a true 360 marketing campaign, pulling all the levers involved in a successful launch campaign. I went to Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia to launch the collection and meet with top media, influencers, and makeup artists in each country and it was so interesting to see how the brand translated and resonated with customers in different countries. It was also really fun seeing how all the different teams at Rare came together to create a successful product launch–marketing, PR, creative, e-commerce, visual, merchandising– and how every piece of the puzzle is so, so important. 

Berkowitz: How do you challenge yourself creatively each day?

Peterson: That's an interesting question because I'm usually not the most creative person in the room, but I always try to share my ideas with my team and contribute. I always say to my team, “Okay, maybe not this exact idea, but here's what I'm thinking,” and then we snowball it and bounce ideas off each other. So, I guess the way I challenge myself creatively is by being vulnerable and honest about some of my ideas, sharing them, and allowing my team to help me get an idea to the finish line.

Berkowitz: Closing out, what would your one piece of advice be for aspiring public relations professionals?

Peterson: I have maybe two major pieces of advice. In terms of looking for a job, be proactive. Email companies and reach out to people; try to get your resume through any avenue you possibly can because that is how you will stand out in a stack of 1,000 applications. The other is…try everything you’re interested in and be vocal about what you like doing so that people can help you get to the next stepping-stone. Following what you’re interested in is the biggest thing. When you’re doing that, you’ll always enjoy your work.