Foster Freshman Consulting: Best Beauty Supply, LLC

…our team decided to do in-person tabling at Red Square to collect some market data. At first it was difficult to muster up the courage to approach strangers and ask them survey questions, but after watching one of the more experience core consultants go out with ease and get good results, I stepped out of my comfort zone. This proved to be a great move, and our team ended up finding some very interesting data from our research.”

When I applied to the Foster Consulting Program, I was only half certain I even knew what consulting was. I certainly had never done a case interview, which was my first assignment to tackle. I watched as many mock case interviews as I could and tried my best to prepare, but I was feeling nervous going into the interview. It started off slow, but after getting comfortable it became fun and I found myself after the interview wanting to try another one. I was hooked.

My experience with the case interview mirrored my experience with the Foster Consulting Program as a whole. It started off with me not knowing what I was doing, but with amazing core consultants and talented managers and advisors, the work became fun. A specific example of this would be when our team decided to do in-person tabling at Red Square to collect some market data. At first it was difficult to muster up the courage to approach strangers and ask them survey questions, but after watching one of the more experience core consultants go out with ease and get good results, I stepped out of my comfort zone. This proved to be a great move, and our team ended up finding some very interesting data from our research.

The company my team was paired with was Best Beauty Supply LLC, a local beauty product store that has been serving the Seattle area for over 28 years. Through weekly client meetings, we got to know the ins and outs of the company as well as the vision of our client. The company has had a very successful brick and mortar store but was looking to expand into the ecommerce arena, a goal that my team was tasked on diving into. There were primarily two areas that our team was focusing on: market research and digital transformation. The market research entailed researching the consumer purchasing habits on the UW campus, specifically for students who purchase and wear fake eyelashes. This was because Best Beauty Supply LLC had recently come out with its own line of fake eyelashes called Eggie Lashes and was looking to market them towards UW students. The digital transformation was more focused on getting Best Beauty Supply and specifically Eggie Lashes up and running on Instagram Shop as well as Amazon.

As a freshman, I had not yet had the opportunity to practice my business skills as in depth as I was able to through the Foster Consulting Program. I also would not have been able to do this without the awesome team that we had on working on the project. Our PM and senior PM were extremely helpful, offering guidance whenever needed and showing exemplary professionalism interacting with the client. Our core consultants were rockstars, providing innovative ideas, asking thoughtful questions, and doing outstanding work. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be in the Foster Consulting Program, and I highly recommend it to everyone who is looking to get a taste of the real world.