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Miner turned make-up artist on bringing beauty to Yorkshire

Gary Cockerill, the Doncaster miner who made a radical career change to become a make up artist, has recently become a brand ambassador for Swedish make-up firm Oriflame, and is set on recruiting in his home county.

Here, Gary talks to Bdaily about his career and keeping rooted in Yorkshire.

How did you go from working in a colliery to before getting into make-up artistry, what made you decide to take such a radical career change?

I was always fascinated by fashion and was obsessed with making people look beautiful. As a child I used to draw eye-liner and lipstick on anything I managed to get my hands on, including my parent’s LP covers!

I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic, creative career so my first ambition was to earn enough money to help me move to London. After eight months working in the Armthorpe Colliery I had saved enough for the move and managed to find a job spray-painting the faces of shop mannequins in a grimy West London factory.

From there I moved to LA to work as a make-up artist on film sets and landed my first celebrity client, which helped me to secure bigger and bigger names. I have since had the privilege of working with celebrities and models from across the world that include Eva Longoria, Rachel Hunter, Jerry Hall, Kelly Brook and David Beckham.

When and why did you first get involved with Oriflame?

I have been involved with Oriflame for about seven months now. Until recently I worked solely with Oriflame’s network of consultants, delivering beauty training for the sales team and leaders, to help build a knowledge base that matches Oriflame’s world-class products. Last month I was appointed as Oriflame’s UK and ROI brand ambassador to help take the Oriflame message to a wider audience and share my expertise with customers, fans and the beauty industry.

I decided to become involved because Oriflame’s corporate promise – Your Dreams - Our Inspiration ™ really struck a chord with me and my own journey of working my way up from nothing. I feel that I am living proof that setting goals and working hard can help you fulfil your dreams and hope that it might inspire others to pursue their ambitions.

On top of this I really admire Oriflame’s extensive portfolio of beauty products, there are some amazing make-ups products and so many new ones are being launched all the time.

I feel privileged to be joining the company at such an exciting time as it looks to raise its profile in the UK.

What are the benefits of a direct selling business model?

I think the fact that you are your own boss and responsible for your success is one of the most attractive aspects. You can set your own hours and do as little or as much as you like so you can do it as your sole occupation or to earn an extra income around your job. As direct selling models go, Oriflame is quite unique because it’s risk-free to join, there are no start-up costs, minimum order amounts or obligatory sales targets. You have total flexibility and complete control to take it as far as you want it to go. The only investment required is your time and passion.

Why do you think Yorkshire specifically would be a great place for Oriflame to develop?

Oriflame has been very active in Yorkshire for over 20 years – in fact, some of the company’s top-performing regional managers are based in Yorkshire – and the people here seem very receptive to both the products and the earning opportunities that Oriflame has. As I grew up near Doncaster (Armthorpe), it seemed a natural location to hold our first event to recruit more people into the company.

Where does Oriflame intend to achieve in the next year?

Oriflame has ambitious plans to grow its consultant numbers in the UK and Ireland by 20% (current numbers are at 4,200). We also want to help raise the profile of the company in general and attract a younger audience to the brand.

What challenges does Oriflame face in Yorkshire and the UK, if any?

One of the biggest challenges Oriflame faces in the UK is raising awareness of the brand. 30 years ago (in the Tupperware era!) the brand was very well known in the UK and many people we speak to today have heard of it through their mothers who either used to use the products or sell them. Most think that the company no longer operates in the UK though, when in fact, it has been here all along. Our job is to change that perception and introduce the brand to a new younger audience – awareness has almost skipped a whole generation so we need to start from scratch for a large part of the population.

What do you wish you’d known when starting out?

That everyone is not always as they seem at face value. A lot of people will try and exploit your skills for their own benefit and not always treat you with the respect you deserve, especially in the beauty and fashion industry. Also, not everyone is as fabulous as they make out!

Oriflame has ambitious growth plans for the UK and aims to increase its number of consultants by 20%.

Gary will return to his South Yorkshire roots and take to the stage at Doncaster Dome on Saturday May 3 to share his tips for a successful career in the beauty industry.

Tickets for Oriflame’s event with Gary Cockerill event are free and those wishing to attend should register at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gary-cockerill-your-dreams-our-inspiration-tickets-11150793323.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .