What do you REALLY love to do? 

or should I say

What do you really LOVE to do?

Think about it.....

(And this applies to many individuals: seniors (or juniors) deciding on a school or major, or those already established in a career who sense something ELSE  might be possible.)

I recently had this discussion with my former student, Emily Ermentrout, Central Catholic class of 2007.

Emily graduated from La Salle University in 2011 with a degree in Business with a concentration on Marketing and International Business. Her Marketing choice was based on the premise that knowledge in this field could easily translate into a variety of venues. As it turns out, Emily was able showcase her skills in several mediums in her short time in the "real world." Her stint as Student Body President at La Salle her senior year gave her an outlet for her organizational and people skills, traits she was already known for at Central Catholic!


Emily's first job was working at Frey, a woman's boutique in Newton Square. Here, Emily could couple her passion for fashion with her marketing education. She assisted as a buyer and sales marketing there for about a year and a half.

With Emily's happy, bright, smiling personality, it makes sense that her next career move brought her to the Reading Orthodontics Group as a treatment coordinator. She worked as a liaison between patients and the doctors, and she did some marketing for the practice as well. 

One would think having her picture on a billboard would be the ultimate in career highs (as Emily's was in an ad for ROG), but she now was willing to work from the ground up---almost literally. Emily works for Sunoco Logistics, starting as a pipeline scheduler (on call 24/7 !) but now has the title of Business Development Specialist. 

Emily's explanation of her scheduling position made my head spin! We take the gasoline in our cars and the oil in our heaters somewhat for granted, but someone must supervise the flow of the product (gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, kerosene) getting it from from point A to Point B--and a lot goes on between those points! Crude oil is a product with customers, so Em's current position is based on her customer skills that she developed through the years.

So, that's what Emily Ermentrout does, and she does it well, and she loves doing it.

But what makes Emily smile, like I've never seen someone smile before?

MAKEUP!!!!

Emily has always loved cosmetics. While the other kids in middle school were at the library reading the Twilight Series, Em was choosing biographies of Bobbi Brown, the renowned makeup artist. In high school she was the go-to person for the school plays in the makeup room, which then led to several gigs as the prom makeup consultant and artist. She was in heaven!

It would seem natural to pursue this as a career, but at the time Emily knew that a college education was desirable. She certainly made a practical and successful choice, yet there has  always been a voice in her head calling her to see "what could have been."

 Now, some people quiet that voice, but Emily Ermentrout did not! She "took the leap" as she says. She knew a counter artist at Bloomingdales who recognized Emily's passion for this business. She directed Emily to her Account Executive who reserved a spot for her at the Freelance Artistry Class at the Bobbi Brown Studio. (Perfect--she had been studying her since 6th grade!)

In the class, which included hours of product education and hands on work, she learned what makes the Bobbi Brown culture and philosophy different as well as what makes Bobbi Brown makeup unique. Emily already knew some of this information, but taking the class helped fill in the blanks for her, as well as giving her the confidence to do makeup on a stranger, which she had to do by the end of class. 

The goal of the class was to not only make the client feel beautiful, but also to give the artist the confidence to apply the makeup with assurance and skill. Emily developed a philosophy: she feels women do not need a lot of makeup, just the right makeup.  She emphasizes that every woman is beautiful and makeup shouldn't mask anything, just enhance the beauty that is already there.
The class educated Emily--- so much that now she started to think seriously about how she could put that PASSION into PRACTICE and begin to answer that voice.

Emily, in addition to her job at Sunoco, is now working as a Freelance Makup Artist.

Yes, she did it. She was encouraged by family and friends, but ultimately it was Emily who asked herself ,"Why not?" What an inspiration.

Em and I spent 3 hours together, and the last half was her makeover for me. We had fun, and she gave me tips and educated me on various products.

If you or anyone you know is interested in consulting Emily for her services, contact her at emily.ermentrout@gmail.com.

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Emily's passion really spoke to me! After all these years telling students what to write, I found in my blogs that it is something that I enjoy.

Do I hear a voice?

NEXT UP: ANNE FRANK...HERE I COME!