Bobbi Brown and Me ©
By Michael Casey
I just saw a programme on BBC about Bobbi Brown,
the makeup lady, and believe it or not I found the programme very interesting.
It was part of the BBC’s 100 Women feature, we saw it by chance, my wife has
worked in cosmetics in the past so it pricked her interest immediately. So we
watched it, I was really pleased to discover that Bobbi Brown was a nice lady.
I guessed there must be some faith behind her, something
that made the kindness inside her, so I did a quick Google and she was raised
Jewish. I image any faith, any value system inside you makes you a better
person. If I’m wrong and she is just a naturally nice lady I’m sure somebody
will tell me. I should say she was here in Birmingham once, my wife was working
at the next counter. My wife has a degree in chemistry by the way, so if Bobbi
ever reads this she’ll laugh.
Yes I’d love for Bobbi to invest in www.michaelgcasey.typepad.com just as a side-line for a bit of fun. However
what I’d like to expand on is “niceness” if you are nice to your staff then
they’ll work harder and they’ll be happier. I spent 3 very happy years at CPNEC
Birmingham, it was the hardest work in my life but I loved it.
We were known as the friendly hotel, the guests
loved it, and the food too, such a simple thing does make a difference. Quality rooms with great food, all brought to
you by friendly staff. Guests don’t want grumpy people after a hard day at the
NEC, I used to say welcome home to them when they got back to us.
So if it feels like a team, then its better all
round. My dad said when he was made redundant from his steel works job after 40
years that it was like a little family. My local pizza place they are another
little family, if you sit waiting for a pizza you can see how they gel and how it’s like a well-oiled
machine.
The reverse is true too if you sit and observe
some places where they are arguing and fighting each other all the time, it’s
not my job you hear them say, or I’m going on my break just as things are being
swamped. I’ve worked:- reception, concierge, canteen, switchboard, housekeeping,
laundry, portering, security to name just some of my roles in the hotel, on a
daily basis. So I know what being flexible means. If you are flexible the
guests, the customers always come first, then a company prospers. If you are
not flexible then the company sinks.
My computer room days were fun and a lot of hard
work too, it was more like a club than a place of work. There’s lots I could
write about but never have. The thing I learnt about Bobbi Brown though was
that she is honest, she makes what is great within women even greater. She uses
their natural beauty within them to show just how beautiful women are.
She magnifies beauty within her clients with her
makeup, whereas other beauty products conceal and hide. I imagine if ever she
meets me she’d improve my beauty immediately. By putting a sack over my head,
or would that be Jean Paul Gautier’s idea?
p.s. I nearly bought my daughter a makeup set tonight, one made of chocolate that she could eat.
