@mrjohnnyross<\/a>, the Instagram account of Johnny Ross \u201920. One of the top five beauty influencers on Traackr.com, Ross values his followers too much. What you will find is super helpful, honest beauty advice presented with grace, humor, and laugh-out-loud comedy. Ross\u2019 audience of nearly 2.5 million know that they can trust his advice and they stay tuned because of it.<\/p>\n\u201cI left high school intent on pursuing a career in the cosmetics industry,\u201d Ross says. \u201cI went to cosmetology school and worked at Sephora, but I quickly realized that I didn\u2019t want to stay in retail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross also realized that he would need to go back to school if he wanted to make a jump to the corporate side of the beauty business. He researched colleges and programs and decided on Montclair\u2019s Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. At 26, he was eager to fast-track his college degree, knowing it would require a lot of intense, hard work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a lot of summer courses and was fielding online classes while working the makeup counter at Burberry\u2019s,\u201d Ross says, noting that during his college years he also worked as an integrated marketing intern for Pride Media, a sales specialist for Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, and as director of Marketing and Media at A Work of Heart Productions. Ross\u2019 determination paid off, and he completed his bachelor\u2019s degree in just three years.<\/p>\n
A heavy course load, retail hours, and private makeup clients made for a tight schedule, but Ross still found time to participate in a few Montclair activities, including co-leading discussions for Beyond Binaries-LGBTQ Center and editing for the University\u2019s literary magazine, The Normal Review. \u201cI love art and poetry, and really enjoyed helping to select the magazine\u2019s content,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Degree in hand, Ross set sights on building his brand as a beauty content creator. \u201cDuring the first year or two of building a following you are taking advantage of any and every opportunity to expand your reach,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I was always conscious of my long-term plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little like building an audience for a television series,\u201d Ross explains. \u201cSome elements move forward while others get left behind. You are always thinking about what your audience wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing Ross felt certain of was the need to stand out from the rest. \u201cSocial media is flooded with makeup artists,\u201d he says. \u201cI have been involved in music, acting and theater since high school and decided to lean into that part of my experience. The combination of beauty content and comedy keeps my followers coming back for more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross\u2019 savvy assessment of what will grab the attention of social media users \u2013 a reliably fickle group \u2013 and his high energy talent and positivity have led to work with brands like Fenty and Makeup Revolution. His content is smart, informative, and fun to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole thing blew up early in 2023,\u201d Ross says about the recent explosion of followers. That was also when he learned that he was selected to join the Ulta Beauty Collective Class of 2023, an elite group of beauty content influencers and creators.<\/p>\n
Ross couldn\u2019t be more grateful for these opportunities, but he is in no way resting on his accomplishments. \u201cThis year is about phase three,\u201d he says. \u201cI just launched a podcast called Beautiful and Bothered that has already aired 10 episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The podcast is just one of the strategies Ross is pursuing to attract the kind of attention that leads to new avenues, such as judging panel shows. \u201cBeauty isn\u2019t always enough of a foundation for an entire career, especially for men in the industry,\u201d he says. \u201cAt this stage I am focused on fine-tuning my image and brand, and ensuring the sustainability of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an older student in a full-time undergraduate program, Ross\u2019 Montclair experience was atypical. \u201cIt was interesting,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMost of my classmates had just graduated from high school. I think I learned as much from my classmates as I did from my professors!\u201d<\/p>\n
He especially appreciated the classes taught by professors who had a lot of industry experience, as well as those that involved practical, hands-on projects. \u201cIn one class we split into groups and invested our own money in developing and selling a product,\u201d he says. \u201cThe practicality of that assignment really resonated\u2026and my group made a profit selling t-shirts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business world is moving at lightning speed,\u201d Ross adds. \u201cSuccess depends a lot on offering something unique, and staying tuned to what\u2019s coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross, engaged to be married to alumnus Casey Coleman \u201914, appreciates the many opportunities for alumni to stay involved. In February, Ross returned to campus to share his experience with students at a Student Development and Campus Life event. \u201cIt is great to see students so engaged,\u201d he says. \u201cMeeting recent alumni like me gives students a little confidence that they will be able to handle the future. I would love to come back to lead a content creation master class, or to judge a dance show at Homecoming.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Johnny Ross \u201920 is more than a pretty face. A talented comedian, actor and makeup artist, Ross has created a winning social media brand, landing the #5 spot on Traackr.com\u2019s list of top beauty influencers. A member of the elite Ulta Beauty Collective Class of 2023, Ross is already preparing for the next chapter for @mrjohnnyross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":212751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212747"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212750,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212747\/revisions\/212750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}