Nov 18, 2021
You may know Trae Bodge from her more than 1,000 television appearances as an intelligent shopping expert. But, Trae has deep roots in beauty. You can say that she was practically born into the business because her mother owned a shop in her small Massachusetts town where they sold creams, soaps, and other products.
Trae initially wanted to be an artist but found a way to use those talents in beauty with a custom-blending company called Visage Beaute.
She initially started working for the brand in Massachusetts and later moved to the counter at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. When the brand was sold to Revlon, Trae actively campaigned for a job at Kiehl's, then privately owned. As part of a collaborative team at their 3rd Avenue store in NYC, she created a position overseeing their catalog sales. While there, she banded her savings together with a former colleague at Visage and another friend to form Three Custom Color. They not only custom-blended shades, but they also recreated shopper's favorite discontinued shades in their NYC retail store/lab.
After leaving that business, Trae thought she would end up at a big cosmetic company in product development or another role, but wearing too many hats made her hard to place, so she stuck out on her own and began writing more.
She landed her first corporate job at RetailMeNot and began doing television appearances, which morphed into a new career. After being laid off, Trae started making appearances on behalf of several clients.
She's noticed an uptick in bookings since the social reckoning and sees that as a good thing, and has also adjusted to doing segments in her home. But doing television isn't easy; Trae shares the secrets to booing and delivering segments, and here's a hint, there's no such thing as winging it!
Because she knows that others interested in television could benefit from her expertise, she has partnered with a colleague on One Take Media.
And best of all, Trae shares five tips on perfecting your pivot.
Check out all of this and more on this episode.
And Follow Trae Bodge on all social platforms @truetrae!