Luxury Client Partnerships Lead at Facebook and Instagram, Morin Oluwolehas been a digital thought leader at Facebook since 2006 when it was a small start-up company.  Now working at Facebook France, Morin is pioneering digital advertising solutions for global luxury brands.  With a background in product marketing including Facebook Pages, and working with fashion clients and agencies, Morin is at the forefront of millennial media connecting with over 1.4 billion people on Facebook and Instagram’s 300 million users.  Find out how you can build your brand online, increase your digital network, and become a woman leader like Morin Oluwole.

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It’s really important to understand how social media can build and share your brand voice.

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Millennial Media

What is your dream for empowering and inspiring women on social media?

Social media provides a fantastic opportunity to build your career, especially if you’re a young woman still figuring out what it is you want to do.  You can connect with people online, reach out to executives at senior companies, and start to build relationships with them.  You can also get to know your friends and colleagues even better and discover whatever it is you’re passionate about.  It’s really important to understand how social media can be beneficial for sharing and building your personal brand and voice.

How can online connections improve and create meaningful relationships?

In a world that’s increasingly global, online connections make it easier for people to share information and stay connected personally and professionally.  For someone who's building their career in a new city – they can still connect to people around the world for mentorship, insight sharing, and building new relationships.

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Build a comprehensive strategy that targets your youngest to oldest consumer across the board.

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How can we share our brands effectively with Facebook ads and pages?

The most effective way and the most critical aspect of building a brand online (either on Facebook, Instagram, or any other social network) is to focus on creative - creative is king.  You need creative that is relevant to people’s interests, timely, beautiful, and keeps people engaged.  Then think through what your audience wants to hear and what you want to share about your brand and build those things into a comprehensive strategy that targets your youngest to oldest consumer across the board. 

What is your online engagement mission for women and luxury brands?

In a world where spending in-store and online is led by women, it’s incredibly important for women to lead those conversations and to share insight about how luxury brands can best cater to their interests and needs.  It’s also important for luxury brands to understand how best to communicate with their younger, innovating, and millennial consumers.  My goal and my dream is for luxury brands to utilize social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to better relate, share, and build a long-term relationship with women who are going to be invested in their brands from now until the next generation.

What inspires you right now in luxury lifestyle?

I recently moved from New York to Paris and it’s been incredible to see the unique and diverse point of view that luxury brands are presenting to the world.  Luxury brands are starting to understand that consumers come from many different markets, ages, and have different interests across the world.  I see them focused on building an international point of view that can cater to women in Indonesia, China, Paris, and New York.  I love seeing this trend across the industry. 

 

Watch Morin's bSMART interview here!

Connect for mentorship, insight sharing, and building new relationships.

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Luxury Leader

How does your global background influence your view of success?

I was born in Lagos, Nigeria and I’ve spent my life living in different locations such as London, San Francisco, New York and now I live in Paris.  From having an international point of view, I have the opportunity to connect with people from different backgrounds, improve my knowledge base, and understand how people interact and communicate.  I really appreciate having this cultural and diverse perspective because I’m able to think through a more comprehensive and global point of view when building solutions for luxury brands or for my clients.

Why is it important to have gender and ethnic diversity in leadership roles?

As we’re assessing the scope of consumers today (those who are engaging, speaking, or have purchasing power) we see that the consumer face has changed completely and is more ethnically and gender diverse.  It’s important for companies who are looking to relate to these consumers to speak their language.  I truly believe you cannot speak that language unless you have people of gender and ethnic diversity in positions of power making decisions that connect across different cultures and life experiences.  It’s critical for a company looking to seek or fulfill it’s maximum potential to understand and relate to its consumer across the board.

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Focusing on relationships has helped me build my career to where it stands today.

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How can millennial women become leaders in their industry?

I believe curiosity (intellectual and relational) is important for millennial women who are looking to build their careers in a corporate and professional setting.  What I advise young woman looking to work in a particular industry is to understand who are the decision makers in that industry and then reach out to them to get to know them, their priorities, and make sure you understand the lessons they’ve learned in their own careers.

For example, when I started working at Facebook, I looked through our organization structure to really understand who was who and who sat in leadership positions in each team.  I one by one, slowly but surely reached out to them for one-on-one sessions over coffee to learn about their priorities and to also start a longer-term relationship with them.  I think this focus on relationships has helped me build my career to where it stands today.  

How can women turn their personal passions into what they do for a living?

I’ve been fortunate to turn my personal passions into what I do for a living and I did this in a number of different ways.  First, it’s important to understand what career progression looks like in an area or field that you’re interested in.  The second step is to look for the business solutions that lie behind your end goals or behind your dreams.  If you don’t have a business solution in mind, then it’s really difficult to transition a dream (whether it’s to be an artist, a dancer, or a painter) into a concrete solution.  The last step is to learn as much as possible about the field or area you’re interested in.

For me, there’s a set of luxury magazines and news outlets I read every day to make sure I stay informed and updated as to what’s going on in the industry.  When I’m communicating with my teams or my clients, I’m able to present them a very informed and educated point of view that enhances their decisions and businesses.

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Look for the business solutions that lie behind your end goals or behind your dreams.

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How can we bSmart building our online and offline network?

When building an online and offline brand, it’s important to be authentic to yourself, your interests, and to the relationships you’re building.  When you have those relationships, it’s important to nurture them in a way that’s beneficial for you and the other person, as well.

The first aspect to authenticity is to have your own voice, not be influenced by external factors, and to communicate in a way that’s natural for you.  The second aspect (and I think it’s really critical) is to make sure to foster relationships with people who support you, and who you can also support, because you never know when that person (whether it’s looking for a job promotion or job transition) can provide guidance or be of help as far as supporting you personally.

What is your call to action to women leaders for empowering millennial women?

As I think about women who have had success or are beginning to have successes in their careers, my call to action would be to look back at the women who might need their help.  In the same way they had support when building their careers, they need to look for women or people from diverse cultural backgrounds who have potential (but might not know what direction they want to go) and to serve as a guide, inspiration, and an outlet to educate them about not making the same mistakes you did.  They’ll climb upward just as you did and you’ll leave a generation behind that’s just as smart or even smarter than you to continue on this trend of building strong women leaders.

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Don’t forget to look back at the women who might need your help.

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Spotlight on Morin Oluwole

Neighborhood: 1er arrondissement, Paris, FRANCE

Occupation: Luxury Lead, Facebook & Instagram

Women I Admire: Ibi Oluwole, Kofo Oluwole-Orojo, Carolyn Everson, Nicola Mendelsohn, Nicole Hanley Mellon, Sheryl Sandberg, Claire O’Hare,  Lauren Maillian

Dream Mentor: Bernard Arnault

Look of the Season: Minimalist with a tough of edge

Ultimate Accessory: A strong watch

Favorite Store: Ibiss Boutique

Go-to Outfit: A dress always makes the body look good – fit is critical.

Must-have Shoes: Valentino rock-stud (mid-heel)

Favorite Nail Polish: Clear on fingers, fun Essie colors on toes

Can't Live Without Product: Mattifier (I have oily skin!)

Salon Recommendation: Benefit brow bar

Signature Scent: J’adore Dior

Beauty Essential: Lancôme BienFait Pure Focus moisturizer

Cocktail of Choice: Red wine

Best Date: The one that gives you butterflies at the end of the night

Travel Destination: Used to be Paris but now that I live here, I’d love to make it to Hong Kong soon!

Current Craving: Champagne

Best Advice: 'Make everyone around you feel bigger, not smaller.' - Claire O'Hare

Favorite Quote: 'There is more to life than increasing its speed.' - Mahatma Gandhi

De-Stress Technique: Sleep

Latest Gadget: iPhone 6

On My Playlist: Serge Gainsbourg

Favorite App: Instagram

University: Stanford University (BA, MA), Columbia University (MPH)

 

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