Melissa Baker — Director of Education & Brand Strategy | I help beauty & wellness brands reach women 45+ with education that honors experience, not age | Ex-Sephora, Urban Decay, Estée Lauder, DFS/LVMH

About Melissa

I build education and brand strategies that help beauty and wellness brands connect with women 45+—the demographic with the most buying power and the least tolerance for BS. ⚡️ What makes me different? Cross-functional fluidity. Bridging gaps between Marketing, PR, Social, R/D, and Field Teams. For 20+ years, I've designed learning systems with lens into those departments, applying knowledge across every segment of beauty—from heritage brands like Estée Lauder and Merle Norman to founder-led brands like Drybar, Too Faced, Urban Decay and LWYA. I've worked in hair, skin, makeup, and home fragrance. I've built programs for Sephora, international duty-free retailers (DFS/LVMH, The Shilla), and direct-to-consumer brands. ✍️ Why work with me? I turn complex product science into educational concepts, conversations, tools and events that resonate across sales and marketing. An Education Director may come from one world—heritage OR indie, domestic OR international, one category OR another. My advantage--I bridge all of them. 🪢How do I approach projects? I believe education is more than training. It's how you bring people into the fold of the belief system of the brand. Whether you're a heritage brand evolving or a founder scaling, I translate your brand values into education for internal and external teams that drives measurable adoption, loyalty, and revenue. 🪴Who I'm interested in working with? Mission-driven, innovative beauty and wellness brands for women 45+. Brands that understand this demographic isn't "anti-aging"—they're pro-living well, looking great, and refusing to be invisible. Available for employment and consulting partnerships focused on education strategy and brand positioning. 🏁 Just a few checkered flag wins! → Achieved 35% email CTR and 17% OR (7x and 2x industry average) through targeted copywriting → Drove 10% wholesale growth in 3 months for NEST New York by expanding into strategic markets → Increased beauty KPIs 25% at DFS (LVMH), managing 75+ advisors across a $60M portfolio → Grew learning tools 400% at Merle Norman while creating scalable digital education