Episode 238 - Kia Ragland Director of Product Development, Kylie Cosmetics - The Product Developer With The Perfect Eye - Kia Ragland’s Star is Rising Fast

WHERE BRAINS MEET BEAUTY

When Kia Ragland says she has “the perfect eye”, she’s not kidding. Kia has been tested for nuances in the way her eyes detect color, and it should come as no surprise that the Director of Product Development at Kylie Cosmetics is a shade above the crowd when it comes to spotting the differences in say, Ruby Woo and Dior 999.

Kia tells us she got into the beauty game early on, but it was slightly out of necessity. As a bi-racial woman in a predominantly white area, she learned how to do her own hair and makeup in the 4th grade, and from there an interest grew in learning how the products she was using were created, eventually resulting in Kia becoming a cosmetologist by her senior year of high school. Okay, so when we say “interest”, we’re clearly under-selling-Kia has ambition for miles and even tells us that during college, she was known to work 2-3 internships at once!

This ambition has clearly served Kia well with stops along her career journey at Stila and SmashBox Cosmetics where she created one of the products she is still proudest of to this day: “Punked” a purple-grey lip color that was so well-received it not only sold out and turned Kia into an award-winning creator.

To hear the whole story of how Kia trusted her gut all the way to winning Fashion Group International's Rising Star Award and more of how she takes products from concept to market, listen to this ep wherever you get your podcasts!