Emely: Helping Customers and Shelving Products at Sephora

What is Emely’s Job?

Emely has been working at Sephora for the last five years. She works there part time every Wednesday. When new shipments of supplies come in to the store, she unpacks them and puts the different products on their assigned shelves.

Finding the Job

Emely has always loved cosmetics and has enjoyed watching cosmetics tutorials on YouTube. When she was in high school, she participated in the Project Search program. This program combines working at a company with classroom instruction on soft skills or workplace behaviors. Emely’s work experiences in Project Search included organizing police uniforms, landscaping, cleaning in a gym, working in a mail room, working at a café, and cleaning at Marshall’s.

Emely had good experiences in the variety of jobs. Working in different places helped her understand where she wanted to work and what she enjoyed doing. She knew that she enjoyed working in a store, but her real love was cosmetics. As she was finishing Project Search, she let her caseworker know that Sephora cosmetics were her favorites and that she would like a job at Sephora.

Emely’s Supports

Emely and her case manager are very close. Her case manager checks in on her at work to see if she needs support doing her tasks and managing her time. Emely’s caseworker double-checks that she can navigate the store easily, put the products where they belong, and interact well with customers. Emely’s coworkers support her if she needs it, for example, by helping her learn product names that are hard to pronounce so she can tell customers about them.

What does Emely Think of the Job?

Emely enjoys her job very much. She enjoys the products and has her own favorites. After getting up, having breakfast, and doing her skin care and makeup, Emely either gets a ride to work from her mom or takes an Uber there. Emely feels safe going to and from work on her own but knows how to use her Apple Watch to send an alert in an emergency. She says that mornings tend to be quieter, but there are many more customers coming in around noon. She would like to work more hours, depending on what tasks she would need to do.

Part of Emely’s job is to know where everything belongs, so she can also take time to help customers look for the products they might need. "Usually for me, I like interacting with customers," she says. "If they have a question for me, I might give beauty advice. I know all the brands, but I’ll let someone else [give advice] too. Usually I’ll know skin care."

Sometimes Emely meets customers who are more challenging to work with, and that can be the most difficult part of her job. But usually, Emely enjoys the opportunity to help them when she can. “It’s either rewarding or burnout,” she says. “The burnout is real, let me tell you.” Emely says that her manager and coworkers are the best part of her job because they get along very well.

Her goal is to advance at Sephora over the years to become a manager or assistant manager one day. “I guess God will let me decide that,” she says. “My mom told me He’s taking it one step at a time and to be patient.”

Emely is also happy to be earning some money from this job, and she has put herself on a budget. She taught herself about how to budget by watching videos about saving money for things she wants in the future, such as her own apartment.

Emely’s Advice to Employers and Job Seekers

Emely’s advice for employers is that when they hire people with disabilities, they make sure employees have good training and supervision to do their job well. If people know what to do and are comfortable with the job, they will be set up for later success. She also tells job seekers:

"Wear professional clothes, no slacking off… Look professional, and make sure—one important thing—be there on time for your interview."

If someone is trying to choose the right job, Emely says:

"Just be more strict with yourself, and more focused on yourself, and be more active. And also, most importantly, be more comfortable in your own job. If you don’t like your job, then make sure to find others."