{"id":30510,"date":"2026-03-02T09:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T01:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=oasis-news&p=30510"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:40:57","slug":"my-curtin-story-sean-brandstorm","status":"publish","type":"oasis-news","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/oasis-news\/my-curtin-story-sean-brandstorm\/","title":{"rendered":"Step by step: How Sean innovated his way into a dream\u00a0grad\u00a0program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How\u00a0do\u00a0you\u00a0go from\u00a0stalking your\u00a0dream company\u00a0on LinkedIn to landing a\u00a0grad\u00a0role\u00a0with them?\u00a0For\u00a0finance and marketing\u00a0student Sean, it\u00a0was a journey of teamwork\u00a0and\u00a0small\u00a0consistent\u00a0steps – with\u00a0the\u00a0key being L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s\u00a0Brandstorm\u00a0competition.\u00a0| Reading time: 4 minutes.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u00a0first\u00a0drew Sean to marketing was\u00a0a\u00a0creative\u00a0spark\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0had since\u00a0childhood.\u00a0Inspired\u00a0by the emotion evoked by beauty\u00a0commercials,\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0once\u00a0aspired to be a fashion designer\u00a0but knew he had an analytical side as well. Sean came into his Commerce degree with an open mind and soon realised\u00a0finance and marketing were a key part of the brands he dreamed of\u00a0working with as a teenager.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarketing is like the perfect intersection between those two ways of thinking. Yes, you need to be creative to stand out, but marketing needs to be driven by your customer and data.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sean\u00a0brought that same\u00a0open-mindedness\u00a0to\u00a0uni\u00a0life. Alongside studies,\u00a0he took part in Skills for Success\u00a0workshops,\u00a0the\u00a0Curtin Leaders program, Student Ambassador program, went on a study aboard program to Paris and experienced honours research with the Australian Institute of Management.\u00a0But the highlight\u00a0of\u00a0uni\u00a0for\u00a0Sean\u00a0was\u00a0absolutely\u00a0L’Or\u00e9al\u2019s\u00a0Brandstorm\u00a0competition, which\u00a0took\u00a0him\u00a0all the way to Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a Marketing and Finance student interested the world of luxury,\u00a0beauty\u00a0and fashion, L’Or\u00e9al had been on Sean’s radar for a while as\u00a0a\u00a0dream company\u00a0after\u00a0uni. Knowing he was\u00a0entering\u00a0a competitive field, Sean kept an eye on their social media\u00a0–\u00a0and\u00a0when the\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u00a0Brandstorm\u00a0competition\u00a0came up, he knew\u00a0it\u00a0could be his foot in the door\u00a0and quickly formed a team with friends\u00a0Pia\u00a0and Annalise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cL’Or\u00e9al\u00a0Brandstorm\u00a0is a competition for innovators aged 18 to 30, challenging youth to imagine the future of beauty through\u00a0cutting edge\u00a0ideas.\u00a0When I found out it was a team competition, I thought of my fellow committee members in Curtin Marketing Association,\u00a0Pia\u00a0and Annalise. We worked very well together, and I refer to us as a dream team!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The trio submitted a video and pitch desk explaining their solution to the challenge. To their surprise, their submission made it to national finals \u2013 with cross-country travel expenses paid for and mentorship from a former competition winner. Across a whirlwind two days, Sean and his team implemented advice from their mentor, pitched in front of L’Or\u00e9al senior executives and even got a tour of the L’Or\u00e9al office. But the best part? Knowing he’d made it to Melbourne with his two friends after working so hard together.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presentation helped Sean build his confidence dealing with similar situations in future with composure, focus and clarity. And what the whole experience honed was his teamwork skills. As a team of three, they sometimes had conflicting ideas \u2013 but respecting each other’s ideas and having a collective team mindset meant their different perspectives helped them innovate. Brandstorm was also a great opportunity for the team to apply their marketing knowledge in practice.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Sean, the competition turned out to be a career game changer. Sean applied for the L\u2019Or\u00e9al Management Trainee program and attributes the strength of his application to the knowledge and network he gained through Brandstorm. This is why Sean says the time and energy he invested into the experience was 100% worth it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-uni, Sean\u2019s biggest aspiration is to work across the world, in luxury and business capitals like Paris, Singapore and Shanghai. Now starting his\u00a0grad\u00a0program in\u00a0a multinational beauty company, Sean\u2019s dream career of working\u00a0there\u00a0could be closer than he once thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a dream\u00a0industry? Here\u2019s\u00a0Sean\u2019s\u00a0top\u00a0advice:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Look\u00a0for the opportunities that excite you at university\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Research what businesses and brands exist\u00a0in the industry<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Get your foot in\u00a0the door\u00a0through volunteering, work experience or competitions like\u00a0Brandstorm<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      And in everything you do, try your best – you never know\u00a0where that opportunity might take you or\u00a0who might be watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Want to take your first step? Sign up to L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u00a0Brandstorm<\/em><\/strong> before Tuesday 31 March.<\/h2>\n\n\n
      \n\n \n
      \n

      Button block<\/h2>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n\n Sign up<\/a> \n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      How\u00a0do\u00a0you\u00a0go from\u00a0stalking your\u00a0dream company\u00a0on LinkedIn to landing a\u00a0grad\u00a0role\u00a0with them?\u00a0For\u00a0finance and marketing\u00a0student Sean, it\u00a0was a journey of small\u00a0consistent\u00a0steps – with\u00a0the\u00a0key being L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s\u00a0Brandstorm\u00a0competition.\u00a0| Reading time: 4 minutes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4478,"featured_media":30520,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_oasis-categories":0,"footnotes":""},"oasis-categories":[130,250],"class_list":["post-30510","oasis-news","type-oasis-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","oasis-categories-business-law","oasis-categories-student-profile"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Christina","last_name":"Ryan","display_name":"Christina Ryan"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 06:05:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/30510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oasis-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/30510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-categories?post=30510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}