The Make-up of a Budding Career

Riley Bannatyne made her mark on the lacrosse field for Florida Southern College.

Now the 2020 graduate is making her mark in the make-up game.

Bannatyne, who ranks ninth in Mocs history with 106 goals and was a member of two NCAA Division II National Championship runners-up squads (2017-18), works as a Distribution E-commerce Manager for The Estée Lauder Companies.

Estée Lauder, the second largest cosmetics company in the world, is a worldwide cosmetics supplier that does business in more than 150 countries and territories. To date Estée Lauder has done more than $17 billion in total sales in company history.

Corporate sales was not Bannatyne’s first choice for careers. Bannatyne graduated with a degree in environmental science, but when the opportunity to work for Estée Lauder as a Distribution Supervisor presented itself first, she felt it was one she could not turn down.

“I had a connection in the company,” said Bannatyne, who is originally from Maitland, Fla., but now lives in Princeton, N.J. “I was looking for something more sustainability focused. When I graduated in 2020, I didn’t have a lot of opportunities with the pandemic going, so I jumped on one of the few that was available. They were on a hiring freeze, but knowing I was able to get a foot in the door I took a chance on something I had good transferable skills for, rather than something of which I studied.”

Bannatyne joined Estée Lauder shortly after graduation, becoming the Distribution Supervisor in August of 2020. She oversaw a team of 15-40 employees who were assigned to pick and pack shipments for major retailers.

During her time as Distribution Supervisor, Bannatyne took part in Estée Lauder’s Global Reverse Mentor Program. Bannatyne was paired with a senior leadership counterpart where she was able to discuss curated topics that “helped empower the next generation and make a long-lasting meaningful impact on the business.”

During the apprenticeship, Bannatyne was promoted to Distribution E-commerce Manager, where she has been since April of 2022. Bannatyne’s role is to lead a shift of two direct reports and 50-plus indirect reports in picking and packing functions. She also assisted in the launch of the North America Online Acceleration-Distribution Network Optimization project that is designed to enhance the company’s capabilities to process in-house Ecommerce orders for six Estée Lauder owned brands.

Bannatyne is also currently doing an apprenticeship as an Internal Content Creator, where she collaborates with chosen Estée Lauder brands to produce on-trend, high-speed content for social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Not bad for someone who changed fields after graduation.

“I realized in my senior year I didn’t want to be in the environmental science field,” Bannatyne said. “I wanted to do corporate sustainability. I found a niche in the supply chain area, and now I see myself advancing and moving around in the supply chain field.

“Now I oversee 200 people. It’s a large-scale operation. Managing at a distribution hub is a high-stakes role. I think of all the things I learned playing lacrosse at Florida Southern. I was a part of a great team there. I learned so much about leadership and how to be a good leader at FSC. Everything I learned there has been really invaluable here.”