Taydra Mitchell-Jackson
Vice President, Marketing, Mizani, L’Oreal USA
New York City. Age: 34
Taydra Mitchell-Jackson may be modest about her professional accomplishments, but she recognizes that she has a “dream job,” one she envisioned as a child when she became interested in what makes women beautiful. A bachelor’s degree in business administration and an M.B.A. in marketing from Florida A&M University put her on the path to becoming vice president of marketing for Mizani, a division of L’Oreal USA. Mitchell-Jackson has taken the Mizani brand to new heights as a leading hair care product for African-American women. She manages the brand’s U.S. marketing department while managing its vision globally, assisting its expansion into new countries.
Providing women, particularly women of color, the means to bring out the essence of their beauty fuels her passion, Mitchell-Jackson says. Over the last 10 years, she has had the opportunity to create, enhance and market products in the beauty care sector for all types of consumers. The realization, during that time, that there was an absence of high-quality products for women of color inspired her to work at creating unique, quality, life-enhancing solutions for women of color, she says.
In addition to her achievements with the Mizani brand, she is most proud of Pantene Relax and Natural, a brand she helped create while working for Procter & Gamble. She also has worked on salon beauty solutions, such as the Head & Shoulders brand, and numerous initiatives for the general market. The satisfaction she feels from keeping customers happy drives her to develop even better programs. “If I can help create the moment that connects a consumer with a product that meets her needs, when the point of need meets the point of satisfaction, magic happens,” she says.
Among those Mitchell-Jackson counts as her principal supporters are her parents, Thomas and Betty Mitchell, for their inspiration and for motivating her; Donald King, one of her first mentors at Procter and Gamble, for his insight into the corporate world; and her husband, Tony Jackson, for his strength and encouraging her in professional pursuits.
