Vault: What was your background prior to L'Oreal?
Liberboim: I spent two years in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, followed by two years in venture capital in Boston. I really wanted a switch for two reasons: I wanted a combination of business and creativity, as well as operational experience.

Vault: Have you found that you're getting that experience?
Liberboim: Definitely. You really focus on all the different functions -- marketing, sales, advertising, product development. It's a tremendous opportunity from that perspective.

Vault: Tell me about the L'Oreal MBA program. Is there a rotational aspect to it?
Liberboim: When I came in, it wasn't so much a rotational program. It's a brand management role and you're constantly working with other functional areas on a daily basis, but it wasn't rotational when I came in. Having said that, the new class that's coming in will spend six months to a year rotating across different brands before they get placed in one. I believe the new class might also have a three-month stint in sales when they come in, too.

Vault: What brand are you working on?
Liberboim: I'm working on Feria, which is a hair color brand. Feria is considered a more edgy, young trendy brand, and I think they were looking for someone more interested in trend or fashion. It is very advertising- and media-focused -some brands are heavily advertised, others less so. Because Feria is about vibrant and shimmering color, we try to promote it through a lot of advertising. So it was a great fit.

Vault: You mentioned working with different functions. In what way do you work with different functions?
Liberboim: We're constantly working closely with Sales and Consumer Promotions on developing the trade and promotions grid -- these are all the promotions inside a store or that a consumer receives. For example if we're working with Wal-Mart, maybe we want to have displays, whereas at CVS we might want to have something on the shelf, say a dangler that says "new shades."

My direct contact in Sales is a Manager in Sales Planning. I'm always asking her, "Hey, what's happening in CVS? What's happening in Wal-Mart? Are you hearing anything from accounts about new competitive launches?" We're constantly talking; I'd say daily.

We work very closely with Product Development as well. When we are launching a new product, the Product Development team would help us cost out new cartons, components or tools. We would also work with them on creating a timeline for when different milestones must be met in order to phase-in our new product by a certain date.

We work very closely with advertising agencies on new print and TV campaigns. We're constantly going back and forth with them. It is a very creative and fascinating process.

We also work very closely with Finance. For example, Feria has a media budget, Feria has both a media and a consumer promotions budget -- they are managed in total as a P&L, and we kind of come up with a plan. If we're getting x million dollars for media, we decide how that's spent. A lot of it is working with Finance to understand the budget.

Vault: Was there an orientation or training period to start?
Liberboim: Yes. We actually began in the field, where we spent about three to four weeks resetting the shelves.

Vault: You're saying you were actually in stores rearranging shelves?
Liberboim: Yes. They split us into teams of two or three, and we drove around New York City and New Jersey. We did it in Wal-Mart, Target, Duane Reade. We were putting in new product, taking off the defective product off the shelves, making sure the pricing was right.

It seems strange, but it really gives you a sense of how the products look on the shelves, how they end up there, and what people see. Then you can better understand where things get defective, and therefore you understand that you need to use new material or package the product differently. Actually, L'Oreal's one of the few companies that internally handles its store displays. We have our own department who is responsible for this and they do a fantastic job.

Vault: What happened after you finished that period?
Liberboim: Then we had training for about a month. We met with all the different function groups, and there were people who came in to explain how the products actually work, why they affect the skin the way they do, for example.

We did one week in New Jersey staying in a hotel, where we toured the plants. Then we were back in New York talking with the different functional areas. It was great exposure to the company at large.

Vault: What is your understanding of the career path from here?
Liberboim: The next move is to Brand Manager. Many times you do work with a specific brand for a year or two and then you move to another brand or category. Usually they move you to a new brand where you can hone a new skill set. You keep honing the different skills that are necessary to run a company.

Also, there's international mobility -- they are definitely big on providing you with international experience if you want it after several years. I think that's something that's really compelling.

One of the things that I feel is really unique about L'Oreal Paris is the constant exposure with senior management -- the President, the SVP of Marketing, etc. You get to see how they make significant decisions, which is really unique within a large organization. Just recently I had a presentation to the President of L'Oreal Paris about what our plans for 2006 will be for Feria. It is a terrific experience to hear feedback and learn from an accomplished person.