My career has given me a view of beauty from every side of the decision.

My career in beauty began at a department store makeup counter, where I learned how purchase decisions are really made: what builds trust in a recommendation, how confidence shapes choice, and why performance matters just as much as promise.

While managing cosmetics retail stores, I earned a dual degree in psychology and sociology with a focus on consumer behavior and marketing. I wanted to understand the patterns behind what I was seeing every day.

After that, I attended cosmetology school and spent nearly a decade behind the chair, working with real products on real people. That experience showed me how products perform across hair types, routines, climates, skill levels, and expectations. It taught me what professionals trust enough to stand behind, and what keeps consumers coming back or causes them to move on.

Together, those experiences gave me a 360-degree view of the industry as a consumer, retailer, practitioner, manager, and educator.

I earned my MBA with a concentration in marketing, deepening my understanding of competitive strategy, market positioning, and the business fundamentals behind strong product decisions. The program gave me the tools to turn hands-on experience and consumer insight into strategic frameworks that support growth, clarity, and long-term success.

Each stage of my career built on the last. Retail revealed consumer behavior at the point of sale. The salon revealed product performance in real-world use. Psychology and sociology gave me frameworks for understanding how people make decisions. My MBA connected those perspectives to the business decisions that shape a product’s success.

At the heart of my work is a selection of guiding questions: does this serve the person who will ultimately use it? Does the product perform the way they expect? Does the brand communicate clearly enough for them to succeed with it? Does the strategy account for how people choose, use, and build relationships with products over time?

My work is grounded in the full picture: the business, the product, the practitioner, and the person using it.

Selected Work

Kulima Product Development Partners | Founder and Product Development Strategist

I founded Kulima to bring consumer behavior and practitioner expertise into product development. Through Kulima, I lead engagements for beauty brands across concept development, competitive benchmarking, testing strategy, product evaluation, and commercialization planning. I translate consumer insight, competitive intelligence, and hands-on product knowledge into briefs, performance targets, development requirements, and evaluation systems that teams can use. The work often requires coordination across founders, formulators, manufacturers, suppliers, and marketing teams. My role is to keep the intended product, the development process, and the consumer experience connected as decisions are made.

The Barb Shop | Fractional Product Development Lead

My work with The Barb Shop spans product concept, formulation refinement, prototype testing, claims, packaging communication, and launch preparation. I evaluate prototypes for hold, texture, absorption, sensory experience, and performance in use, then translate those findings into clear refinement priorities for the development team. I also manage communication with contract manufacturers and suppliers, keeping product quality, consumer expectations, and development timelines in view. This partnership has supported The Barb Shop’s growth from a single styling product into a developing haircare portfolio.

Soft Rows | Brand Development Support

My work with Soft Rows began with early product direction and expanded into performance evaluation and consumer-facing education. I used direct observation of textured-hair consumers and stylists to identify unmet needs and shape the product concept before further development investment. As the work progressed, I benchmarked product performance against competitors, assessed the relationship between claims and real-world results, and developed an education framework that could support packaging, retail, digital content, and direct-to-consumer communication. The resulting system gives the brand a consistent way to explain what the products do, how they should be used, and what consumers should expect from them.

Textūra Curl Studio | Founder, Owner, and Licensed Cosmetologist

Textūra has given me something few traditional product development roles can offer: years of direct observation across thousands of product applications and consumer conversations. Behind the chair, I evaluate performance across curl patterns, densities, porosities, routines, styling goals, and levels of user skill. I see how ingredient systems behave in practice, where instructions become confusing, and how application affects the result someone attributes to the product. The studio also gives me a close view of purchasing behavior. I hear how people describe products, what makes them hesitant, what earns their trust, and why they repurchase something or leave it under the bathroom sink. That experience has become a central source of product development intelligence in my work.

Elise Burnett Makeup Artistry | Founder and Lead Makeup Artist

Before opening Textūra, I built and operated a makeup artistry business for eight years.

The work required me to evaluate complexion, lip, and eye products across diverse skin tones, skin types, lighting conditions, environments, and creative briefs. I worked at New York Fashion Week, Style Fashion Week, and Harlem’s Fashion Row, where speed, shade-matching, adaptability, and immediate product assessment were part of the job. Makeup artistry expanded my understanding of product performance beyond haircare and taught me how quickly trust can be gained or lost when a product has to perform under pressure.

Across the Work

My experience includes:

Product concept development
Competitive and category benchmarking
Product briefs and performance requirements
Prototype and sensory evaluation
Consumer and practitioner testing
Claims development
Packaging and product communication
Ingredient and formulation direction
Product education
Manufacturer, supplier, and formulator coordination
Commercialization planning
Portfolio development

I am also the author of Beyond the Label: From Ingredients to Insight, an educational resource focused on ingredient literacy and understanding product performance beyond the ingredient list.

Education and Credentials

Master of Business Administration, Marketing Concentration

Bowling Green State University, 2026

Bachelor of Arts, Sociology and Psychology, Consumer Behavior Focus
The University of Akron, 2014

1500 Hour Cosmetology Program
Brown Aveda Institute, 2017

Work With Me

For product development strategy, evaluation, testing, or ongoing product leadership, visit Kulima Product Development Partners. For speaking, teaching, media, or another professional collaboration, contact me directly.

Work with Kulima

Contact Elise

Read The Case Study