How Pure Light Botanical Beauty supports emerging talent through workforce development, repeated hiring, and founder mentorship.
At Pure Light Botanical Beauty, building a business also means deciding how we participate in our community. I care about the products we create, the ingredients we choose, and the way we approach beauty. I also care about the opportunities we help make possible for people.
PLBB has supported workforce development and internship programs, including Level Up through Unidos Bridging Community and OASIS through Oregon Sea Grant, and has repeatedly hired participants from these programs. My involvement has also included mentoring Anna Squitieri through OASIS.
As the founder and CEO of PLBB, I see hiring and mentorship as meaningful parts of leadership. Sharing knowledge, offering professional experience, and making room for someone who is still finding their direction all deserve time and attention.
Hanna Ramirez and Marian Tamber from UNIDOs
Why workforce development belongs in a beauty business
A beauty business brings together many kinds of work: creative thinking, science, communication, organization, and the everyday decisions involved in running a company. That makes it a place where someone can encounter different possibilities for their future.
For a person entering the workforce, the first opportunity can be difficult to find. Employers often ask for experience, while gaining that experience requires someone to open a door. Programs that connect emerging talent with local businesses help make that first step more accessible.
I believe employers have a role in that process. We can recognize potential, make time for learning, and approach early career experience with the care it deserves. Paid opportunities matter, too. A person's ability to explore a career should not depend entirely on whether they can afford to work without compensation.
Supporting opportunity through Unidos and Level Up
Unidos Bridging Community is a Latinx-led nonprofit serving Yamhill County, Oregon. Its Level Up youth workforce development program builds on the Career Bound initiative developed by the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership.
Level Up currently serves youth ages 16–24, with an emphasis on increasing participation among Latinx and other underrepresented young people. Approximately ten weeks of workshops develop skills such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, professionalism, and interviewing. Participants can connect with local employers for paid part-time work experience, while employer wage subsidies and participant support funds help address barriers to participation.
What I appreciate about this approach is the connection between preparation and practical opportunity. Learning how to communicate in a workplace becomes more tangible when there is a workplace in which to practice.
PLBB's repeated hiring through these kinds of programs reflects my belief that community involvement deserves follow-through. It is worth returning to the work of welcoming people, sharing what a business does, and helping make professional experience available.
OASIS: Sustainability as a learning opportunity
The Oregon Applied Sustainability Internships program, OASIS, connects students and recent graduates with Oregon businesses for paid sustainability projects. Administered by Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, it brings practical research into workplaces while helping develop Oregon's environmental workforce.
For a beauty business, sustainability raises concrete questions. What materials are we using? Where does waste arise? How could packaging or a process improve? Which ideas are practical, and what information would help us make a better decision?
These are valuable questions for a student to explore alongside a business. They bring together research, observation, communication, and the realities of putting an idea into practice.
PLBB's 2026 OASIS host project description outlines opportunities to examine waste, packaging reuse and refill, and sustainability systems, with direct founder mentorship. Those project areas reflect the kind of thoughtful investigation I want to encourage: asking useful questions, examining evidence, and considering how a small business can improve.
 |
 |
Anna Squitieri from OASIS
Mentoring Anna Squitieri
I have had the opportunity to mentor Anna Squitieri through OASIS. That relationship is part of the community work I value as a founder, and it deserves recognition alongside the more visible parts of building a beauty brand.
When I think about mentorship, I think about the space between receiving an assignment and understanding why it matters. A mentor can help make that connection by explaining context, talking through decisions, and creating room for questions.
That is the approach I want to bring to my leadership. Professional learning should include opportunities to explore an idea, receive thoughtful feedback, and understand how individual work connects to a larger purpose.
Recognizing Anna by name also matters to me. Behind every internship program are individual people with their own interests, ambitions, and perspectives. Mentorship begins with taking those people seriously.
The leadership I want to practice
Being a founder gives me a particular view of a business: the creative vision, the practical constraints, and the decisions that connect them. Mentorship offers a reason to make that thinking more accessible to someone else.
The principles I want to bring to that responsibility are straightforward:
- Explain the purpose. Help someone understand why a task matters and how it connects to the work around it.
- Make room for questions. Curiosity deserves a thoughtful response, especially when someone is encountering an unfamiliar workplace or field.
- Offer useful feedback. Guidance should help a person understand a next step, with clear expectations and respect for the learning process.
- Stay open to another perspective. Someone entering a business can notice a question or possibility that deserves a closer look.
These principles require attention. They also make leadership more meaningful to me. I want PLBB to be a business where sharing knowledge is treated as valuable work.
Community impact grows through participation
Workforce development depends on many people doing their part: program coordinators, educators, employers, mentors, and participants themselves. Unidos and OASIS provide structures that help bring those people together. PLBB's hiring and mentorship are our contribution within that broader effort.
Returning to these opportunities matters. Each time a business makes space for emerging talent, it has another chance to connect its day-to-day work with the community around it.
I am grateful for the people and organizations that make these connections possible, and for the participants who bring their time, curiosity, and perspective into the experience.
If you are a young person exploring work, a student interested in sustainability, or a local employer considering how to participate, I encourage you to learn more about Level Up and OASIS. Their program pages provide current information about opportunities and how to get involved.
For me, building Pure Light Botanical Beauty includes caring about who has the chance to learn, contribute, and find a place in the working world. That is part of the community I want to help build.
With love and gratitude,
Caitlin Grey
Founder & CEO, Pure Light Botanical Beauty
Radiate Pure Light.