Ni\u2019Kita Wilson \u201999 enrolled into Montclair State University with dreams of one day becoming a doctor.\u00a0 \u201cI always pictured myself in a lab coat \u2013 little did I know that it was not in a doctor\u2019s office, but in a laboratory doing something that I loved\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Today, Wilson serves as vice president of Ideation and Innovation at Voyant Beauty. In her role, she is involved in new product innovation, product development and technical services. She works directly with customers to create new product ideas, then works with the lab to turn those ideas into products.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may not be creating cures for diseases in our industry, but we are doing our part to help increase the quality of life for women and men who are challenged with the side effect of treatments,\u201d she says.\u00a0Being able to create products that empower patients is something that Wilson is proud of.<\/p>\n
In 1999, Wilson graduated from Montclair State with a BS in Chemistry. Following graduation, she started her career as a chemist at a small cosmetics consulting company, where she realized her passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like I was walking into a meadow with the sun shining and birds chirping,\u201d she says. \u201cThese were my people!\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson developed about 2,000 products during her years as a bench chemist and was recognized and honored by Essence<\/em> magazine with a Best in Black Beauty Award as an \u201cInnovative Cosmetic Chemist.\u201d Prior to joining Voyant Beauty, formerly known as Aware Products, in 2014, she was founder and CEO of Skinects LLC and Catalyst Cosmetic Development.<\/p>\n Reflecting back on her time at Montclair State, she recalls the impact of one particular professor, Dr. Mark Whitener. He taught Wilson her first college level science course, which gave her a great foundation in Chemistry and so much more.<\/p>\n \u201cHe took the time to explain the subject matter and break it down for his students to understand,\u201d she says. \u201cHis class gave me the confidence to continue to pursue chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, it was during an internship with Dr. Whitener that Wilson realized that she wanted to work in a lab. She says that not only was the internship a validation that she enjoyed working in a lab, but it also gave her the experience she needed to land her first job out of college.<\/p>\n Years later, Wilson has found her way back to her alma mater as a member of the College of Science and Mathematics (CSAM) Advisory Board. She says that the most satisfying aspect of her participation as a member is having an impact on student\u2019s lives by organizing career development events.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is our goal to help provide students access to network with industry leaders and learn firsthand what companies are looking for when hiring,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Wilson believes that the CSAM Advisory Board is a great platform and opportunity to work with other like-minded, student-focused individuals.<\/p>\n Just as she once did, Wilson advises students in the College of Science and Mathematics to make the most out of every opportunity given.<\/p>\n \u201cConnections are key to advancement,\u2019 she says. \u201cOnce you get in the door, it\u2019s up to you to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vice president of Ideation and Innovation at Voyant Beauty proves how passionate she is about helping increase the quality of life for women and men from her time in the lab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":208815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209178,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208813\/revisions\/209178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}