Class of 2026: Victoria Adams turns disappointment into opportunity

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With an impressively packed resume, Victoria Adams thought her dream job was in the bag when she confidently applied for a marketing position at L'Oreal. So when she didn't land it, she was genuinely surprised and fazed … for about five minutes.

"I was like, dang, this really sucks," said Adams, who is getting her bachelor's degree in marketing with a concentration in brand and product management from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business this semester. "I'd been stuck in this mindset that 'This is what I'm going to do. I know it all. I know everything right now.'"

Before she even learned to read, Adams knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.

"Of course, I didn't know it was marketing at the time, but just the idea of being able to create something that would really intrigue people and make them interested," appealed to her, Adams said.

The idea was born from poring over her mother's collection of beauty magazines such as Vogue.

"She is her own business owner and she's an entrepreneur herself … within the beauty industry," Adams said. She and her mom would have "magazine night," where they would sit in bed and peruse the magazines with intriguing pictures and ads for beauty products. "I remember opening up these magazines and I specifically knew what I wanted to do: I wanted to work in the beauty industry."

As time progressed, her vision became laser-focused on one company: L'Oreal.

Everything seemed to be lining up for the Warrenton native. A first-generation college student, Adams came to VCU, joined the Professional Selling Team at VCU - where she eventually stepped into a leadership position - and decided to minor in sales.

She received the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship to help financially support a study abroad project at Sant'Anna Institute in Sorrento, Italy, this past summer. She then completed a follow-on service project where she created a website to help inspire and provide information to students who want to study abroad and apply for the merit and need-based scholarship.

"Receiving the scholarship allowed me to go abroad for the first time, and I hope that by spreading the word of the scholarship I can inspire other students to realize the possibilities out there."

She is the VCU Department of Marketing's 2025-2026 Snead Scholar, which honors distinguished seniors for their exceptional scholarship, leadership and service.

"It was just, for one, really special to feel the support of the business school behind me," she said, "but also to be recognized for a lot of the hard work that I'd done and being able to get supported financially to help finish out my collegiate career.

"That really, really meant a lot for me. It was like everything that I've done and everything that I've worked for feels like it's really paying off."

But then, L'Oreal turned her down.

So, she changed course. "I realized, 'Wait, maybe I don't know everything,'" she said. "And I wanted to pivot and use it as an opportunity to let myself grow and learn more so that I could align myself with that opportunity to get my dream job. Once I've learned more and given myself more time to grow."

She decided the best way to grow in the industry was to head to graduate school, something she had planned on doing eventually. So, she applied to the VCU Brandcenter with a focus on creative brand management and received early acceptance.

The application process consisted of a "plethora of essays," Adams said, but it did not feel like work. She found herself thoroughly enjoying the process and excited about what that suggested about studying at the Brandcenter.

Even the admission interview was fun, right down to the questions she was asked, Adams said.

"It feels like I know this is going to be a place where I'm really going to thrive."