Socially Enhanced

-SJB

• 5 min read

At seventeen, most New Yorkers are rushing through college applications, running down aisles of prom dresses, and praying for positive internship feedback. Hands shaking with anticipation, seventeen is the age of changes, when teenagers finally grasp some control over their future. One seventeen year old, in particular, was set on adjusting her appearance, holding a hand mirror to examine her freshly swollen pout.

Kylie Jenner first had her lip fillers done in Beverly Hills, California, after struggling with insecurities for several years. Dr. Simon Ourian was running a small business at the time, mainly performing cosmetic produces for a local crowd. In 2014, the multi-millionaire Kardashian family strutted into his office, making his business skyrocket with a simple boom. While Dr. Ourian was enhancing Kylie’s lips, the Kardashians were enhancing Dr. Ourian’s business and social circles. Pictures of Kylie’s lips flooded magazines, her pout perfectly glossed and plumped. Fans quickly sought after Dr. Ourian, and he began his social media accounts, posting admirable before-and-after pictures of his seemingly magical procedures.

Now, Dr. Ourian has reached a grand total of 2.6 million followers, and has been recognized by the Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and dozens of other publications. The Kardashian family continues to boost his business, most recently promoting his laser treatment for stretch marks. Captivated by his Instagram posts, people travel from all over the world to experience his magic.

In a surprising interview with Refinery29, Dr. Simon Ourian grudgingly revealed his education, or lack of: he attended university and medical school, but failed to complete his residency. After being heavily prompted by the interviewer, Ourian admitted that his lack of education is definitely not common in the medical field.

In an article by Bazaar Magazine in July 2017, Dr. Ourian is listed as one of the most famous plastic surgeons on Instagram. Upon further investigation, he is placed in between names like Dr. Ashkan Ghavami and Dr. Jason Diamond, both which completed intensive medical residencies. Actually, according to a career-search website, doctors who failed to complete residency are only eligible for several positions, including physician assistance, research, and medical informatics--none of which include the risky practice of cosmetic surgery.   

Despite lacking the adequate education, Dr. Ourian has amassed an intense and eager following. People ignore his brief resume and focus on the social fixtures surrounding his business: his branding of the procedures, most famously done through Instagram.

When showcasing what he does is almost effortless, is Dr. Ourian’s education even relevant? When the Kardashian family and 2.6 million others are obsessed with his surgical art, is a resume really necessary?

It seems that we live in a world where professionals are short in credentials, but have an abundance of customers. Have qualifications become obsolete?

Perhaps the field with the most “customers,” the fashion industry welcomes a new mogul every season. But the classics will always remain the classics, and the world watched eagerly as Louis Vuitton appointed 2018’s new artistic director, Off-White creator, Virgil Abloh.

In comparison to Louis Vuitton’s previous artistic directors, Abloh’s resume definitely stands out. In the 1990s, Vuitton’s artistic director was Marc Jacobs, who eventually left the company to create his own brand. His resume includes a graduation from the Parsons School of Design, the Parsons’ Design Student of the Year award, and the Perry Ellis Gold Thimble Award. In 2007, Vuitton appointed Paul Heblers artistic director. He graduated from the Royal College of Art Graduate School, named the Top Art and Design School in the world. In 2011, Kim Jones took over the position. Jones studied menswear at Central Saint Martins, a highly acclaimed fashion university with an acceptance rate of only 6%.

In terms of education, Abloh attended the Illinois Institute of Technology, a university with an acceptance rate of 57%. Up against Jacobs, Heblers, and Jones, it would seem almost impossible for Abloh to be eligible for the artistic director position. But in a line of white robotic sneakers and black kicks adorned with gold chains, Virgil Abloh walked down Louis Vuitton’s 2018 runway, both hands under his chin in a sign of thanks, as the new artistic director.

What, if not his education, did Louis Vuitton see in Abloh? What about him, if not his resume, made him qualified for the position?

Way back in 2009, Abloh scored an internship at Fendi. Right beside him, perhaps a desk or two over, sat the well-known Kanye West. Soon enough, the two masterminds began a collaborative relationship. This relationship led Abloh to become the creative director of DONDA, West’s creative agency, and launched Abloh’s career as an artist.

Gary Vaynerchuk best explains the connection between Dr. Simon Ourian, Virgil Abloh, and modern-day entrepreneurship. Building his family wine business from $3 million to $60 million a year, Vaynerchuk started Wine Library TV, a webcast reviewing and teaching about wine. Now with a net worth of $160 million and two New York-based companies, he teaches his secret of success.

In his video, “Listen Up Interns,” Vaynerchuk proclaims, “Interns, it's not about what you're going to learn this summer, my friends, it's going to be who you meet...It's the people that you meet in that office that go work somewhere else, that are reminded by your hustle and tenacity and good nature-ness and offense... And they're the ones that give you the opportunities. This is a very simple world. This is a people world.”

Of course, an impressive education and a well-built resume help pave the road to success. But on a whole, there are only so many spots for those with an Ivy league education. And sometimes, a 4.0 GPA isn’t what it takes in order to reach impossible heights. It can’t be.

In order to shape tomorrow, our society needs the unusual: the artists, the creators, and the hustlers of our generation. It takes connections: as humans, we thrive on networking, on collaborating, and on building advancements together. We do not operate alone, and we certainly do not operate based off a pristine resume.

All in all, it can’t just be what you know--it’s who you know.

SHARE: