From Passion to Empire: It’s a 10 Haircare CEO

Speaker 1: [Music] working on every type of hair so I came to understand every hair problem every authenticity every texture every type of hair what I set out to do is to create these collections that solve hair problems the name of the company it's a 10 meaning the cliche phrase the best came from only getting a three when I pick up a bottle or a six my own frustration so raising the bar within the quality of what's in every bottle set out to do that as well hi I'm Melanie bar welcome back to the shilp podcast your go-to place to empower you to live the life and business that you crave I'm here to talk about everything from Having the courage to make life and career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech Innovation I'm here to celebrate your wins and navigate through your challenges I live in the city now but I grew up in a town of a thousand people I've navigated major life leaps a senior level corporate career worked in professional sports and now as a successful entrepreneur who loves business technology family and making meaningful connections with you and the Sheil it Community I also love a good workout and dose of self-care magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so turn up the audio open your favorite Notes app grab your favorite drink and here we go welcome back to the sheu it podcast thank you for joining us Carolyn you have built a multi 100 million brand and growing 100% owned by you with products sold in locations like Sally Beauty Ulta Salon Centric to name a few and with products sold in 88 countries around the world tell us about your businesses and what led you to start them my businesses are mostly within the beauty industry and I always had an entrepreneurial spirit it having the passion for the beauty industry the fashion industry it led me to be a hairdresser and then from there I go into salon ownership and then into manufacturing hair care and now I have 15 companies so I've just expanded the more you become an entrepreneur the more it becomes addictive you are also the CEO of itat 10 Hair Care how did you come up with the idea to create it and how do you want someone to feel when they experience it my years behind the chair I stood Behind the Chair for 18 years and my frustration standing there using products on all types of heads thousands of products thousands of different heads over the years my frustration of of products within the industry always had me thinking why don't they do this or why don't they do that or why don't they say what they do or do what they say things that led me to think think simple easy to use multi-functional products that actually do what they say would be the way to success within this industry any time you can raise the bar within an industry that you know needs help you can live the American dream and I talked to so many women who create products out of a need or a problem so it's so great that you had so many years of experience of looking at what you would create as something that didn't exist not only that working on every type of hair so I came to understand every hair problem every authenticity every texture every type of hair what I set out to do is to create these collections that solve hair problems the name of the company it's a 10 meaning the cliche phrase the best came from only getting a three when I pick up a bottle or a six my own frustration so raising the bar within the quality of what's in every bottle all that set out to do that as well and also having a great name helps yeah marketing always helps so the bright colors that pop off the shelves my brand is 18 years old back 18 years ago bright colors weren't so popular so any way that I could go where they don't go is really what I set out to do what do you think is the most important element of leadership when scaling a business a major important part of of leadership is to not only to surround yourself with amazing people you hear that so often when you're building a team of people and being a leader to those people it's obviously selecting really talented people but also inspiring them with the fact that you're willing to do anything I am never above anyone I am never too good for anything I'll get down and slice open boxes and scrub things down and get things ready just as much as the next person and that's how I started a company started with just me and my partner we did everything in the beginning so if you're really willing to wear every single hat within your own business it really inspires your own team to be flexible and dedicated to the cause whatever that may be at that moment because running a business is always about putting out fires so sometimes there are employees that work for me are doing things they never thought they would do but we try to have fun doing it and I join running with them and do it I think that's inspiring to them yeah and when you understand all of the elements of the business it seems like it's that much easier to know where you want it to go it's very true it actually allows you to sculpt it it's almost a sculptor sculpting its clay and really like you said when you know every single aspect of it you aren't afraid of some of the little nuances that you might enter into at times they don't paralyze you that fear doesn't stop you if anything it's okay how am I going to smooth this Edge over or how am I going to get over that home that's really how you view it even if it's something you've never experienced before you tend to find a way to really work through it you mentioned being behind the chair and working on all different types of hair how did that translate when you moved into the business world because you also mentioned always wanting to be in business so that seemed like it would have been a perfect combination as you made the leap into becoming an entrepreneur it's so important to really get the background I was doing here I went to college by night and I studied business I didn't fully graduate but those courses were important business law marketing accounting those are the foundation of how to run a business and then I had a hair salon so that was an amazing lesson I had 22 employees and I ran that business by myself s it was a huge challenge every little bit of experience you can get along the way to know how to actually wear those different hats I'm not an accountant but I understand a balance sheet a p&l I did my own taxes so doing your own tax is a great way to know about business even when I was a starving hairdresser being able to embrace all of those things and learn about them is a big part of understanding and learning learning business and then you can grow on that and own bigger and bigger businesses just a bunch of zeros after it exactly right and I love all the grit that you've put into everything because that's taken you so far it's really important to embrace all of what you do and not be afraid of it that's what happens to a lot of people that are in business is they figure oh I just hired someone to do it or that's not my expertise so I'll just pass that along it's really important that even if you pass it along sit side by side with them have the conversations try to learn about it try to understand it there's nothing more important than understanding the knit and gritty of your own business really understanding the finances of it the budgeting of it the planning of it the running of it that's how important so running a business it's a huge undertaking on all different levels but but it's also really exciting it's better than being afraid of it my husband the way he describes me is funny oh she's the world's greatest sponge I just like to soak everything in I love to learn and that's a major part of any success in life that's so true and so smart because even if you don't do that part of the business knowing and understanding how it works is empowering as a leader absolutely and you need to keep tabs on your business at all time so it is crucial that you understand and know your finances of your company at all times whether they're good days or bad days that's really important because a lot of your decisions may be swayed by really what's going on in your bank and that's super important you keep tabs on that as at all times and I think sometimes that's where entrepreneurs lose the grip where they actually don't pay enough attention in scrutinizing their finances and knowing where you should cut or how kind of contract you should negotiate to get your prices down because you only have this much money to spend or whatever it may be those are all really vital points to a successful business you currently operate multiple companies across Industries which include real estate yachting Aviation Cosmetics the recording industry and more what are your tips for staying organized while managing a multi-dimensional lifestyle it's the key to success being a master at prioritizing is the difference between somebody who is able to wait through it all or not and understanding what's truly important there's nothing more frustrating than wasting time so I think it's a pet peeve of mine if I find something that's a waste of my time I'm not real fond of it I'm all about going right straight to the key issues addressing them and moving through them so we can get to the next things to do what happens a lot of times with entrepreneurs is they tend to get scattered they try to take on too much or they try to grow too fast slow and steady is the way to success everyone wants to suddenly be overnight successes took me 18 years to be an overnight success so true and I love that advice of staying the course because today with technology we can be so easily distracted so that's a great reminder yeah you know what once in a while get off that Tik tock just buckle down like I say to my kids bang it out bang it out conquer it sit yourself down and literally make yourself focus and this is my project and I'm not going to stop until it's done and once you get it done it's such an amazing feeling but otherwise it just becomes overwhelming and actually can paralyze you because you become scattered you become overwhelmed you feel like you have too much in your plate it agitates you and then your mind is in focus sometimes it happens to me sometimes I get overwhelmed and that's when I rely on people around me being a delegator is a major part of success knowing who to pass the Baton to at certain times so it frees you up to do what you need to do and in the beginning when I was the only person really running the office and the internal parts of the business I had a hard time doing that it took me years to get good at that and ask for help that's probably my number one advice learn how to pass that baton I was just going to ask you that because delegating can be hard when it's your baby it's your automatic instinct to I'm going to do it because I know how to do it and I'm going to do it best that's not always the case then it distracts you from what's important one of my favorite things to do is to create actually create all these Collections and I get involved in every little detail of them I've been able to free up more of my time to continue to do that because that's the driving of this company there many of my companies so the fact that I now have this amazing team surrounding me and I don't have to wear every single hat anymore it really is a great feeling I also love that you're staying connected to doing what you love the creative part yeah it's always important to do what you love I think that's why I don't feel like I work it gets to the point you don't do it for the money you asked what do you want people to feel I want people to feel better I used to make them feel better Behind the Chair I used to see their soles light up when I would give them new style or a new look or do their hair for them I still do that I just do it with bottles and not scissors that's a great feeling that you could do that for people transform their hair or make a products are so usable they take them home and feel like they have just stepped out of a salon it's great that they can do that for themselves as well yeah it's so true I know how I feel when I walk out of the salon and when I'm using great products every day for for my hair it's true mindset is so important when living a busy lifestyle and building businesses what is your biggest piece of advice for entrepreneurs and Business Leaders as it relates to mindset really successful people have very unique mindsets they're definitely more on the positive side at all times my glass is always half full even when some of the worst things in the world happen my mind is already trying to figure out how I can make it better and how I can move through it It's Not Crying in My Soup or Paralyzed by fear or saying oh po me how am I going to get through this there are tremendous challenges in business on all levels and so when things arise and they always do it doesn't get better and easier after 18 years you just move through more on a daily basis probably than you when I did my first year you get better at managing it and you get better at moving through it so that positiveness always helps you find a way and I'm telling you number one thing is networking be ready to pick up that phone and start dialing interacting with other people who may be able to help you through it who give you answers through it and assist you through it it's crucial to getting over some of the humps and staying positive within business knowing that you have people you can count on and if you don't find them start talking to people like do you know someone who could do this what do you think of this and this maybe you know someone who connected with that and then we could do that that's how you move that's an entrepreneurial mind you pivot very quickly when challenges arise it's so true and you can't wallow in it when you have people depending on you you have to find a way to be positive and I love that you say have a positive attitude because that's what's going to move you forward I think sometimes even employees or people you work with get crushed by certain things that happen so how are you going to help pick them up so can move through it together I think one of the worst things you ever see within companies is bosses that are nasty or bosses that are demeaning or bosses that are belittling or when mistakes are made instead of moving through it and figuring out how we move past it they Badger people or belittle them or treat them poorly because of it it's not something I'm a fan of as you go through business in years you start getting the feeling when you should move past someone no one is perfect and then some people just don't fit the environment anymore and that's when you part your ways how do you maintain a successful sustainable company culture what do you look for when you're hiring team members I think we were taught to mainly look for brains experience but there's so much more than that I look for in people today I look for people that are the type of personalities that they themselves like to raise the bar even within their own lives that's a prime example to me of somebody that's going to be really good fit for my culture because the people that are working within my team are not real average just let me do barely enough kind of people I only have 17 employees in my huge company so the people that work with me are really dedicated and they get excited about the entrepreneurial Spirit of my company it's Unique it's a unique environment we're not Corporate America where you just punch your time clock in and then going home we have exciting days we are working on this company and in that company and creating content and having Fat Joe in our office we have a unique environment the beauty industry is an incredible industry you want people that fit well with that that can move with it and have fun with it you meet them with their a little bit above maybe it's the way they present themselves I recently had someone I added to my team she's really into working out that's the kind of person that takes the time to go above and beyond and those days when you don't really want to do certain things you do it for the embedment of yourself hoay that's my kind of team player if you're doing it for yourself you can imagine the other aspects of their lives they're doing it for and you mentioned Fat Joe tell us about your hair care lines we recently launched a men's beard and hair coloring it's super cool super fun we have famous amazing men on the front covers so we're bringing a new spin to that category it's not your grandpa's or your father's men's box color anymore we've created amazing formulas that are Italian professional grade formulas that have soothing ingredients in them natural ingredients so people don't get hyp sensitive to it anytime you can bring a Different Twist to the industry raising the bar within a sector it's a great thing I cannot tell you how many men already have said I'm so glad I don't have to buy that other stuff anymore we and Barbers the professional sector as well as at home use so we're getting a great response Sally Beauty is where we currently launched it we have an exclusive with them the first few months and they can't keep it on the Shelf they are Beyond thrilled and men should be pampered and have that fun ability too yeah it's always about women and US looking younger and US looking better it's time the men feel that way too that's why we named it rewind it 10 they too can look 10 years younger instantly it's easy to apply it's easy for them to do and so many of them are like wow I wish I knew about this a few years ago I love that staying the course to create grow and acquire all of your businesses at times could not have been easy as a business leader what is your advice for how to stay the course and move through challenges as they arise staying the course what we were talking about earlier it's about being very dedicated to your cause whatever that may be at the moment and it shifts different sectors within your companies that you have to suddenly be focused on so suddenly you know what today in accounting and attorney day this may not be your funnest day but you need to make sure that you get in there and you tackle the parts of your business that's crucial to keep it running it's not always fun in games staying the course is really having the overall vision and picture of what you want to see and that also means projections projections for your business projections for what you want to create what you want to bring to Market how you want to bring it to Market and this is in every industry my husband and I are both Ser entrepreneurs and he's SP in everything from restaurants to he has an MMA promotion he has a dog breeding company that he ships dogs all over the world I love to watch Shar tank and I always look at all the businesses there in that's what we do we literally just apply what we know to many different types of venues and staying the course on bringing your vision to life and whatever it takes to do that you do magic happens when we focus on the part of our business and ourself that brings BRS us joy what is one thing that you do to make sure that you find and live your joy to create and learn that's my joy and of course be with my family my success and my passion in life as far as my work is about creating and learning while I'm doing it I love to learn thank you so much for joining us today please tell us how and where we can find you and all of your fun products it's a 10air care.com is the main website you can link into all of the products through that particular website I have a makeup line called B 10 we have hair extensions which are extensions one Z and it's a 10 Hair Care thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello Sheil it.com on our Sheil it website or at Sheil it on social thank you to my editor Rich draino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave [Music]