Career advice from beauty entrepreneur Maria Hatzistefanis
Maria Hatzistefanis is the ground-breaking entrepreneur behind the brand Rodial, which she launched in 1999. The skincare label soon became a cult favourite, with its wittily-named products like Dragon's Blood and Snake Serum.
Hatzistefanis started her career as a beauty writer before receiving an MBA from Columbia Business School and briefly working in corporate finance at Salomon Brothers, first in New York and then London. She brought this business acumen to Rodial and soon expanded the product line to become the burgeoning beauty empire it is today; with a make-up collection and an exclusive sculpting bar and counter in London’s Harvey Nichols, as well as a results-driven secondary brand featuring skincare and bodycare: Nip + Fab.
Here, she shares the lessons in leadership she has learnt along the way.
The three most important qualities for a good leader are…
"You have to be flexible, agile and able to adjust. With a staff of almost 100, no one taught me how to run a business from home during a pandemic: I had to learn new ways of doing things. It was uncomfortable, but we did it. The second is that you have to have compassion. Being in business is not always about looking at the numbers, looking at making our targets and all that. Dealing with every situation with a bit of compassion and understanding the other person's point of view is super important. Thirdly, clarity is incredibly vital for a leader. You have to be able to communicate effectively with your team and for them to understand absolutely what is happening."
My personal strength as a leader is…
"My instinct. I feel that I've made a lot of my decisions based based on my gut instinct and they served me really well."
The biggest priority for my business right now is…
"To pull the team together and support every single one of them to the new way of working. Lots of people have been working from their living rooms for over a year and it's not easy to make that transition. But there are a lot of benefits and opportunities, especially with the younger members of the team, to learn from seeing others operate in the office. What I'm doing is taking everyone on a case-by-case basis and working to support them in whatever they feel most comfortable with."
The economic outlook may be uncertain, but I’m mitigating risk by…
"By not taking any! I feel this is not the time to take a lot of risks. It is the time to analyse what we've done well over the last 18 months and do more of that. I feel all businesses need to be on the conservative side right now."
I keep my team motivated by…
"We are doing lots of events in the office like pancake mornings, drinks and pizza Thursdays. I actually also did my book launch event in the office so we could celebrate as a team. I try and make this a happy place where we can all connect as a team. It's not just about coming in and sitting at your desk."
The hardest decision I’ve had to make as a leader was…
"Not accepting external investment. We have been approached so many times, and it would have given us so much capital, which is incredibly hard to turn down, but when it is something so personal to you, you want to maintain control over it and make sure you can still stay true to the original spirit of the brand."
The worst mistake I’ve ever made as a leader (and the lessons I learnt from it)
"Rushing a product launch when I knew it went against my instinct. I learnt never to ignore my gut."
An effective leader will always…
"I feel an effective leader needs to keep their cool, whatever situations might be happening internally, and in your personal life."
An effective leader will never…
"..go against their gut instinct."
My role model for leadership is…
"I've always been fascinated with women who founded their own beauty brands. When I was starting out, I would I read all the Esteé Lauder biographies and follow the career of Bobbi Brown, who is amazing. For me, it's about looking at women who do well in creative industries, and seeing how they approach their careers."
The one piece of advice I’d give to a new leader is…
"We all make mistakes; it doesn't matter if you've been leading for a day or for years. The mistake is a way to move forward and a way to learn. Tomorrow is another day, you can start fresh."
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