Ep 104 | Gail Federici
Step by Step Advice for Anyone Who's Lost or Confused
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As an industry veteran, Gail Federici was the co-founder and CEO of the iconic brand John Frieda and has leveraged her experience to build her latest venture, Color Wow, a professional hair-care line geared towards color-treated hair.
Gail has always put “absolute breakthrough” at the top of her product-creation To-Do list and while the beauty industry is notorious for knockoffs, she has literally zero interest in ever following a path paved by another creator.
At John Frieda, Gail was truly the first to design products that were combating frizz, a word that wasn’t even discussed at the time. They eventually sold the business for over $450 million - long before beauty acquisitions were even a common thing.
After a few years, bound by a non-compete, Gail eventually launched Color Wow. She another capsule collection of problem-solving products, but this time, specifically or colored hair.
In our wide-ranging interview together, we talk about life before her incredible success as an entrepreneur and how she never thought, in a million years, that she’d launch a business on her own. As someone who was always jumping around different jobs and didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, Gail shares how having twins in her late 30s was the biggest perspective shift for her and what drove a lot of her future success.
For anyone lost or looking to find their path, this interview is for you - Gail is so inspiring and graciously shares so many gems for building a meaningful and successful business. We hope you enjoy this one!
Show Notes:
Gail’s story of being a late bloomer and her advice to listeners not to put too much pressure on themselves. [3:11]
Growing up as the oldest, being an avid reader with a love of travel. [6:18]
How becoming a mother of twins in her late 30s changed her perspective on life. [7:33]
The story of how Gail got involved with John Frieda at a hair show. [13:01]
What motivated Yasmin to start her business facilitating a wholefoods approach to period management. [15:23]
How Gail’s search for products for her own hair motivated her to start Frizz-Ease. [18:59]
Why entrepreneurship came as a surprise to Gail. [18:59]
Gail’s experience, never having felt that being a woman was a deterrent to success. [27:36]
The importance of being firm, but not mean, and not to take things personally. [32:04]
Her belief that when you work to make a difference, you end up making money. [37:58]
Collaborating with celebrity stylist Chris Appleton. [44:34]
The big break that happened when Hoda talked about the products on her show. [45:26]
Why her content has fared so well: you can really demonstrate the change it makes. [54:13]
Why it is beneficial to run your company like a small business even if it is a big corporation. [56:02]
Being flexible with your ideas and open to necessary feedback and change. [1:01:12]
Product testing, methods of feedback, and making mistakes in order to progress. [1:06:35]
This episode is brought to you by Beeya:
If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances and to learn more about Beeya’s seed cycling bundle.
Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE10.
Follow Gail Federici:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colorwowhair/
Website: https://colorwowhair.com/
