- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Hollywood Browzer Beauty is an award-winning beauty tools and accessories brand specialising in dermaplaning tools. I started the brand in my living room five years ago and we are now listed in many of the major UK retailers including Boots, ASOS, Argos, QVC, Look Fantastic, Amazon and Feel Unique.
2. How did you get into the industry?
I used to sell beauty tools and devices as a guest presenter on QVC UK for many different brands. I always had a passion for beauty and beauty products and I also have a background in live theatre so selling beauty products on live TV shopping was a natural fit for me. I realised while I was doing this job that I had many great ideas for new beauty products and I also spotted a gap in the market at the time as dermaplaning tools had not really made their way to the UK yet. At that time, I always had to stock up on dermaplaners when I went back to the US for visits as I could not find any in the UK when I first moved here.
3. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
As I had spotted a gap in the market since dermaplaning tools were not readily available when I moved to the UK, this was a tremendous opportunity for me and the brand.
However, it was a double-edged sword as being a new concept to most people makes it challenging as well since we therefore need to educate the consumers about the benefits of dermaplaning and do lots of myth busting when it comes to the common myths about the hair’s regrowth after dermaplaning.
4. How would you describe your leadership style?
I am a very collaborative leader. I always tell my team that they work with me, not for me.
5. How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
I encourage them to share both the good and the bad. I am very supportive of my team and am their cheerleader both personally and professionally. I take great pride in the team I have assembled, so I feel the people who work with me and the brand truly enjoy what they do and why they do it.
6. What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
I make sure that we are always listening to our customers. I absolutely love customer feedback – the positive and the negative. It informs me when it comes to new product development and many other areas of the business. I also believe that you need a happy team in order to achieve great things both as individuals and as an organisation.
7. How has the past 12 months been for you?
The last 12 months have been great as we have had a fantastic period of growth both internally and externally. The pandemic has actually been very good for us as many people do not want to go out to get their hair removal done in salons or clinics, so they have replaced their waxing and threading with dermaplaning, which, for those that don’t know, removes hair and exfoliates at the same time.
8. What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
I am looking to scale up and expand the business, so I will continue our growth in the UK as well as internationally by bringing on foreign distributors. I am also bringing out several new products this year as well as more skincare products to complement our customers’ dermaplaning treatments.
9. What are the highlights of your career so far?
It was definitely a pinch me moment to see the Hollywood Browzer hanging on a peg at Boots. I have been shopping at Boots for as long as I can remember from my trips to the UK as a tourist in my teens to when I moved to the UK in 2009, so to see our product stocked there was a dream come true! I also was so proud when the Hollywood Smoother, our sonic dermaplaning device, won for ‘Best New Electrical Product’ at The Beauty Awards with ASOS in 2020. We beat out many massive global brands, which shows you that customers appreciate so much more than just a name brand.
10. What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
I have made many mistakes in business, but as long as you learn from them and they don’t put you out of business, you’ll grow from them. My biggest mistake was sharing an idea for a new product that I would be launching with someone I thought I could trust, but sadly, they knocked me off before I went to market, which was devastating at the time.
However, I learned a big lesson – always protect yourself and never share your ideas with anyone unless they are your most trusted confidantes.
11. What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
One of the best pieces of advice given to me was – it’s okay to have an ‘ugly baby’ – meaning don’t become obsessed with putting out a perfect version of your product or else you’ll probably never do it or if you do, it could be too late, and you might have missed being first to market, etc. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, I used to spend way too much time deciding on the finest details. I learned that there will be many opportunities to tweak along the way as you grow your business and, in my situation, bring out more products. This advice has helped me tremendously allowing me to be much more productive.
