Invest in Yourself: Interview with Melanie Marris, Founder and CEO of Brow Code
I recently went one on one with Melanie Marris, founder and CEO of Brow Code.
Adam: Thanks again for taking time to share your advice. How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?
Melanie: Having had a passion for beauty since a young age, brows were always something I had a natural flare and talent for. While working in the beauty industry I noticed a huge gap in the market for brow-centric salons, which in 2012 did not exist - despite the fact that brow beauty was (and is) an increasingly popular trend! With this in mind, I focused on creating a company dedicated to delivering luxury brow styling. While our services differed, the focus always remained the same - BROWS! To grow my service-based business, I leveraged my expertise as a brow stylist to build a brand name. The concept behind Brow Code was then born through demand on social media for deeper explanations of my unique techniques and questions about the brow products I used to achieve my brow styling results. The success of my service-based business encouraged me to work towards another existing goal of mine - I always wanted to own the number one brand in professional and retail brow products, backed by my 18 years of industry experience. The best advice I have to give from this journey, is I believe everyone has great ideas - but not everyone takes the leap to execute them. Don’t be afraid to develop a niche product or service that you believe you are amazing at, become an expert in this field, stay disciplined, get addicted to what you are working on and don’t lose sight of your goal along the way.
Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?
Melanie: I believed I was an expert in what is a niche field - not the best, not the only one, but still an expert - meaning I knew the ins and outs of my art and every tool I used to create that art. This, combined with the fact that there was a major gap in the market when I first launched, meant I was off to a great start. Beyond that, I knew Brow Code was worth pursuing as it involved the growth of a concept that truly drives me - so I left no room for overall failure. Anything I didn’t know, I learnt until I had enough revenue to hire a team who were smarter than me in fields that I had not yet explored. Together, we have one goal in mind and we do whatever it takes to ensure we stay on track. My advice would be to first ensure there is an existing demand for your idea. The internet has a wealth of knowledge and almost everything you need to know can be found there. Once you have seen the demand, test yourself to ensure you are going to be able to stay dedicated to bring your idea to life, that nothing can distract or stop you from conquering your goals. Once you know this, everything else you can learn along the way. Your mistakes will be your biggest lessons and you cannot avoid them on your path to true success!
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Melanie: One of the biggest key steps for me has been embracing whatever it was my business needed from me. From styling, to product development, to training, to mentoring.. longevity has always been my goal, and growth at the right time played (and still does) a huge role in scaling my businesses. I have worn all hats, from Brow Stylist, trainer, staff manager, to CEO of what is now one of the largest Brow Brands in the world. I have developed new skills as I have gone along and found that this has been the most important part of not only my growth, but of my companies. Investing in myself and my development has allowed me to also handle the pressures that come with scaling businesses. Pivoting, adapting and navigating through changing times is something you need to be able to do if you want to take your business to the next level.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Melanie: Know your customer or client. Know exactly what they want. Make an effort to establish not just the wants and needs of your consumers, but also their identity. This level of awareness when it comes to your customers will aid you when it comes to keeping on-trend while also staying true to your brand. As a result you will continuously be able to develop in-demand products and services that will keep consumers coming back, while simultaneously expanding your customer base. Another strategy that has become invaluable to the Brow Code brand, is the idea that we want to stay exclusive but be everywhere. It’s no secret that scarcity tactics are a part of most powerful marketing strategies, and Brow Code’s persona as an elite brow brand, while simultaneously saturating social media content, fosters a level of demand that markets itself.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Melanie: Be relatable, be available and be involved. This fosters a culture in which your team has faith that management will be receptive to their ideas - no matter how crazy they may sound at first - and they won’t be afraid to share their suggestions when it comes to product development, marketing strategies and business as a whole. And I know first hand how possible it is for one spark of an idea to snowball into a globally dominating brow brand. By positioning yourself as an approachable leader, you not only open up space for good ideas, you also let less suitable suggestions pass through without judgement - which can often result in cases where your team is able to collaboratively evolve these suggestions into something truly great.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Melanie: It all comes down to being the right kind of manager, and hiring the right people. Always hire people smarter than you in fields you don't know anything about and learn as much as you can from them. Be open to their changes and suggestions, let your team express their creativity, acknowledge suggestions that don't work and continue to develop the concept collaboratively as a team.This means that as a manager you need to let your team lead you at times, it shows them that you trust their judgment and expertise. TRUST is essential when it comes to leading a team.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Melanie:
1. Invest in yourself, your development, your health and your mindset. This should be your number one priority. How resilient you are as a person will equal the success of your brand and company. Strong leaders and teams are the backbone of business success. Not only do resilient leaders have the ability to sustain their energy under pressure, cope with and adapt to disruptions, and bounce back from setbacks - they are also unwavering in their definition of what success looks like, which helps to align employee KPIs and goals with the company's values and long term vision.
2. Think outside the box with everything that you do. Place no limitations on your goals or targets. Visualizing success won’t magically make all your dreams come true - but it will foster a mindset where you believe that you are capable of anything you set your mind to. This erases the ‘I can’t because’ mentality’ which often limits many of us when it comes to reaching our individual or business goals.
3. Build smart teams of people who are all working toward the goal of driving the brand forward. High-functioning teams are incredibly important to your business’s success - be mindful that just throwing a team together will not give the desired results. You want to build a team of people where you are confident that each individual has the necessary tools to do their job - and to do it very well. Hiring people who have a skillset similar to your own completely wipes away the opportunity to learn more and make way for diverse ideas that can lead to business growth. While you want a diversity of skill sets in your team, you also want to make sure that everyone is aligned in their pursuit of keeping a strong tunnel vision at all times, so as a team you're able to let less important things fade out of focus until you crush your goals.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received
Melanie: Success is about the journey, not the end goal. You learn your best lessons from your biggest mistakes. Simply put - the growth of any business is going to have its ups and downs. Don’t let failure derail you, instead learn from your mistakes and remember that these mistakes are what encourage us to create new ways of thinking and doing. By embracing this mindset of creativity and innovation, you begin to view your mistakes as educational changes - and this shift in mindset can provide positive energy for discovering what will truly work for your business’ growth.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Melanie: I’ll just say this: You don’t need a degree or a piece of paper to be an expert or a leader. You need self-belief and discipline. The road to success will test you in both of these areas and you need to be resilient enough to grow from the challenges you will surely face on your journey to success.
Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.
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