BBR6 Thought Leader Q&A: Alisa Beyer of The Beauty Company!

We were thrilled to have beauty industry veteran & Founder of The Beauty Company, ALISA BEYER, as one of our Beauty Biz Roundtable BBR6 Thought Leaders!

The Beauty Company (TBC), is a strategy and branding consultancy that hosts a unique blend of beauty clients, from start-ups to multi-billion dollar companies.

BBR6 Attendees were inspired by Beyer’s roundtable discussion of TBC’s “2012 Pink Report: Using ‘Emotional Science’ to segment the US Beauty Consumer.”

We wanted to learn more from Beyer, a proven entrepreneur who has built and sold three companies, and here’s what she graciously shared with us:

1. Please tell us about your career path/progression. The road to… where you are now? How did you get started? I started as a speechwriter and then went onto a great woman-owned PR firm in DC. After a few years there I went out on my own and have been building and selling companies ever since.

2.  Why did you choose this career? Why the beauty industry? I always say I am unemployable, as most entrepreneurs are, so I had to figure out how to make a living!

 3.  Who/what are your biggest career influences? My mom. She was a working mom in California in the 70s when women were not working. She had her own real estate company and I spent a lot of time with her; open houses, door-to-door selling, you name it. She had four children and many successful years as a professional woman.

4.   Who is today’s beauty consumer? How are they changing? I have spent most of my professional career working with and for women.  Our core needs are the same but our lives are different, more frantic, high profile and on-the-go. We are super educated and expect products to just work better than in the past.

5.   What do beauty professionals need to do to continue to connect/attract with today’s beauty consumer? I think we need to remember that beauty is about emotion and learn to re-connect our brands to her for a more long-term and loyal ride.

6.  What do you see as the latest trends in your industry? Right now we have just too much of everything and it is beginning to sound the same. We need to breakout the creative crayons and draw some new ideas.

7.  What attributes make a great leader? Tell me about your leadership style. I am a very emotional person and leader. So I connect to the women who work for me at TBC and all of my clients. I feel like we are all part of a big tribe. We have to work together and make a real difference. I also like a very relaxed work environment from clothes to hours to office décor. I give folks a lot of independence to manage their time and workloads.

8.   What kinds of qualities do you look for in an employee/when hiring a candidate/someone to join your team? Intelligence, great writer, solid thinker, outgoing personality and a sense of urgency. Also our business is very collaborative so you need to really love to be part of a team that talks constantly, bounces ideas off each other and creates every day!

9.  What is the best way/strategy for someone interested in your company to employ to get a foot in the door? Contact us!

10. What makes a candidate stand out? Great shoes…no really a love of beauty and a real need to achieve professionally.

11. Any other advice/words of wisdom? Be a purple cow!

For more information about Alisa and The Beauty Company, visit:  http://thebeautycompany.co/

Hosted by Mazur Group, the Beauty Biz Roundtable (BBR) series brings together 100 Mid to Senior Level Beauty Executives in a roundtable format that fosters networking and idea sharing. This is NOT a lecture or panel discussion. BBR attendees have the opportunity to sit down in small group settings with industry peers. Past BBR attendees and Thought Leaders have come from every major beauty company here in the West including Stila, Dermalogica, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Neutrogena, Urban Decay, CND,  P&G, Josie Maran, Intelligent Beauty, Sexy Hair Concepts, boscia, OPI, Smashbox, beautylish.com, and more!

BBR8 is scheduled for Fall 2012 so stay tuned for more details!