NAME: Maria Hatzistefanis
INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @mrsrodial
JOB TITLE: Founder + CEO of the Rodial Group
Maria Hatzistefanis (aka Mrs Rodial) is the Founder and CEO of the Rodial Group., which consists of two much accoladed brands Rodial and Nip+Fab.
Maria founded Rodial 25 years ago as a targeted luxury skincare range with a capsule complexion collection. Today the brand is available in over 35 countries and 2000 stores. Her second brand Nip+Fab was created as an affordable skincare range, using hi-tech ingredients at a mass-tige price point.
Maria privately owns both brands, with no external investment, which is a huge achievement itself in today's world. She has also gone on to write three bestselling books around ‘How To Be An Overnight Success’, and she is currently a Dragon on Dragons Den Greece, which is about to start filming its third season.
Today Maria shares with us her biggest #Lifelessons.
#LIFELESSON – 1
Say yes to opportunities and figure it out later
I used to live in a world of ‘no’. I would say no to opportunities making excuses such as, ‘I am too busy, overwhelmed, I need to be in the office, I’m too tired.’ There is always a reason to say no and there is never a perfect time to invite the unknown into your life. A few years ago, I was asked by a contact if I would be willing to go on the TV show Dragons Den in Greece, which is a start-up business pitch show. My first reaction was no way - I live in London, my business is here, my family is here. Filming would be 6 weeks and I run my business daily, so how can I be away for that long? It was a no from me. I discussed it with my husband, with the idea already shut down in my mind and he said to me just do it, stop finding reasons not to do this as it could be great for you. He told me to trust my team at work to get it done without me and that 6 weeks is not forever. So I did it, flying back and forth to have some time at home and with my team, and then back to continue filming. In the end it was the best thing I have ever done. I love filming the show, I have made some great investments and I launched Rodial in Greece whilst I was there. The lesson is to say yes and figure it out later - make things happen for yourself!
#LIFELESSON – 2
Dress for the life you want, not the life you have.
Whether you work from home or work at an office, the way you look puts you in the right “make it happen” mindset. By taking care of your appearance at all times, you’re sending a positive message to yourself - a message of success. It’s not just how you dress, it’s how you present yourself that should be very important to you. I get it, we all are busy with jobs, family, lots of responsibilities and we may need to have one of those days, but to be successful, you need to know that taking care of how you look is a big part of creating your own path to success. This is not just because you want people to see you in a certain way but because of the way it affects your subconscious mind. You should aim to be in a state of mind that is organised and makes you feel good about yourself. If you feel like you look like a hot mess, guess what, you do! Whatever you think about yourself you will be that. If you embody the mentality of not caring about what you look like, you will feel that way. And if you want to be a leader, it’s even more important. Who wants to follow someone who doesn’t look the part? No one. People are looking to follow someone who has success nailed down. That is why you want to put yourself together well and dress the part. Not because you want to impress the world but because you need to get your mind right…do that and the world will be impressed anyway!
#LIFELESSON – 3
It takes years of work to be an overnight success.
I started Rodial in 1999 on my own with savings. At the beginning I was responsible for everything. I found the suppliers, chemists for the formulas, contacted buyers and packed orders. It took around 5 years to get some traction, to get into some good retailers and start selling some products. I had a tiny office, with around 4 people working for the brand to try to really get Rodial out there. I was working on a new serum at the time which had great anti-ageing and skin freezing ingredients and I was really excited about it. I was sitting with my team discussing the name of the product and the ideas were really generic “Anti-ageing Serum” and I really wanted something that stood out. I was looking at the actives, and the main freezing active was called Syn-ake, which I loved as it sounded like Snake. I decided to take the risk and call the product Snake Serum! We launched the product to relatively good success, but one day we were featured on a German TV show and overnight everything went crazy. We were selling thousands and thousands of Snake Serums, getting calls from press and other TV shows wanting to talk to me about Rodial, this overnight success brand that was taking the beauty industry by storm! In reality I had been working seven days a week for 5 years just trying to make it- there really is no such thing as an overnight success!
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