Beauty Treatment
Running an elite beauty and wellness business calls for top-notch TLC
The stars of the US Open Tennis Championships owe their court-ready coifs in part to Suelyn Farel; her chic French American beauty and wellness company, Julien Farel Group, has been the tournament’s official salon for 10 years. Farel (BSBA’89) is CEO of the company, whose clients have also included Richard Gere, Kate Moss, and Barbra Streisand. If you want her job, you’ll need to:
Think like your most exacting client. “Our clients are highly educated, sophisticated individuals. They will spot an error in an instant. If a sink faucet is fingerprinted or they wait too long for checkout at our Restore Salon & Spa [in New York City], they’ll notice. Efficiency and urgency are key.”
Dole out perks. “Life balance is a big thing for me, especially with my core hair care team. Their start time and end time have to be consistent over the course of the year, but it’s whatever suits their schedule.”
Shake off bad spells. “Some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you. You just have to put it away at the end of the day.”
Hire for your weaknesses. “I call on experts outside my core competency to be able to build the best brand that I can.”
Pick a brain. “I know numerous other beauty CEOs, and we share our concerns, challenges, resources. We call upon each other when we have a problem we can’t solve.”
Forget about shortcuts. “People in school or just out of school are always asking me, ‘What’s your trick? What’s your secret?’ There’s not really a secret. It’s just hard work.”
Don’t take being at the top for granted. “’Earn your leadership every day.’ This is a quote from Michael Jordan I keep on my wall. It’s really important to me that I lead by example. I never mind being the first one in in the morning or the last one to leave at night. I’ll clean the bathroom if it’s needed.”
