#WomenOfCoty

International Women’s Day holds a special place in my heart as I am a passionate believer in gender equality. My personal purpose is to help and inspire my sisters in business to thrive both personally and professionally.

In the spirit of celebrating women success, I want to reflect on some of the female founders that have envisioned some of our most iconic brands and marked our industry by pioneering new products and services to make women and men feel more confident about themselves. These amazing ladies are pioneers of our industry and true inspiration for all of us. I am proud to say these women are #WomenofCoty

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann – Founder of OPI

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, also known as the First Lady of Nails, revolutionized the nail category by founding OPI in 1981 with Georges Schaffer. Originally a dental supply business, the duo soon realized that their products were actually a perfect fit for the growing acrylic nail market. The business started very small, but expanded rapidly with their unique and entertaining shade names that broke the mold of standard numbered tones and shot the business to international success. OPI was the first in the nail industry to limit their sales to beauty professionals, focusing on the importance of education and training. Under Suzi’s leadership, OPI has become one of the most respected, admired, and beloved nail lacquers around the world. Over the years, the success of OPI Nail Lacquer has been due in large part to Suzi’s unique sense of color, her passion for fashion and trends, and her unerring sense of what women want.

Since the earliest days with OPI, Suzi has emerged as a symbol of today’s contemporary business woman, with an incredible entrepreneurial spirit and drive. And I cannot talk about Suzi without advising you that Suzi will finally share her story in her book (named by one of her most iconic shade creation) “I am not really a waitress”. I have had the privilege to read the manuscript and I can only highly recommend for anyone who wants a boost of inspiration !

Geri Cusenza, Founder of Sebastian Professional

Geri Cusenza, a highly creative and innovative Los Angeles hair stylist, founded Sebastian together with her husband and business partner John in 1972. Geri was a highly driven person with a unique personality, and she created a brand that resembled her; a brand that broke with convention; a brand made for salons to enable self-expression and endless creativity. Geri was a true entrepreneur and visionary : she invented the world’s first crimping iron – a tool that became an industry phenomenon made famous by Barbara Streisand. Throughout her career, she was always on the lookout for inspiration from unexpected places to create innovative professional products and tools. WET was born after Geri got drenched on her way to a restaurant, and ran to the bathroom to fix her hair. She loved the wet look, and the world caught on. Geri also invented Shaper, the first working aerosol hairspray that didn’t clog, even upside-down. Or Cellophanes, the first demi-permanent color. In 1990, Geri and John created a new category for the hair industry – wearable treatments - with Sebastian Potion 9. Still today it remains one of the most loved products in salon and at home. A thirst for changing the game has been Sebastian Professional’s raison d’être. Today is no different.

Eva Graham, Founder of NIOXIN

This is the story of an inquisitive young girl who looked up at her father, saw his frustration at losing his hair and heard his wish that someone would one day find a solution. Following her own hair loss after childbirth, Eva founded Nioxin in 1987, a brand that would change the lives of millions of men and women. Eva Graham touched upon a universal truth: that everybody, male and female, wants to continue to look their best, especially as they age. It was clear to Eva that beautiful hair can only thrive on a solid foundation, and since the scalp is an extension of the face, that foundation was the skin. A true pioneer, Eva worked with scientists, stylists, and salon clients and developed a unique approach that changed the way people thought about caring for thinning hair. Her drive to create these products and sense of purpose behind it were extraordinary. With her entrepreneurial spirit, Eva did a lot of experimenting at home to formulate and improve Nioxin. Together with her team, she developed different kits for different hair types with exclusive technologies and simple steps to take to make hair look thicker and fuller. Thanks to her vision and passion, Nioxin became the brand it is today, helping woman and men feel better about themselves and empowering stylists to build a lifelong bond with each client.

Joan Clair – Clairol Professional

In 1931, Joan and her husband Lawrence Gelb discovered a small beauty company in Paris that had developed a new hair coloring preparation called Clairol. Sensing this could be a breakthrough product that could help improve the self-image of women, Joan convinced her husband to buy some products to bring back to the U.S and test. The Clairol patent was eventually acquired, and the couple set about revolutionizing hair color. The always fashionable Joan adopted the pseudonym Joan Clair as part of her public image for the brand, and worked with her (many) contacts in the beauty industry to introduce Clairol to hairdressers across the country. She knew the importance of education and gave lectures and demonstrations alongside her husband as the business grew. Joan was a visionary when it came to hair coloring, she believed that beauty and a youthful look were not just for younger women, and helped to demonstrate that women of any age could feel beautiful and elegant with even just a little touch of color. She broke the negative stigma about it in the US, showing women it was an easy and acceptable way of making yourself look better. Joan was a shrewd and imaginative marketer who used the relatively new medium of television at the time to reach American women with Clairol’s iconic message, “only her hairdresser knows for sure.” Through product breakthroughs and fresh, innovative marketing campaigns Clairol helped change the way we think about hair color.

The visionary and entrepreneurial spirit of these women have revolutionized our professional industry, with new products and services that still help women and men of today feel better about themselves. This very spirit and drive of our founders has also helped us, at Coty, define our company mission and values. I’m proud of being part of company that has such revolutionary and unique founders, and hope their stories have inspired some of you to never give up and believe in yourself. Happy International Women’s Day everyone! 

Yours truly.

Sylvie

#WomenofCoty #Cotylove #internationalwomensday #balanceforbetter