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Guest: Joanne Starkman, the co-founder of Innersense Organic Beauty, a clean hair care brand that she launched with her husband Greg.
Overview: All successful CEOs pour their hearts into their businesses. But a company that truly lives and breathes your mission can be as BIG as it is rewarding and impactful.
On today’s show, Joanne Starkman discusses how her deeply personal mission to create non-toxic, high-performing hair care products has grown into a category-defining brand that’s beloved by salons, stylists, and customers across the country.
Joanne Starkman on the genesis of her company:
”I started the company with my husband, we’re both stylists, and we always knew that we wanted to do something together because we had such passion for the beauty industry. But when my daughter was 22 months old, she was diagnosed with a very rare genetic disability called Williams Syndrome. And as a young mom, that kind of knocked the wind out of my sails. I wanted to be able to bring as much health and wellness into my family, to my daughter, so that I could provide the best for her moving forward. I became a label reader: silicones, resins, plastics, synthetic fragrances, and all these things that I didn’t want on my daughter’s hair, I didn’t want on my client’s hair, I didn’t want surrounding my salon. And so it really started a conversation between my husband and really that’s when Innersense was born. Greg used all of his connections in the industry and we started talking with chemists and really even started to understand what you and I see on a label. Not only did we want the products to be able to have this immense health benefit or to not tax your health, but then we also needed the products to perform. And so that’s really what we set out to do with Innersense was create high-performance products that were good for you and good for the environment.”
Joanne Starkman on the power of service:
“Greg and I really look at ourselves as in service. We’re in service to our community, in service to the people that are the end users, our consumers, and even our employees. Greg feels very responsible to our employees. I think it’s just a matter of making those choices and aligning ourselves with that vision where you feel like you’re really doing something better and being something better, and really being in service. Greg has been in many boardrooms where profit was definitely the thing that was chosen. I think that is what drove him to want to do better and be better and make sure that he’s in alignment with our values and drive that home as far as what our purpose is and being able to lead with service at the forefront.”
Joanne Starkman on balancing mission and scale:
“I’m smiling thinking back to a time when I was like basically head of HR, and you have to realize that I’m a hairstylist and I love people. And so it came naturally to me for sure. You want to keep your team cohesive. You want to keep a strong, thriving culture. I think that started to become a struggle as we grew. Our big solution to that was hiring a VP of People Success. And so when she came in everything could come off of my plate. Culture is thriving and we have a wonderful management team. And so I think we’ve been really fortunate, as we’ve grown, to really to attract some top talent. I think nowadays people want to work for value-based corporations and companies. I do a cultural interview when people come on, and I think that people are very drawn to the company for the values and the mission that we are focused on here. That is something that is definitely near and dear to my heart.”
Links:
How to Align Vision, Mission, Culture, Strategy & Execution for Explosive Growth – CEO Coaching International’s Greg Martin explains the five business elements all CEOs need to align to Make BIG Happen.
I Can See Clearly Now: Define Your Vision for the Company– The CEO’s vision defines the company’s goals and ambitions and should be ingrained into the organization’s culture and environment.
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, the firm has coached more than 1,500+ CEOs and entrepreneurs across 100+ industries and 60 countries. Its coaches—former CEOs, presidents, and executives—have led businesses ranging from startups to over $10 billion, driving double-digit sales and profit growth, many culminating in eight, nine, or ten-figure exits.
Companies that have worked with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have achieved an average revenue CAGR of 25.9%, nearly 3X the U.S. average, and an average EBITDA CAGR of 39.2%, more than 4X the national benchmark.
Discover how coaching can transform your leadership journey at ceocoachinginternational.com.
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