#awinewith Francesca Webster
MEET Francesca
Francesca Webster is the CEO and Founder of Brazilian Beauty
Find Francesca here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:06):
Amazing. Francesca, thank you so much for being here on Spark tv. It's lovely to have you.
Francesca Webster (00:12):
Oh, it's great to be here.
Danielle Lewis (00:15):
And I know, I think we were connected through our EY family somehow.
Francesca Webster (00:21):
Yeah, that's right. So I'm Francesca Webster. I'm CM founder at Brazilian Beauty, the Australian Skin Institute and the Skin and Beauty Training Center. So a bit of a beauty ecosystem going on there. But yeah, I was on the SST and Young Entrepreneur of the Year program and since then have been one of EYs entrepreneurial winning women. So great program to be part of. And yeah, I think that's where we probably met, I'm not sure if it was here in Australia or somewhere overseas. I
Danielle Lewis (00:56):
Have a feeling it was in Brisbane over drinks with Vanessa Garrad in that little circle. So I'm so excited that, and I love that. That's one of the amazing things about the EY program is you do get connected with such amazing women in business. So stoked that Chance Encounter has led us to have a conversation on the podcast.
Francesca Webster (01:20):
Yeah, cool.
Danielle Lewis (01:21):
So all of the things that you just mentioned, CEO, founder of all of these incredible Australian businesses, and these are businesses that have stood the test of time. Mind you, these have been around for quite a while. Talk me through each business and what they do and your role in them today.
Francesca Webster (01:42):
Yeah, so Brazilian Beauty, I founded Brazilian Beauty in 2004 and when I was founding Brazilian Beauty, I wasn't from a beauty background, I was from an IT background and at that time my kids were still quite young. So I was looking for a business which I could grow and develop. I'd been in the corporate space, so I wanted something a bit more, I suppose, purpose driven. And I'm kind of quite a girly girl. So my goal was to set up a business where I didn't necessarily need to be there all of the time. And that gave me flexibility with my kids. So at that stage, it's almost 20 years ago, so my kids were almost nine and 10, actually, they're going to be 30 and 31 this year. And I actually have two beautiful grandchildren as well, which is a whole different story. But anyway, that's a whole
Danielle Lewis (02:45):
Nother podcast show, isn't it? How long have you It's,
Francesca Webster (02:49):
But yeah, so that was my main motivation. It was like, okay, I wanted a business where I didn't have to go into work and go, whoops, can I take Friday off the swimming carnival? Because those things still existed like 20 years ago. We didn't have the flexible workplaces that we do now. So I kind of went into it and thought, I'll open one store, open the first store. And the Brazilian wax was still pretty taboo at that stage. Many of those at Brazilian Beauty. So we actually got loads of negative press at that time when we opened it. And it was bloody great. It just drove customers through the door. They say there's no such thing as bad advertising. Never a truer word was said. Yeah, I suppose I opened another two stores within 15 months, had three stores. And to be honest, I was perfectly happy with that.
(03:48):
I kind of felt like, okay, I've reached what I needed to do. I've created a business, I still need to be there, but not a hundred percent of the time. And on reflection, when I look back on my business journey, I actually think that that moment was beautiful and I didn't realize how beautiful it was because I could still pretty much see my teams all the time and have great personal relationships with them. The business was super profitable and it was super easy to run from a hr, I barely remember those days. That's it. And it was great. So sometimes I look back and go, oh God, that was really good. But at that time, other people saw the brand and they were like, oh, is this from overseas? Where is this? Is this a franchise? And I was like, oh, Google was around then. And I googled what is a franchise?
(04:52):
And quite a few people were looking for a franchise opportunity. So worked with a franchising lawyer and a business coach to get the business franchise ready and then scaled up to 21 locations. So had all the highs and the lows of franchising. And during Covid actually exited franchising. So bought back the clinics that I could. Oh, wow. And exited because I think for the size of our organization at 21 clinics and the compliance involved with franchising and the effort and the communication required, I kind of sat back and went, this is just all a bit too hard. And if you are in a franchise, obviously you have to collaborate with all your franchisees report to all your franchisees, follow the compliance and the government guidelines on it. Whereas if you're a company owned model, if I walk in tomorrow and go, Hey, I want all the walls pink, the walls will be pink. And
Danielle Lewis (06:11):
Can I ask potentially a taboo question here? So it seems like there is just as much effort in both models and perhaps even more with the franchise, because I guess with the franchise model you have to do things versus with the company owned model, if you slip a month, yes, your employees might not be that crazy about it, but there's no repercussions. Is one or the other more profitable? Is it more profitable to have it company owned and a little bit less effort? Or is there a net decision maker here?
Francesca Webster (06:45):
Yeah, well, I think the net decision maker is growth. So as in the franchise model is good growth model because essentially you're not having to outlay the capital to set up those new clinic locations. And look, the benefit is if you have the right franchisees and there are many of those around, and then life's great. Life's easy because you've got people who hold the same values as you with regard to the customer experience, the team member experience. So yeah, that's great. If you've got that alignment, the challenge comes when you don't have that alignment.
Danielle Lewis (07:26):
Yeah, okay. And I guess as you said, plenty of amazing franchisees out there, but I assume that would be just hiring staff kind of hard to pick sometimes. So you could end up with 90% amazing and 10% that are where you spend a lot of your time.
Francesca Webster (07:44):
Yeah, that's right. And I suppose you've, we have to consider the franchisee journey as well. So the franchisee joins a brand, knows nothing, and then goes on a learning curve for a few years. And anyone, when you learn things about other things, sometimes as an individual you think you can do things better yourself. And let's face it, sometimes you can and sometimes you can't.
Danielle Lewis (08:07):
Yeah.
Francesca Webster (08:08):
So yeah, I suppose Brazilian Beauty and the Australian Skin Institute, a fresh preservative free skincare brand that I set up in 2011, initially centered on vertical integration into the stores, but since then has become its own, I suppose, B2C brand as well as wholesale brand. And the skin and beauty training center occurred at probably a few years ago, the same time that I parted company with the franchisees. And essentially it is a commercialization of our intellectual property at Brazilian Beauty. So we sell online and it's great because we get to work with small business owners who are interested in investing in their own careers and new treatments. And it can be a lonely space being a business owner. So if you've got somebody else who's developed a treatment or a process and constrain you in it without any other, I suppose, relationship, without needing to be a franchisee, then that's a great thing. But we've also seen the rise during covid of the side hustle. So we've got people at home going, Hey, I'd really like to learn how to do eyelash extensions or learn how to do some treatments. So we're seeing growth in that space as well.
Danielle Lewis (09:40):
That's so cool. I've never even thought about that. I thought obviously it makes sense that people would want to start their own business, need to upskill in the space, but that's super cool. You are so right. There are so many people out there going, how do I top up my income with kind of side hustle?
Francesca Webster (09:57):
Yeah. So it's great. It's awesome. But I love what we do in all of our brands, all the beauty space. We're always changing, always evolving, all latest treatment, which is a pretty hot topic actually. So we're doing a weight management support program.
Danielle Lewis (10:18):
Okay,
Francesca Webster (10:19):
Cool. So that is, it's peptides. So it's an A OD peptide, which restricts, sorry, which boosts metabolism combined with a GLP one peptide, which I suppose restricts appetite, increases satiation and slows down digestion. So it's essentially weight loss, but it's a hot topic at the moment because for me, weight management, it's about health and wellbeing. It's about I'm 50 years old, I don't want to get type two diabetes, I want to control my blood pressure. I don't want to have cardiovascular problems. Whereas I suppose other people view it as a negative saying, oh, people are losing weight, even though, let's face it, we've got 80% of Australians who are overweight in that space. So an exciting new treatment to get into. And I do like a bit of controversy.
Danielle Lewis (11:25):
Well, it seems like that sells, so I'm on board.
Francesca Webster (11:29):
Yeah, it's good.
Danielle Lewis (11:30):
I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? I don't think you would've set out to cause controversy, but I think that sometimes comes with being first.
Francesca Webster (11:40):
Yeah, that's right. And I'm into any treatment that helps people. So if it helps your day go smoother, whether that's having your brows done or your lashes done, or simplifying your life, making you feel a bit better, that's got to be good. So I think, yeah, I don't understand why that wouldn't be the case for some people, but I suppose it was the same maybe with the introduction of cosmetic injections.
Danielle Lewis (12:15):
Yeah, that's exactly right. And I think we have to remember it's each to their own. I do find it funny as well, if you aren't on board with this, just don't comment, don't get it.
Francesca Webster (12:27):
Yeah, exactly. Share their
Danielle Lewis (12:29):
Opinions these days.
Francesca Webster (12:31):
But sometimes their opinions from a very small place, it's like, Hey, it's not just about the way you look, it's about your health. It's about running around a tennis court and being able to hit that tennis ball. It's about something bigger than just a visual.
Danielle Lewis (12:49):
I love that. I love that so much. Now, you mentioned before you started the first Brazilian beauty store that you were in it. So what was the career beforehand?
Francesca Webster (13:03):
Yeah, so I worked in IT in the uk. So I worked for the BBC. Oh, actually I got my first job when I left school at 16 with Shell UK Limited, a refinery called Shell Stand that at the time employed about 5,000 people. And I suppose I just got into it at a time when nobody was in it. So it was kind of, yeah, the first part of my role is I used to train people on how to use Windows 3.1. That's
Danielle Lewis (13:36):
How long that is. Incredible.
Francesca Webster (13:39):
So I was a Microsoft certified trainer and then went on to be a Microsoft certified server engineer, no role network engineer and Cisco engineer. So I worked for, shell worked for the BBC in London and worked for Morgan Stanley as well, an American investment bank. Moved to Australia with my children and kind of look ground and when probably nobody's going to pay me the same rates to be an IT contractor over here. And my family historically had always owned their own businesses from butcher shops to bakery shops. So I kind of thought when making the decision to open my business and do that career swap, I was just like, and I still ask myself this question, it's like, what's worst case scenario?
Danielle Lewis (14:34):
Yes, I love that.
Francesca Webster (14:36):
So I looked at my business and looked at the first location. It was a very low cost entry because the fitout was already in place. So I knew I had a dollar figure in mind that I could spend. And if all that money was spent and I wasn't achieving the outcome, could just go back and get a job in it because that's what I was going to have to do anyway. And that wasn't a bad thing. I bloody loved working for those companies. Culturally, they were bloody awesome. They had massive budgets. The technology that I was working with was absolutely brilliant. So I mean, I looked at it, either outcome was not really a bad option.
Danielle Lewis (15:25):
And I think that that is such a great way to look at things. I think as business owners sometimes, and I know I'm very guilty of this, you get so wrapped up in your baby and that you just kind of fear the worst and the worst case scenario in your mind is just the world ending. But realistically, if you do think about it logically, there is always an out. There is always another option. There is always a go back to the career beforehand or another job or consulting or whatever it might be. And I think that there's nothing wrong with that. And I've even a couple of founder friends of mine have even done that in the interim. They've gone and got a job while they've kind of regrouped and then built their business back up. So I think there's always options.
Francesca Webster (16:11):
And look, let's face it, business is just one part of our life. It's not everything. And sometimes I feel some people get really wrapped up in work and what they're doing, and that's okay, right? Because good to be passionate, it's good to be driven, but it's also good to compartmentalize that it's just one part of your life. I think I got kind of quite carried away with work at certain stages, and my daughter, who will be 30 this year, always kind of brings me back down to earth. She's just like, guess what, mom? You're going to be dead soon and all you've going to have done is worked. So you need to remember to have a good time. So it's good to be passionate. It's good to have that challenge. It's good to have those goals. It's good to reach them, but if we don't, we shouldn't be fearful of failure. It's okay. And you know what? It doesn't really matter because as long as our family are still there and our friends are there and the people around us, it's okay. Right. Okay.
Danielle Lewis (17:22):
Totally. And I think the interesting thing is we all have a different definition of what failure is. I know some people, if they don't hit that revenue goal or they don't hit this, then they're a complete failure. But somebody else looks at them and goes, well, that's actually the amount income I want to make because that would change the life of my family. So I think failure is also relative. It's just this imaginary state that we make up in our mind.
Francesca Webster (17:46):
Yeah, it totally is. And I think, yeah, sometimes we can get quite carried away with it. I don't know. I think there's far worse things than failure in business. And look, when you're in business, you're going to fail. And that was one motivator for me doing the buyback with the franchisees. It was, I wanted to have the opportunity to try new things without fear of failure or being perceived to being reprimanded or have to explain yourself out of that failure. It's like, it's okay. It's okay to give something new go, and it's okay if it doesn't work. You just need to know when to pull the blog.
Danielle Lewis (18:32):
Yeah. Amazing. So I take it now that you are back in control of all of the locations that's happening and you feel a little bit more free to innovate.
Francesca Webster (18:43):
Oh yeah, totally. Totally. And that's what I suppose owning your own business is about. It is about innovation, try new things and definitely feel back in control. And everyone's going to fail in their business in some way, shape, or form. I think that's where the learnings come from.
Danielle Lewis (19:04):
Have you found, over the years, if you've ever felt like something that you've tried has been a failure, have you found any methods to bring yourself back down to earth and deal with it or of the opinion that everything's fine. There are no failures?
Francesca Webster (19:21):
No, there's loads of failures, loads of them. I think you just got a body in the words of Elsa from frozen. You just got to let it go. You just got to let it go. I mean, I spoke about compartmentalizing your life before. For me it's getting up in the morning, going for a walk, playing tennis, smashing that tennis ball, taking it out on that. But I just don't know anybody who doesn't fail certain elements, whether it's that you've been doing a system or a process that's laborious for years, and then you find a new way or you do something that's not profitable or you have a HR situation that you could have handled differently. It's like the learnings are constantly there, I suppose. It's not about beating yourself up about the past, it's just about moving forward.
Danielle Lewis (20:25):
Yeah, I guess it's part of the journey. And sooner you can kind of wrap your head around the fact that the journey is just all of these combinations of small failures, that's actually stepping stones, if you will.
Francesca Webster (20:39):
Yeah, yeah. I've got one of my new sayings is Enjoy the colorfulness of life.
Danielle Lewis (20:48):
Oh, I like that.
Francesca Webster (20:50):
So it's like enjoy every moment, enjoy it when it's good and enjoy it when it's bad. I feel like sometimes we just want everything to be beautiful and happy and wonderful all the time. And it's just not going to be like that. It's raising children. You don't have perfect children 24 7. It's like playing tennis. You're not on point every day. It's like enjoy it. Enjoy the tough moments and enjoy the tough conversations. I think sometimes that's where the joy comes from.
Danielle Lewis (21:26):
And I also think that you don't grow in easy times either when everything's all rainbows and butterflies, you kind of like, yeah, you just get a little bit complacent sometimes. And I like the hard times because sometimes it actually forces you to think more creatively. So what can I do to get out of this situation? How can I learn and improve so I don't get in this situation again? And I kind of think sometimes it forces you to reflect a little bit more than the happy times.
Francesca Webster (21:54):
Oh yeah, completely. I agree a hundred percent. And look, let's face it, I think we're moving into a time now with ai, those tools that I think are going to make some businesses very interesting.
Danielle Lewis (22:12):
Definitely. I think there's, what do you think it's going to do for the beauty industry?
Francesca Webster (22:16):
Yeah, I think that's, well look, quite a few years ago, maybe more than five years ago, I actually looked at those little pepper robots. Have you seen Pepper?
Danielle Lewis (22:26):
Oh, yeah. And they deliver. I've seen them in restaurants.
Francesca Webster (22:29):
Yeah. Well, they've got some restaurant delivery ones, but Pepper's like the little cute one. He's the almost like the little companion robot he chats to you. And the company that owned them actually, EY I was at, and EY took me along to meet those guys. And I was like, oh, these would be really cute in the clinics just for customer information, maybe on skincare or on treatments or for people to interact with. But I can't remember why we didn't go ahead. But how do I think AI is going to affect our industry? I think it already has. If you're looking at content writing, blog writing, sure, it's not going to do the job a hundred percent. But I think long gone are the days where any business is going to get a copywriter or a blog writer to write a blog for half a day or a whole day. It is just going to be non-existent. Right. And I think as well as consumers now, we're pretty much all going to know that the content that we are consuming is probably written by ai. And so yeah, I'd say it's impacted our business in that way. And I suppose we're embracing it. I think what it does for our business is if AI can help us with some of those skills, it allows us to focus back onto the customer. And that one-on-one experience. Because I think in a world of technology, people want human contact.
Danielle Lewis (24:12):
Yes, I agree. It is really interesting. I know that there's a little bit of uproar around ai, but I think you're exactly right. I know as a business owner myself, wearing all of the hats, it's like, actually, if you can help me with some of the lower value administrative stuff, it does mean that yes, I can spend more time with customers or innovating and creating better products and solutions.
Francesca Webster (24:35):
Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, we see some of our clients at Brazilian Beauty come in and they're literally like, maybe they live alone and they're older, and literally nobody ever, they never touch anyone. So for somebody to come in and or perform some sort of treatment on them and for them to have that interaction, the amount of times we get that feedback that people are just like, wow, literally you are the only person that I ever really see or that touches me or has done for years, it's That's
Danielle Lewis (25:15):
Incredible.
Francesca Webster (25:16):
I know, I know. But there are plenty of people who are older, live on their own and don't have that level of interaction.
Danielle Lewis (25:24):
Well, I mean, I think it's interesting because even today, younger people are out there living on their own, not in partnered relationships and experiencing that loneliness. I remember through Covid actually, so many people who lived by themselves, I went through that. The first lockdown we had, I was with a partner, so didn't really understand what people were going through, and the end phases of the lockdown was a lockdown. And I was like, oh my God. And I didn't realize the loneliness and the isolation, and I looked at other women who were speaking about their experiences through the various lockdowns and their sense of safety and all that kind of stuff. And it was the only time I really identified with it. I went through it. But you're right, there are, and it made me reflect on how many people do live alone and don't have that sense of intimacy or connectedness. So I'm not shocked that people give that feedback because that's the only opportunity they get to connect with another human being. That's huge.
Francesca Webster (26:37):
And really, you're right, even when you think about covid and we're all told to distance or not touch, and I'm actually quite a touchy-feely person with my family or just with people in general. But I think that's, people are back to touching or hugging each other. But yeah, it's interesting world that we live in.
Danielle Lewis (27:01):
Oh, I know. It is actually, isn't it? And you're kind of like, we're all going through it together, just kind of figuring it all out. So I mean, know, obviously we touched on Covid a little bit, but just reflecting on the last 20 years in business, what have been the big standout challenges for you? We have a lot of people who listen in who are in early stages of business, and kind of navigating the rollercoaster a little bit, are there any sort of standout challenges that you perhaps wish you had have known about before going into running your own business?
Francesca Webster (27:34):
Yeah, I think, look, if I was going into business again for the first time, I think I know that sometimes people give advice for people to get lots of external people involved, but one thing that I would keep close is your accounts, your financials. Zero is so bloody easy to use. And especially if you're in a small business, it's so, so easy. So I would say know your numbers and hold them close. And really the only way to know them is to do them. Even if you learn how to do them yourself, it's really not difficult if you're finding it difficult and the person that's showing you is not showing you correctly. That's what they're
Danielle Lewis (28:21):
Talking about.
Francesca Webster (28:22):
Yeah. Or they're trying to do job creation.
(28:27):
But I would, I'd hold that close just so that you know how to do it before you hand that away. Don't get disheartened. Obviously there will be lots of highs and lows, but the standouts that I would note, like sales a queen, you've got to make sales. I meet a lot of people that have small businesses and they're working on them, and they're putting a lot of time and effort in. You need to monetize that model, otherwise it's not a business, it's a hobby. So looking at ways that you can monetize that collaboration. I think we're seeing now people working together on different small businesses. And so when I first went into business, I would look at a beauty operator that was 20 kilometers down the road from me and think, that's my competitor. They're not. They actually are not. So don't think everybody is your competitor. They're not. Stay close to the other people in your industry. You can learn from them. You don't have to share your state secrets, your financial reports, but you can learn a lot from other people in your sector. So don't think everybody is your competitor or your adversary when they're not.
(29:54):
Yeah. Gosh. So much advice. But yeah, just stay focused. I mean, stay passionate, stay focused, and push and push hard. I've got this thing that even though I do fail and fail frequently, I always like when I have a failure to be able to put my hand on my heart and say, you know what? I absolutely tried everything. I know that I absolutely tried everything to make that work. Everything I could possibly think of a tick that box and it didn't work. So now I can fail beautifully. Can let it go. I can let it go. Liking the words of Elsa,
Danielle Lewis (30:34):
I love that. The new mascot for business.
Francesca Webster (30:36):
Yeah. Is Elsa.
Danielle Lewis (30:38):
Oh, so good. And I mean, you've mentioned being a mom as well and having a couple of beautiful kids. Has that ever been a challenge juggling home life and business life over the years?
Francesca Webster (30:52):
Sure. It definitely has. And at one stage, both of my children worked with me, and actually my daughter is back working with me again. But yeah, I think as women, we've been told that we can have it all. We can have everything. And especially I feel like my generation, we were told that we could have it all whilst our husbands did absolutely nothing, and we did have it all. We had the cleaning, the cooking, the childcare, everything. I don't
Danielle Lewis (31:23):
Want it all.
Francesca Webster (31:24):
We did nothing. And we were told that, and I believe that. But the reality is we can have it all, but not all at the same time. So I always say to my daughter now, I'm just like, take time for the kids because you can't have that time again and do what you can and don't feel bad. I think as women, we're always going to have mom guilt. Whether we're a stay at home mom or we're out working in the workplace, or we're setting up our own business, hands down, we're going to have guilt no matter what we do. So get comfortable with that. But yeah, I think people should be allowed to make their own choices on what they do. And I did make the choice to work a lot. If I had my time again, I would've scaled that back. And I definitely make time to spend time with my grandchildren now because how precious that time is.
Danielle Lewis (32:41):
I love that. That's beautiful. Now look, we could talk all day, I am sure. But we will wrap it up with one last question. So as I said, people dialing in, female founders, women in business, going through the roller coaster, any piece of wisdom or advice that over the years has served you well that you might impart with a fellow woman in business?
Francesca Webster (33:10):
I think if you are a woman in business, surround yourself with a cohort of other women in business. Because I think when you are in business and you try and talk to your family or your regular friends who have no idea, they just look at you like you're from a different planet. So find your tribe. Find your tribe or women that 100% support you. Have your back and know what you are going through and for the aspects of your business that you're not great on. Reach out so that cohort of women or other people and find people that can help you get through those tough times. There's a lot of help and advice out there.
Danielle Lewis (33:56):
You're absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and insights with the Spark community. We truly appreciate it.
Francesca Webster (34:06):
Yeah. Cool. Thank you so much. Have a great day. Oh, cheers. Cheers. This isn't champagne, it's water. But top tip, everything tastes better out of a champagne glass.
Danielle Lewis (34:19):
I think that is the wisdom we need today.
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