Never Be Satisfied with Frederic Fekkai
Manage episode 318978068 series 3296393
In this episode of the Success Fundamentals Podcast, Kris Sykes and Brian Goldsack talk to Frederic Fekkai, a titan in the beauty industry who has worked with names such as Madonna, Sharon Stone, and even Hillary Clinton.
Frederic, who originally hails from Aix-en-Provence, a small city in Southeast France, uprooted himself from a relatively comfortable life to pursue the beauty industry in New York City. He talks about achieving greatness through hard work, persistence, and trusting his vision. He found one of his greatest successes by following his entrepreneurial vision of creating luxury hair care products, which in the 80s were considered a commodity.
In this episode, we take a glimpse on the inner workings of Frederic’s mind, and hopefully pick up a few business and life lessons from the hairstylist to the rich and famous.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Growing up in the beauty of Aix-en-Provence, France
- A detour with law school and getting acquainted with the beauty industry
- Pursuing the dream in New York City
- Elevating hair care into a luxury
- How to be the hair stylist for the rich and famous
- Beauty is about self confidence
- Getting a reputation boost from Hillary Clinton
- Keep your integrity: it pays off
- Is vanity bad?
- People don't buy stories, not products
- Build and take care of your team
- Always be curious and innovative
- Money can help change people's lives for the better
- Power needs to be helpful
QUOTES
Frederic "When I went back to my roots and met the friends that I went to university or school with, I see them having a great job, whether it's doctors or lawyers, or whatever. And looking at their life, it's a very comfortable life but that's not what I wanted. I really wanted to be noticed. Not to be famous, but I wanted to be known for somebody that did something special."
Frederic: "I'm not in the business just to make money. I mean, yes, that's great and that's the first intent. But the most important thing for me was to have a business that really moved the needle and get people's attention."
Frederic: "Beautiful is about self-confidence. It's about accepting who you are and using tools whether it's hair, makeup, skin care, accessories, to enhance that. That doesn't make somebody beautiful. I give them, first of all, the sense of who they are and why they are beautiful. If they accept that first, it's easy. If they're really not happy with who they are, that's my job. I need to make them understand that they should be happy with who they are."
Frederic: "I was not that famous for just doing incredible hair. Because a lot of stylists were doing that. And sometimes, to be honest with you, [they were] much more talented than ours. But those stylists were doing things that customers couldn't reproduce. The magic is I was doing beautiful hair that's beautiful enough for them to reproduce at home."
Frederic: "Vanity is not bad. Vanity is about feeling good, feeling confident. Vanity is important. I would rather have someone who is vain, than someone who is neglecting their own personal look. When you're vain, you're making an effort. Just that by itself is a positive thing."
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