MilliOnAir Magazine May/June 2019 | Page 174

How did you come up with the name, FaceGym?

The name came to me first – I thought, I need to create a face gym. Then I worked on the concept. I wanted to imitate what we do in the gym for our bodies. People don’t know how many facial muscles they have or what any of their names are and I felt there was a wonderful opportunity to educate a new breed of consumer on how to effectively and non-invasively look after their faces. We’re very far behind in the UK; if you look at Asia and Russia, they have a huge history of facial exercises and the results are astonishing.

 

How careful are you about expansion and choosing studio locations?

We use social media to help us choose locations – for example, a lot of fans said come to the Upper East Side [Manhattan], so we’re going there next. Although it seems like we’re opening new studios very fast, we’re really careful about locations and everything is run by the board with a gate system in place. It’s about striking a balance; we want to be available to customers but, at the same time, we don’t want to open so many that we put the business at risk. Making sure we get the right locations is key.

 

How important is it for you to remain hands-on?

When you want to do things differently, you actually have to be on the ground. To truly innovate and find solutions, you have to have a laser-sharp vision of exactly what it is you want to do, and because you’re often creating products, services and tools that don’t exist, you’ve got to go to places yourself and meet with people, source the materials and work with design teams in faraway places. At this early stage, there are no benchmarks and there’s no one I can send to fight those battles for me.

 

That must mean challenging the status quo at times?

Everywhere I go, wherever I turn, people say ‘no’. But I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. For instance, I want sustainable packaging that works well and looks beautiful, so I will jump on a plane and find a solution, which is my mission today.

 

How has FaceGym been received by the established beauty industry?

In the beginning, none of the advanced technology brands would give me any machines and it took a long time to find businesses to back my idea. I still buy all my equipment from the company that first supported me. We are certainly not part of the skincare elite we are outliers and that stems from the fact we don’t even see ourselves as a beauty brand - we are in the facial fitness industry. We have a small, very clear brief to deliver - we don’t focus on things like pigmentation and acne or mainstream skin concerns in our studios - instead we focus on lifting, firming and sculpting. Half our customers choose surgery or Botox and visit us for ‘tune ups’ between doctor’s visits. I believe there is space for us all. We’re not like the beauty industry, telling people what is wrong with them and saying, ‘Here’s a £4000 plan’. We’re trying to change the conversation. We start from a place of asking people, ‘How can we amplify your positives?’. We’re not preying on their negativities, because that’s what I experienced as a younger woman writing my column; I was made to feel so insecure being told, ‘You’ve got to have half a face lift’ and to get a nose job when I was 32 years old! That is what repulsed me. It’s not how I want our customers to feel.

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