Female Founders: Gina Rivera of Phenix Salon Suites On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
It’s okay not to have the answers to everything! I had to learn where my strengths and weaknesses were. This helped me to determine where I needed more training as well as who I needed to surround myself as a team that could assist me in areas where I needed assistance.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gina Rivera.
Gina Rivera is a well-known icon in the world of beauty. Rivera skyrocketed to success when the company she founded, Phenix Salon Suites became the fastest growing salon suite company in the beauty industry. PSS is the only salon suite company to be named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 Franchise List. The company has now been named five times to the list and was recently ranked in the Top 25 out of 500. Rivera is the only female that serves as a company president in this elite group. Her company continues to flourish with more than 300 locations nationwide and a growing international expansion starting in Europe.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I remember as a child I would watch my dad and mom for hours in awe as I swept hair from their salon floor. I loved how people felt after they left the salon. I also remember knowing that I was going to be different. My family has been in the beauty business since 1929. They have owned everything from salons to beauty schools and I currently have 25 salon professionals working in my immediate family. I always loved both the business side and the artistry of the industry. Both of my parents were hairstylists, and they owned their own salon.
I recall my first day of Kindergarten, I noticed that all the other little girls had beautiful long flowing hair. I was too self-conscience to remove my hat and display my short “Tenile” haircut I pretended to tug, and pull, at the hat so that it would appear to be stuck on my head, simultaneously the teacher repeatedly asked me to take off the hat. When I did, the laughter erupted. At first, I was embarrassed, but within seconds embarrassment turned to anger. Afterall, who were they to laugh at my stylish new look. As I walked to the carpet through roars of laughter, I turned to my classmates just as my teacher spun to write on the black board, and I did something that wasn’t very politically correct for a six-year-old. I shot them the bird!
Today, when I look back at that event, I realize that it was my first step towards establishing myself in the world of beauty. In some respects, this story reflects my career. Along the way, there have been many naysayers. I recall opening the first Phenix Salon Suites. Many people thought the concept was strange. Interestingly, I could have listened and deep down inside my six-year-old self still wanted to shoot the naysayers the bird. However, with time we grow and for me this meant learning how to be humble. So, I remained humble, and I focused on my goal, even though our concept was different. I forged ahead.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Early in my professional life I worked as a stylist in a salon. I was so excited about the job and felt I was doing well. One day I was called to my boss’s office, and I just knew that she was going to offer me a promotion or a raise. However, instead she proceeded to tell me that I didn’t have what it takes to make it in the beauty industry and that it would be best if I sought a different career. Today, I realize that if I had listened to her, there would not be over 10,000 beauty and appearance professionals operating their businesses under the Phenix Salon Suites brand.
Many people also don’t realize that I was a high school dropout at age 17. While I later went back to school, I think it’s important to acknowledge that each person must establish their own path to success.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I had just finished beauty school and started my first salon job when I had a dark brunette client come in who wanted her hair to be highlighted. She was requesting a lot of highlights. This was the old days, and I had to pull her hair through a cap. I was mixing toners and trying to create a platinum toner for her hair as she wanted a platinum blonde. I applied the toner to her hair. However, when I removed the cap, her hair was a murky blue, green, dark, muddy colour. She ended up having to leave with a mohawk long before they were popular. The moment that she left I knew that I wanted to master colour application. If I hadn’t experienced that situation, I probably would have never developed my professional colour line.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Above all I am thankful to God for always being by my side and walking with me on my journey. Without his strength and grace, I would be nowhere. I am also extremely thankful to both of my parents who were stylists and huge mentors to me. I can remember being 7 years old and attending my first hair show. I remember the lights and the runway, and the hair flying. I will never forget sitting in the front row and knowing inside that this was the industry that I wanted to be a part of in every way possible.
Then, there is my husband, Jason Rivera, who has worked side by side with me and been with me every step of the way when building this company. He has embraced my dream and my vision and helped everything that I envisioned for this company to come to fruition. I am also extremely grateful to my amazing executive team. I am blessed to have surrounded myself with a team that has been instrumental our growth. This team provides strength and knowledge in areas that I need support, knowledge, and insight which is key to the success of any company.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I believe that the fear of failure and the fear of being in a leadership position plays a big role for many women when it comes to achieving success. I also believe that it’s easy to talk ourselves out of things before we even try them if we’re not careful. In addition, I think possessing the confidence to make hard decisions is instrumental for women in leadership.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
As a society we have come a very long way. We are seeing more female entrepreneurs and women in leadership roles. This is opening doors for generations of the future. It’s become more accepted to be a female leader, executive and businesswoman.
I believe courage breeds courage and we see this in female leadership. Our current female leaders can serve as both role models and mentors to leaders of the future. Women empowerment is bigger than it’s ever been, and we need to continue to foster this in the workplace and in society in general.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women are naturally nurturing, and they can channel this towards taking care of their business as well as to taking care of their employees. This is a natural and normal function for women which makes leadership roles ideal for them. When something is nurtured; it’s loved and taken care of; the details are important, and it’s given the right amount of TLC to thrive. These are all characteristics that are required for a successful business.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
Sometimes when you’re in a high position of leadership, people tend to think you work less and have a lot more disposable time on your hands. What people fail to realize is that my working days are very long. I seldom have a vacation that is not intermingled with a work trip. Much of the time, I make sure to bring family on the road so that I can spend time with them as I work to balance the demands of running a large company and being a mother and wife.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Everyone has it in them to be a leader at some level. The sky is the limit. Each person has their own unique character traits, but they must know how to tap into them. Being a leader is not a one size fits all. While there are characteristics that are important, everyone has different gifts that can be impactful professionally depending on what industry they are in. Some items a leader must be able to deal with include facing failure and being able to get back up and move forward. Sometimes failing is the best learning opportunity available. It takes drive, perseverance, and a thick skin at times.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- It’s okay not to have the answers to everything! I had to learn where my strengths and weaknesses were. This helped me to determine where I needed more training as well as who I needed to surround myself as a team that could assist me in areas where I needed assistance.
- Don’t be so hard on yourself! In the beginning I would internalize my failures. Now, I realize that there will be times that I fail. This is part of the learning process and how I improve. I had to take the lesson, learn to dust myself off, and keep moving forward.
- It’s okay to step away during the day periodically! It took me 15 years to realize that I was healthier when I stepped back and took time for myself. I am a much better leader when I take even 30 minutes for myself to take a walk, play tennis or just have some time to decompress. I am much better for it.
- It’s imperative to have a daily routine that begins with filling your spirit! For me this is my daily Christian devotionals. This fills me up and gives me fuel to face whatever lays ahead in my workday as well as my personal life.
- Stop and smell the roses! Learn to laugh at yourself. I can’t tell you how many times I crack myself up. In the early days if I was tongue tied or made a mistake, I was very upset about it. Nowadays, when I stumble over my words or do something foolish, I have learned to laugh at myself and not take everything so seriously. Laughter really is the best medicine!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
What I do is not about me. I am in the business of changing lives and giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to own their own business and become their own boss. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I feel like I am living the movement that I would want to inspire which is providing an affordable avenue for entrepreneurs to own their own businesses and become their own boss.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have lunch with Dana White. I really respect what he has accomplished with the UFC, both the brand he has built and the culture he has created. I admire his tenacity, his perseverance, and his ability to continue to grow and move forward.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Gina Rivera of Phenix Salon Suites On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.