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Hellen Ward - MD Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa Hellen Ward, 40, is Managing Director of Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa, an extremely successful, dynamic and innovative hair salon and beauty spa in the UK which has a turnover of £4.5m per year, employing 75 staff and looking after the hair and beauty needs of over 1000 clients per week. Hellen is married to celebrity hairdresser Richard Ward, best known for his work as makeover king on such programmes as GMTV, and Trinny & Susannah’s What Not To Wear. The couple have two children, Elyssa, 7, and Oliver, 4. An entrepreneur in her own right, Hellen is widely known and respected in the industry and regularly comments on budgetary implications for her sector of medium sized businesses in newspapers such as The Evening Standard. Her trouble-shooting, commercial and financial guides have been published in hair and beauty industry magazines such as Salon Business, Frizz, Professional Hairdresser, Professional Beauty and Hairdresser’s Journal. She regularly comments in the media on all business sectors. Hellen also devotes her time to fundraising – she is past President of HABB (Hair & Beauty Benevolent), the industry’s own charity. Q: Why did you choose this particular career path? Hellen: “I was supposed to go on to do A-Levels/university so when I told my Head of Sixth Form/Careers that I'd decided over the summer holidays to go into hairdressing he was horrified. Although I am bright I don't consider myself patient enough to be in the traditional school academic role and I was desperate to get out into the world and get earning for myself. I soon realised I wasn't very creative but more interested in the management of salons and my career blossomed accordingly.” Q What do you wish you’d known when you started your business? Hellen: “I wish I could have gone on a course similar to the one I now teach salon owners which explains a little about every factor of running a business - employment law, disciplinary, taxation, accounting - in a simple, idiot-proof way. There wasn't much guidance for young people starting in business when I started and professional people like accountants tend to assume that their clients are familiar with financial and business terms which they may not be.” Q Have you had any difficult times? Hellen: “I think every business has lows - you have to have them to appreciate the highs. We've had several, but I can honestly say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm a great believer in the power of positive thinking so try to see the good in every twist and turn that the business takes. The high's are seeing the team we've cultivated being so strong, passionate and dynamic” Q Did you ever need to raise finance? Hellen: “Richard had savings but my half was loaned to me by my father and stepmother and it couldn't have come at a worse time for them. They'd always told me they would help me financially if I wanted to start my own business but they were Lloyds names and had a horrendous decade of having to constantly pay out just at the time I was asking them for the money. They helped me and I paid them back within 18 months, giving my Dad a Cartier watch and a bit of interest on top. I can't wait to properly re-pay them by looking after them when they get older.” Q What advice can they give to other women who want to start their own business? Hellen: “There's no such thing as an overnight sensation - there is no short cut to success. We've been building our brand for 15 years and sometimes it's easy to take your eye off the ball and lose your focus. Our brand is dependant on brilliant customer service and meeting our clients expectations so we endeavour to do this and not to lose sight of who the most important people in the salon are - our clients. There seems to be a modern ethos of deserving instant success (programmes like X Factor help breed this mindset that everybody has a right to be brilliantly successful) which in a way is a healthy, positive approach but can also mean that young people have totally unrealistic expectations of how hard you need to work to make a success of your life. You can never afford to take your foot off the gas - even more so when it's your own business.” Q We always talk of juggling -when we speak of successful women - yet we don't ask this of men – why do you think this is? Hellen: “I think we will in the future - but yes, men never get asked how it feels to juggle, although Richard does his share of juggling and parenting like I do. I think we women focus on it because we have an in-built 'guilt' gene - when we're working we worry that we aren't being good enough parents, when we're parenting we worry that we aren't being good enough bosses and on top of that we worry about being good friends/daughters/sisters, etc,etc. But we are also guilty because we put pressure on ourselves (through other women) to live up to the all-conquering, have-it-all perfect woman (who is also a size 10) and these unrealistic expectations are perpetrated through the media and press too. Hence, we're used to beating ourselves (and each other) up. Q Do you have a role model? Hellen: “Barbara Hulanicki who founded Biba has always been a very inspirational role model for me. I think she was the first woman who really developed the whole lifestyle luxury brand concept and was therefore years ahead of her time. I also would have loved to have met/worked with some of our feminine icons such as Coco Chanel or Estee Lauder. They were all visionaries of a brand image and tough cookies too. Q Do you believe you’ve been lucky or has it been just plain hard work? Hellen: “I think there's no substitute for hard work, but sometimes you can be in the right place at the right time to get a lucky break, which helps. I do tend to go along with Frank Sinatra who famously said: "The harder I work the luckier I seem to get! I also love the story of the Beach Boys (and you can liken this to Take That in the modern generation). One of the father's of the band members was watching one of their gigs when someone in the audience asked him how he felt about them becoming an overnight sensation. He replied, "It's taken them years of graft and touring to become an overnight sensation!” I don't think there are any shortcuts to success if you want it to be long-lasting. I'm getting like Prince Charles in that I worry that young school leavers today believe in the X Factor impact; that everybody has a divine right to instant celebrity, fame and fortune. It's a very unhealthy attitude to success.” Q What are your plans and ideas for your business for the future? Hellen: “We have some fantastic innovative product ideas for our range so we can't wait to start working on that. We are growing the brand with 15 wet-line and styling products launching in Spring 2008 in Tesco and Superdrug, and more diffusion lines and conceptual ranges are to follow – all echoing the company’s philosophy of delivering a good hair day, every day and giving women achievable, wearable, glamorous hair. I am also launching Salon Accounts, which is a software accounting system for salon owners this year, and my husband Richard is developing our on-line shop. We both thrive on growing and developing our business. I hope to start a BsC in Salon Management soon (just to prove to myself I could have gone the academic route, although when I'll have the time god only knows!)” For more information on Hellen’s Salon: 82 Duke of York Square, Sloane Square, London SW3 4LY Tel: 020 7730 1222 www.richardward.co.uk/ |
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