Sarah Mourtos We spoke to the wonderful Maxine Horne to find out more about her incredible work ethic and why she is excited to be part of BEAUTY & SPA Insiders.
After a tumultuous year for the events industry and a new date set, the team at SPA+CLINIC are thrilled to bring you the second instalment of BEAUTY & SPA Insiders. We have once again joined forces with Professional Beauty to present a unique summit for spa, clinic and salon owners on the Monday 26 October at the Ovolo Woolloomooloo.
We have a stellar programme of industry powerhouses lined up for you, and we thought we’d give you the chance to get to know them a little better before the big day. Maxine Horne is speaking on the panel ‘Launch, Grow or Go? Winning financial strategies for every situation’.
Maxine is the co-founder and CEO of Vita Group. Vita Group operates in the information and communication industry, but we best know them for their Artisan Aesthetic Clinics brand. The group brought in a revenue of $753.7 million in 2019. Along with her thriving business portfolio, Maxine has a host of awards under her belt, including the Courier-Mail Award for Business Person of the Year 2019. She has also written a biography called Think Smart, Run Hard.
Over to you, Maxine.
Tell us why you’re looking forward to speaking at BEAUTY & SPA Insiders.
I think skin health and wellness is a progressive industry to be in. It’s in growth mode, it has a plethora of products, treatments, machinery coming down the pipeline and the category as a whole (as a result of being extremely fragmented) is consoldating. It reminds me of the mobile phone industry 20 years ago. I’m excited to be involved and to play my part as the category evolves and has a more more established, regulated presence.
I’m looking forward to speaking to fellow industry experts at BEAUTY & SPA Insiders about the current trends taking over the sector, how we can best leverage them, and importantly, why they are good for our clients and do they meet their needs and wants.
Tell us your daily routine in a nutshell.
My daily routine varies, but the one constant is that it’s always busy! I generally get up at 4.30am to go to the gym before heading into the office. Once at work, my days include a series of meetings that involve being updated on the Group as a whole, understanding the activities being undertaken, ensuring that we stay on strategy and of course that we are on track to achieve our budgets. I travel quite a bit as I believe it’s important to be in clinics and stores as much as possible. That’s where you find out what’s really happening, what your cients think of your treaments and service and of course how you establish if your vision is actually coming to life. In addition to our team members and our clients, I also spend quite a bit of time with other stakeholders such as partners, suppliers and shareholders.
I love creating things whether it be a financially sound business, a unique product or offering, or indeed great leaders. My real passion though is getting team members to see what I see in them and pushing them to become better versions of themselves. I’ve learnt over the years that the better skilled and talented your people are, the better business you will have. Reminds me of that quote:
CFO says the the CEO: “What if we train all these people and they leave?”
CEO replies to CFO: “What if we don’t and they stay?”
I get a real buzz out of seeing team members personally develop into great leaders and achieve things they never thought they were capable of, wether it be in my business or someone elses.
What is your top tip for separating business and pleasure?
Self reflection – Every day I reflect on what’s happened, what I did, what I said and who I spent my time with. I then challenge myself as to whether that was the best use of my time. It’s important not to get sucked into the myth that every meeting and function is important and that you need to attend them all. Surround yourself with a competent team, whose judgement you trust and you’ll be amazed what happens when you let them do their job. I’ve also learnt over the years that you will do what you value, so work out what that is and then build time in your day to do just that. This could mean rising at 4.00am to get to the gym or working in your home office, after the kids have gone to sleep at night, so you can spend focused time with them when they’re awake.
What do you do to get motivated?
I set myself personal, business, health and family goals each Christmas as a present to myself and then I remind myself daily of these goals and track my progress throughout the year. My present from my children is their goals too. It’s a tradition I hope they will continue with theirs one day.
If you were a shoe, what kind would you be and why?
I would most definetly be a pair of Gianvito Rossi heels – Italian, somewhat sophisticated, definetly sassy with a full on ‘devil may care’ attitude!
Your favourite quote?
”There’s always a way, you just haven’t found it yet”
