"A successful entrepreneur must also strive to be always authentic."
Elle Wilson is the Founder and CEO of TrueBrow™, an Australian-owned company empowering thousands of women entrepreneurs to build their brow businesses. Elle is also an award-winning beauty expert (Australian Beauty Industry Awards 2018 Educator of the Year), best-selling author (No. 1 on the Amazon book charts), and in-demand international speaker (Salon Growth Conference Australia, TED). Most importantly, Elle is pioneering a revolutionary new way of restoring, transforming, and designing a woman’s brow naturally. No gimmicks, no risks, no scarring, no skin staining—just perfect, all-natural brows.
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Thank you so much for giving us your time! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and take us through what exactly your company does and what your vision is for its future?
Elle Wilson: TrueBrow™ has reimagined natural brow design. Now, women no longer have to go to great lengths—microblading, tattooing, other invasive treatments—to achieve perfect natural brows. Through a meticulous, tried-and-true process, TrueBrow™ intelligently and systematically works with the brow women already have to achieve the brow they’ve been dreaming of – naturally. Our ultimate mission to #SaveTheNaturalBrow is embodied by our TrueBrow™ Specialists who are consistently delivering game-changing results that clients are swooning over.
NO child ever says I want to be a CEO/entrepreneur when I grow up. What did you want to be and how did you get where you are today?
Elle Wilson: I was always obsessed with beauty and making women feel great about themselves, so I became salon owner. As I started to look into the various treatments to offer, I came to realize the lack of knowledge based on scientific facts when it came to some of the treatments being offered to women in the beauty service industry, especially when it came to brow design and care.
Since then, I’ve made it my mission to shake up the brow industry and redefine natural brow design for women around the world. My signature principles and techniques were gained and perfected over my 36+ years in the beauty industry. This is why I handpick every one of my students. I then nurture and empower them to shape their future, build their own business, and live their best life while consistently delivering jaw-dropping natural transformations for their brow clients.
Tell us something about yourself that others in your organization might be surprised to know.
Elle Wilson: To the outside world, I may give off an aura of supreme confidence, but inside I’m having that conversation with myself: “Do I know what I’m doing?” I’ve learned not to worry about these debates that sometimes go on inside my head. Some days, I’m going to feel like my only cheerleader. I’m going to second-guess every decision I make that day. I’ve come to realize that doubting yourself is normal; in fact, it’s healthy. It’ll keep you on your toes and ensure that you never get too complacent about yourself or your business.
Many readers may wonder how to become an entrepreneur but what is an entrepreneur? How would you define it?
Elle Wilson: To be a successful entrepreneur in today’s world, you have to be ready to face challenges. Whether it’s steering your business through a global pandemic or getting struggling employees back on track, the most effective entrepreneurs meet challenges readily and openly. Regular communications with your team, informing them of both good and bad news will go a long way toward making them feel like you trust them and that they’re unlikely to be hit with unpleasant surprises.
A successful entrepreneur must also strive to be always authentic. Your employees and your customers can easily tell if you, and by extension, your brand, is just pretending to be someone you’re not. That could make them question what else about you might be inauthentic. Are you a sneakerhead? Wear those Yeezys! Are you a hilarious speaker? Get them laughing. Use your personality traits to develop your leadership style and brand persona.
What is the importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture?
Elle Wilson: With the ongoing pandemic, entrepreneurs are under extraordinary pressure right now. We are expected to make decisions quickly with incomplete and rapidly evolving information. Unfortunately, being in crisis mode can cause even the most intentional and well-meaning business leaders to fall into patterns of bias and exclusion. Research shows that when we’re stressed, we often default to mental shortcuts and gut instincts, rather than making deliberate and goal-oriented decisions. And yet, entrepreneurs must prioritize inclusion right now, more than ever. Organizations are much more likely to be innovative in the face of this crisis if they seek input from a diverse group of employees who approach problems from a variety of perspectives.
How can a leader be disruptive in the post covid world?
Elle Wilson: Technology had been evolving steadily, but since the COVID-19 outbreak, businesses have been forced to adapt or face disaster. Now, as the pressures of the pandemic ease, there will be no returning to normal; the pandemic has released an innovation supernova, and its energy will radiate through businesses for years.
In this new and rapidly evolving business landscape, it’s important for entrepreneurs to centrally set out a clear set of priorities, and locally implement them with a high degree of local manager autonomy. In a dynamic situation, overly centralizing decision-making hobbles an organization’s ability to respond quickly and effectively. Effective leaders empower managers to make the best decisions they can, bearing in mind a clear set of enterprise priorities. Clear thresholds should be put in place for when a local manager needs to ask for authorization from the center.
If a 5-year-old asked you to describe your job, what would you tell them?
Elle Wilson: I help women get the very best brows they can have.
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Elle Wilson: For the longest, I’ve been very precious with our price point when it came to the training we offered because:
– the knowledge was hard-won and spanned decades of study and research
– the skills virtually guaranteed business success to anyone who undertook the training
But with the pandemic and the long lockdowns, lowering our price point and offering more flexible payment terms would be our way of helping the beauty service industry bounce back stronger than ever.
Leaders are usually asked about their most useful qualities but let’s change things up a bit. What is your most useless talent?
Elle Wilson: Dancing probably, since I don’t get much of a chance to showcase my moves as CEO and Founder of TrueBrow…. unless I start making TikTok videos to promote our brand LOL.
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, we do have one more question. If you wrote a book about your life until today, what would the title be?
Elle Wilson: I already wrote that book and it’s called “The Power Shift: Five Principles That Will Change Your Life”
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Elle Wilson for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Elle Wilson or her company, you can do it through her – Facebook
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