Category: Industry News

The industry is ever changing here are some various topics in the Industry! Good and Bad

L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt dies at age 94

~ Joseph Kellner

PARIS – Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oreal cosmetics heiress and the world’s richest woman, has died at her home in a chic Parisian suburb. She was 94.

Bettencourt’s daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, said in a written statement Thursday that her mother “left peacefully” overnight in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Liliane Bettencourt was the only child of Eugene Schueller, who founded L’Oreal in the early 20th century. Forbes magazine estimated her fortune to be worth $39.5 billion this year.

L’Oreal Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon expressed “great admiration” for Bettencourt. Agon said she “always looked” after the company and its employees and “she has personally contributed greatly to its success for many years.”

Born in 1922 in Paris, she married French politician Andre Bettencourt at the age of 27. Her husband notably served as a minister at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s. He died in 2007.

Liliane Bettencourt inherited the L’Oreal fortune upon the death of her father in 1957. When the company went public six years later, she continued to own a majority stake

 

As the world’s leading beauty company, L’Oreal generated sales amounting to 25.8 billion euros in 2016 and employs 89,300 people worldwide, according to the company.

Bettencourt’s name has been involved in a politico-financial scandal known in France as the “Bettencourt Affair”, which has wound its way through French courts and newspapers for years.

The case stemmed from a 2007 complaint filed by Bettencourt’s daughter accusing one of her mother’s closest friends, the photographer Francois-Marie Banier, of manipulating the elderly widow into giving him artwork and cash.

In 2015, a French court handed Banier a three-year prison sentence on charges of swindling millions of euros from Bettencourt by taking advantage of her weak mental state. The court acquitted a former ally of former President Nicolas Sarkozy in the case.

Sarkozy’s former campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth, was acquitted on charges of “abuse of weakness” and taking donations from Bettencourt during the 2007 presidential election campaign.

Sarkozy himself was cleared in 2013 of preliminary charges.

Bettencourt is survived by her daughter, Francoise, who was born in 1953.

Why You Shouldn’t Be An Entrepreneur

~ Joseph Kellner

 

 

When a hopeful entrepreneur asks me advice on beginning a startup, my advice is always the same: Don’t do it. It’s awful.

That is not the full truth. The reality is that it’s difficult to start and run a business. It’s a tremendous investment that takes time, effort and capital. Your focus is always on the business. Fantastic highs give way to horrible lows. It causes drastic mood swings (that might seem irrational to others) and extreme financial stress that few really understand. If someone one is going to make it, they won’t listen to my suggestion and will move full-steam ahead.

If this is the path you go down, there are a few things you should expect.

 

Uneven Work/Life Balance

I’ve always struggled with the work/life balance ratios that people often refer to. I genuinely love the challenges that come with creating a business, so I guess you could say I’ve never worked a day in my life. How is that for balance? But in all seriousness, I am almost constantly thinking about work, whether I’m running, reading, with friends or out with my girlfriend. In the back of my head, I’m going over checklists, thinking up new strategies or applications of new technologies. This can make relationships difficult, as you’re always ducking out to take a phone call, canceling dates or are unable to totally focus on on someone. On the flip side, I’m free to make my own schedule, stepping out to take care of personal things or work remotely if I need to.

An Always Moving Finish Line

There are going to be times where it feels like everyone is trying to prevent you from getting to where you want to be. It is easy to get discouraged and swayed. Entrepreneurs must go into what I call “cut-throat mode.” You need to navigate politics, get buy-in and ultimately arrive at your goal. Chances are, until that goal is achieved, you won’t be happy. And even when that happens, a new goal will inevitably appear to embark upon. To compound matters, there may even be multiple goals at the same time. This can ultimately make it challenging to have fun or do social activities with non-entrepreneurs because there is always something more important, in your mind, to do. After all, time is money, and both can be the difference between success and failure.

To tackle this, try breaking your goals into manageable pieces so they are more actionable. Understanding everything that needs to happen and having a plan for how you will accomplish each step eases the burden.

Always Being ‘On’

As an entrepreneur, you always need to be thinking about how your business is perceived by the mainstream. Because of this, you always need to be “on.” You don’t have the luxury of disclosing issues or problems. In order to protect and propel your organization, your guard always needs to be up — prepared to spin negatives or take advantage of opportunities when they appear. For example, responding to questions like “How is the business going?” is incredibly complex. I always stay positive and keep in mind who is asking. You never know who you are going to meet or what they might know. Make sure you are representing yourself and your company well.

Inevitable Stressors

Most humans fail over and over, and this is generally a good thing as long as you learn from it. However, when running a business, there are a lot of dependencies, and ensuring the bottlenecks you are creating are solved can cause a lot of pressure and stress. For example, missing payroll is a very realistic possibility for most startups. Whatever the situation may be, you are the one who is generally responsible for fixing the problem, and chances are you will not always have the answer.

Is It Worth It?

Being an entrepreneur is one of the best and worst things I’ve decided to do. I’ve learned more than I could have imaged and have been faced with challenging situations I never thought I would have to go through, but I’ve also had a ton of fun. If I could choose a different career path, I wouldn’t. It’s not for everyone, but if you are the type of person who, after reading this, still wants to pursue creating your dream company, good for you. Just remember it will most likely be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but with perseverance, you might just pull it off.

Free Advice For All

~ Joseph Kellner

Take Pride on how you present yourself. When you give your first impression it is very important. Set a example in your surroundings. Only you are responsible of how you want to be visually perceived.  Pressed shirts, Blouses, Trousers, Shined Shoes, Hair, Trimmed or Polished Nails, Tattoos, Jewelry are all areas people or your clients will perceive you. Customers will measure you initially by your outward presentation. Remember our profession is a art and craft. You need to express your own individualism.

Certain age groups you will attract by your appearance and also your age too.

When you do not use your talents where you are employed, or as a salon owner, or studio artist. You need to find a area where you can. You cannot spend hard earned money on schooling or advanced education. To come back to a atmosphere where you cannot utilize your skills. It is your responsibility to find your niche.

Your journey in life is very personnel and important. Do not let the others influence you. Fly straight and on your OWN course. There will be changes, but without these changes there will be no fun in the adventure.

If you feel professionally you are weak at some points, take charge of your weaknesses.  Always try to strive for perfection in what you are doing. Practice is the key. Also practice will give you all the answers. Take control of your fears. It is only you holding your back.

Corporate Slavery Thrives At The Regis Corporation And Hair Masters.

~ Joseph Kellner

Once again there is not a ending to the corporate slavery I see in my industry. A few weeks ago I applied for a job as Salon Manager, (Corporate Leader as Regis Corporation calls it). At one of there locations called Hair Masters which is located in Metro-west, Florida 32819. I did not go into the job looking for employment since I already have my own studio and basically quite comfortable where I am at. But this interview which was a phone interview I decided to use for the start of my third documentary. Basically outline the corporate greed that is abundant in my industry. The Beauty/Cosmetic Industry.  A phone interview was set up with me and the individual from the company I would say was quite accommodating with my questions. Again I say I used this interview for the documentation of my next Documentary.

After the pleasantry’s The Interviewer gave a job description of the position I was applying for. In the Regis Corporation the job title is SALON LEADER.  Old school terms MANAGER. The job was for a full time position and the details of the job were as follows.

  • Hiring of stylists
  • Education of Stylists. Which for the Regis Corporation is video’s and no funds to send people to school.
  • Ordering of Hair Color, Retail Ordering, Promotions Etc.
  • Weekly Payroll
  • Cleaning of the salon
  • Running the phone operations and scheduling
  • Daily and weekly closeouts
  • Deposits to the bank
  • Training of Employee’s

This seemed like a job or position for someone to move up the ladder and go places with the company.  But may I say the pay is only 50%. And that’s 50% o of what you tell me, no minimum salary with a percentage of services, cheap benefits. And basically they will get FREE labor from anyone stupid enough to take the position.  Company’s have decided to prey on the uneducated of our industry, and promising the sky but with no real modern pay structure. In my industry I have been around the most talented and they know the story. But if you take a person off the streets of Orlando and give them a job at Universal Studios frying shrimp they give the employee a base salary which normally is $400.00 a week, 401k, Free Tickets to the attractions, etc. But a HUGE corporation like Regis cannot even muster up the tidings of giving any of there employee’s a livable wage. Sad how my industry has been degraded, ran through the muck and no one has the BALLS to say anything. I will say I received 50% in 1986 as a stylist, but with the constant strains of Rental increase, Electric, Day Care, Food no one can live off of 50% of nothing. Such a sad state of affairs we are in in this Beauty Industry.

I feel sorry for all the younger professionals who get a bad taste in there mouth when the abundance of Greed and and there lack of Business Knowledge are taken advantage of. And I say True knowledge of how the Beauty Industry is really ran by these corporations and websites. There are no places to go to get help within the industry, unless you hire your own attorney for representation. The are no Organizations to belong to, unless you are in the film industry and you are apart of a Local. This has been going on for a long time.

This is corporate Slavery!

If you are interested in the position here is the information to apply.

 Dina Blades
Senior District Leader
diand2@regisconnect.com   Phone Number: (772) 501-5486

FDA Sends Warning Letter to Joanne O’Donnell Be Natural Organics, LLC.

~ Joseph Kellner

Joanne O’Donnell
Be Natural Organics, LLC.
3976 S. Pine Center Street
West Bloomfield Township, MI 48323

Dear Ms. Joanne O’Donnell:

This is to advise you that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed your website at the Internet address http://www.benaturalorganics.com/ in April 2017 and has determined that you take orders there for the products Calendula Cream Soap, Chamomile Balancing Mist, CoQ10 Eye Protection Cream, Gentle Face Lotion, Amaretto Body Scrub, Pomme D’Or Anti-Aging Crème, Daily Botanical Enzyme Peel, Squalane Serum, and Sea Kelp Moisturizer. The claims on your website establish that the products are drugs under section 201(g)(1)(B) and/or 201(g)(1)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 U.S.C. § § 321(g)(1)(B) and/or 321(g)(1)(C)] because they are intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease and/or are intended to affect the structure or function of the human body. As explained further below, introducing or delivering these products for introduction into interstate commerce for such uses violates the Act. You can find the Act and FDA regulations through links on FDA’s home page at www.fda.gov.

 

 

 

 

Examples of some of the website claims that provide evidence that your products are intended for use as drugs include:

Calendula Cream Soap:

• “…Calendula is known to be antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and immune stimulating. These properties are suitable for treating various types of dermatitis such as eczema.”

Chamomile Balancing Mist:

• “Chamomile, lemongrass, edelweiss and milk thistle [(ingredients in your product)] calm irritated skin with anti-inflammatory properties, …”
• “Calming and anti-inflammatory”
• “Chamomile Hydrosol- Just as chamomile tea can soothe the stomach and nerves, topically applied chamomile hydrosol has great skin soothing benefits. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic properties that can help reduce the redness and irritation of sensitive or damaged skin.”
• “Rose [(an ingredient in your product)] Distillate – … roses have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.”
• “Lactobacillus/Kelp Ferment Filtrate [(an ingredient in your product)] -… Reduces inflammation.”
• “Calendula [(an ingredient in your product)] – Contains flavonoids for anti-inflammatory activity…Calendula also promotes skin healing and brightening and cell regeneration. It is noted for its ability to soothe eczema, psoriasis, diaper rash, acne and burns”

CoQ10 Eye Protection Cream:

• “CoenzymeQ10 (aka Ubiquinone) -… is used by the cells to make ATP which provides energy to carry out their metabolic functions at an optimal rate”
• “Aloe Vera Leaf Juice [(an ingredient in your product)] – Research has shown aloe vera’s unique ability to regenerate cellular membranes and boost the production of fibroblast cells (responsible for collagen production) six to eight times faster than the rate of normal cellular function.
• “Shea Butter [(an ingredient in your product)] -…chemical constituents offer anti-inflammatory…benefits.”

Gentle Face Lotion:

• “Rose Flower Water [(an ingredient in your product)] -… roses have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.”
• “Witch Hazel Distillate [(an ingredient in your product)] –… benefits include the reduction of inflammation and promotion of wound healing.”
• “Acai Fruit Extract [(an ingredient in your product)] -… acai berries to be one of the most beneficial natural ingredients for the treatment of hyperpigmentation (darkening of the skin).”
• “Edelweiss Extract [(an ingredient in your product)] – ….anti-inflammatory… properties.”

Amaretto Body Scrub:

• “Boosts circulation and helps drain lymph nodes by increasing blood flow to the skin’s surface”

Pomme D’Or Anti-Aging Crème:

• “Stimulates new healthy cell production and growth”
• “Squalane [(an ingredient in your product)] -… it is antibacterial and has been scientifically proven to clear up difficult skin problems (eczema, dermatitis, rashes, etc.).”

Daily Botanical Enzyme Peel:

• “Decreases hyperpigmentation from age spots and acne…”
• “Stimulates new skin cell production; increases collagen and elastin production”
• “Helps destroy acne causing bacteria”
• “Stimulates blood flow, …”
• “Rooibos Tea Extract [(an ingredient in your product)] – Helps prevent skin disorders like acne and rashes. Also possesses strong antibacterial properties.”

Squalane Serum:

• “It also has antibacterial properties and helps to prevent the formation of brown age spots. Research has shown that squalane is beneficial for clearing up difficult skin problems such as eczema, dermatitis, rashes and certain types of acne.”

Sea Kelp Moisturizer:

• “Aspen Bark Extract [(an ingredient in your product)] -…treating burns to reducing fevers to relieving eczema. The bark is rich in salycin, which is considered to be analgesic, anti-inflammatory, calming and healing.”
• “Red Raspberry Seed Oil [(an ingredient in your product)] – natural SPF properties (especially against UVB rays). It enhances the barrier function and repair of the outer layer of each cell…”

Your products are not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced uses and, therefore, the products are “new drugs” under section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(p)]. New drugs may not be legally introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce without prior approval from FDA, as described in sections 301(d) and 505(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. §§ 331(d) and 355(a)]. FDA approves a new drug on the basis of scientific data and information demonstrating that the drug is safe and effective.

This letter is not an all-inclusive statement of violations associated with your products or their labeling, and we have not attempted to list here all of the products that are promoted on your website for intended uses that cause them to be drugs. It is your responsibility to ensure that all products marketed by your firm comply with the Act and its implementing regulations. We advise you to review your website, product labels, and other labeling for your products to ensure that the claims you make for your products do not reflect intended uses that cause the distribution of the products to violate the Act.

We request that you take prompt action to correct all violations associated with your products, including the violations identified in this letter. If you do not believe your products are in violation of the Act, include your reasoning and any supporting information for our consideration. Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in legal action without further notice, including, without limitation, seizure and/or injunction.

Please notify this office in writing within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of this letter as to the specific steps you have taken to correct the stated violations, including an explanation of each step being taken to identify violations and make corrections to ensure that similar violations will not recur. If you do not believe that your products are in violation of the Act, include your reasoning and any supporting information for our consideration. If the corrective action cannot be completed within fifteen working days, state the reason for the delay and the time frame within which the corrections will be implemented.

Your firm’s response should be sent to:
Dr. Byron Ho, Compliance Officer
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
300 River Place, Suite 5900
Detroit, MI 48207