Interview With Béatrice Dautzenberg

In this episode Nathan talks to Béatrice Dautzenberg, Managing Director of L’Oréal Professional Products Division for the UK and Ireland, to celebrate International Women’s Day and share some tips and guidance on how to succeed both at work and at home.   KEY TAKEAWAYS There is never a perfect balance between family life and work, I get asked this a lot by younger women. When I was a young mother and leader, I tried to do everything perfectly but that created tension. When I realised I could only do the best I could at home and at work things changed for the better. It’s all about your team, I believe in the power of the ‘dream team’ both with work when I need to do family things and the support from my husband when I need to do work events. I try to step back, pause and breathe when things get challenging. I also believe in the power of collective intelligence. The more diverse your team is – in personality, ethnicity, gender – the more you have different points of view on each complex topic. I like to build scenarios of how to deal with these complex topics and run through them with the team, evaluate the pros and cons and then I can be confident we take the best option. L’Oreal has a good ratio of women in management positions, 54% in the UK and Ireland, and does a lot to support women from the moment they start their career with training, to maternity leave where you get extra months to look after the baby. I was not even aware of a glass ceiling until I heard about it in training! You don’t have to behave, dress and wear your hair like a man to succeed, you can be yourself here. The world would be a better place if more women were CEOs, high up in government, and even the arts. Companies that have more women (and more diversity in general) on their board and leadership teams achieve better performance. We need to show girls that they have strength and can be strong from a young age, the same as we tell boys. We need to have good role models, mentors and sponsoring in place to help with support and networking.    BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s very important to support and help your partner as much as they support you.’ ‘When I have a good night’s sleep or get a swim in the morning I feel much better to take on challenges throughout the day and on the contrary, when I’m not able to look after myself it’s harder.’ ‘Asking for help is very important.’ ‘One thing you should do to help women is to become a mentor to them, it can’t start early enough; at school, for example.’   ABOUT THE GUEST Béatrice has studied Business and Marketing in France and Spain before joining L’Oréal 14 years ago. She has worked in France, United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium and Canada across Sales, Operational Marketing, Co-Development with the Labs, International Strategy, Business Development & General Management. She is passionate about the endless opportunities offered by Techs, Digital, CRM (data-to-personalisation) and Artificial Intelligence to transform the way we collaborate, work and live. Béatrice believes in the power of Collective Intelligence & Leadership and explores with her team new ways of working & innovative tools to leverage it.  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b%C3%A9atrice-dautzenberg-4a9a241    ABOUT THE HOST Welcome and thank you for reading this, I’m Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. I’ve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences.   CONTACT DETAILS www.hairlifeshow.comInstagram is @nathan.hairlife Email me at [email protected] show was brought to you by Progressive Media