Believe it or not, Judy Brooks isn't really into hair.
"People ask me what they can do if they're having a bad hair day and I have no idea what to tell them," joked the vivacious 49-year-old. "But if you want to know how to start your own company, I might be able to help you."
Brooks is a co-founder of Blo Blow Dry Bar Inc. – a wildly successful chain of specialty hairstyling salons that Brooks launched with her daughter, Devon, and another partner in 2007 before successfully selling her shares in 2010. Her real passion, she says, is business.
As such, earning a spot among Business in Vancouver's six Influential Women in Business Award winners for 2013 is particularly meaningful.
"It's like wow, I belong to this business community that's such a part of my heart and I've actually made a difference," she said. "That's what I'm most proud of."
Brooks, who describes herself as a "serial entrepreneur," launched her first company – workplace injury prevention program provider BodyLogic Health Management – "out of necessity."
"I was a young mum looking to go and work and, as it happened, my work was to create something," she said. "I've never had the feeling of not being in control of my own destiny, of being a cog in the wheel. So when I saw a gap in the marketplace, I decided to fill it myself."
Without formal business training, Brooks picked up the skills she needed to run her own business "along the way."
"I was just following my heart, doing what I was passionate about," she said. "Then I started noticing that hey, I'm not too bad at this. I guess it came naturally."
Looking back, however, Brooks admits that having someone to guide her and to bounce ideas off of would have been valuable when she was taking her first steps as a businesswoman.
"I didn't really have mentors in my business life; my husband likes to joke that I wouldn't have listened to one anyway," she laughed. "Now that I'm in a position where I can be a leader to other young entrepreneurs, particularly young women, I can see how having that resource of information and experience, of someone who's already been there and done that, is a really great asset."
As interim CEO of Vancouver's Forum for Women Entrepreneurs – a not-for-profit organization that supports women who are venturing into new business opportunities – Brooks says the opportunity to pass her knowledge to a new generation makes her feel "awesome."
"It forces me to be clear and honest," she explained, adding that, when it comes to mentoring, she's more than happy to share her past slip-ups.
"My first two businesses were B2B, and I didn't have to have a lot of financing because you can keep your costs contained at the very beginning and then move through building your business and your infrastructure at the same time," Brooks said.
"With Blo it was a different scenario. What I didn't realize there was … I financed it myself, and we opened three brick-and-mortar stores in the first year. That was a challenge."
Now, when entrepreneurs ask her for advice, one of the first things she does is puts them in contact with people who can help them with financing.
"That's been my mantra for the last couple of years: figure out financing," she said. "I'm all about getting adequate financing and understanding, depending on your business model, what that really means."
Building relationships, Brooks continues, is also key.
"Something I would have done earlier in my own career is reach out into the community more," she said. "My businesses at first involved working outside of Vancouver and outside of the business community here, so I didn't have those relationships that are so important to both personal and business growth."
When asked what continues to fuel her after years of success, Brooks says she's constantly pushing herself beyond her comfort zone.
"As a leader, whether it's your own organization or someone else's, you have to evolve. I'm at the point where I want to do things differently, because evolving means you don't stop at one stage or age and say, this is it, I'm quite perfect here," she said.
"You come up against things you're not used to, maybe even nervous or frightened about, and you go for it. That's how you grow."
Five Questions
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Sticking to what I know is right – even when it is not the easiest path.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced?
There have definitely been what some might call adversities, but all the tough stuff is what has given me my best skills. Business is messy; life is messy. Messy, but good.
What career decisions would you make differently were you starting out today?
I would have found relevant organizations or groups to join early on. I really didn't reach out into or become part of the local business community until I was building Blo. My first two businesses were far more international, with little presence in my own backyard. Blo was a consumer brand with big profile and it opened a world of relationships I didn't have before – people I would now consider peers, friends and loved ones.
What's one business lesson that you'd like to pass on to others?
Keeping checking in with yourself: is this what you want now? Is this the way it should be now? Business plans, processes, leadership and, most importantly, you – they all need to evolve.
To what extent do you think there are still glass ceilings for women in business?
As an entrepreneur this was not part of my experience enough to really be relevant. But I do believe the numbers, which show is there is still inequality. While women are being marginalized in the world and places exist where women don't have a voice, there is still a problem. We have responsibility for one another's experience, both within a business and within a community.
