Haifa Addas, the founder and CEO of Instaglam.co, is a highly capable and resourceful director with over 20 years of experience. She has a proven track record of success in marketing, corporate communications, public relations, and brand management roles for global brands such as L’Oréal. With a proven ability to deliver effective strategic leadership of marketing and business development activities, Haifa helped boost market exposure and brand growth. She is recognized as a highly driven, dynamic leader with outstanding commercial acumen, the ability to establish and lead strong, effective teams, and the capacity to deliver constant growth. Furthermore, Haifa offers substantial multicultural business understanding gained from working in Middle Eastern, North American, and European markets.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Haifa Addas:
Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the company?
I grew up with a passion and a great sense of appreciation for beauty and glamour. I was also lucky enough to be surrounded by women who inspired me on a daily basis. My mother, a makeup artist and hair stylist, had an influence on me in every aspect of my life. My grandmother, who was Miss Lebanon at a very young age and who still had her hair and makeup perfectly done until her last days, was an example that a woman can take good care of herself and her image at any age, anytime, and anywhere.
As a child, I lived in many different countries and learned many cultures—Saudi Arabia, the Levant, Europe, and Canada—which led to a multicultural upbringing in which I discovered that the demand for beauty is universal. The desire to look good and feel good about oneself is essential for every woman.
As a teenager, it was as if I was preparing myself for INSTAGLAM; I was always applying makeup for my friends, cutting and dying their hair, recommending beauty salons, hairdressers, and makeup artists, and helping them book appointments in different places around the world. As I grew up and entered the working world, I worked as a marketer for luxury brands like L’Oreal, Lancôme, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, and Helena Rubinstein, and I worked with celebrities for leading Pan Arab magazines, where I got to take care of the celebrities’ beauty needs while they were in town. I also met so many talented professionals, each unique in her/his own way. I truly came to understand that these professionals have visions, skills, abilities, and ambitions. Whether they were beginners or halfway through their careers, these artists all have talents to share and grow.
Half way through my journey, it became pretty clear to me that no matter where, when, or who, everybody needs to be pretty and glammed from time to time, and more importantly, everybody has the right to look great and to feel great about themselves, regardless of their age, circumstances, or size of their wallet. Which is where the idea for INSTAGLAM came in. An online portal that can bring beauty experts together under one roof, and closer to anyone’s reach.
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
We had my cousin’s wedding in Florence, Italy, and we were all coming from different parts of the world. We couldn’t find anything about beauty services to find the right talent for the occasion with our budget.
You can find rooms and houses on Air B&B, and you can find restaurants and hotels with ratings and reviews on Trip Advisor. But nothing for beauty services. So the idea of having a consolidated platform that connects beauty experts with customers for beauty on demand came especially that we have professionals around the world looking to find jobs, and destination weddings were a trend at the time before Corona and now again.
INSTAGLAM envisions revolutionizing and simplifying the way we use beauty services, turning the usual client-go-to-experts model the other way around. It is my vision and my hope that as many people as possible, if not the entire world, can get a chance to enjoy the soul-enriching rewards of beauty and glamour. It is also INSTAGLAM’s vision to give artists the opportunity to reach their potential in every way possible. Be it through our exposure or the opportunities that they may find through us, I hope the experience is fulfilling and rewarding in every aspect of their lives.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
Our expertise and great contacts with brands have made us who we are today. We manage many luxury brands and launched plenty of beauty brands in the region (Dyson, Hermes makeup, etc.). We were the beauty provider at Expo 2020 and handled the media center under L’Oreal. We value our people, quality, and time.
Which are the major services of the company, and how do they help the company get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?
All beauty services (check our services presentation), and we launched men’s grooming too. We work with individual clients as well as B2B (on their grooming, training, events, and fashion shows; we also do recruitment for beauty brands and salons).
Our mission is to nurture the concept of glamour and make it accessible to those who seek it, giving them the chance to inspire and be inspired by others. INSTAGLAM is secure, user-focused, and committed to excellence.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
We believe in empowering people and giving them the chance to grow and have more skills to make money. We believe in people and having the right team, which is why we invest in our team and keep them up-to-date. They get trained by top beauty brands worldwide.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
We are always learning new ways of doing things, and everyone is empowered to bring their ideas to the table to be explored.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes.
I would say more team processes combine their individual resources, knowledge, and skills to resolve their task demands and achieve collective goals.
What are your responsibilities as the founder and CEO of the company? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
I love what I do, and I am open to doing everything, I enjoy meeting new team members, vetting them, introducing them to INSTAGLAM, and empowering them to unleash their artistic traits.
Give them the right training if needed. Work with beauty and luxury brands to handle their team trainings, VIPs, events, and shows.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
- Manage your time effectively.
- Always have a purpose or intention on why are you doing what you are doing.
- Educate yourself and read as much as you can about success stories and what it takes.
Prepare, if you’re thinking of starting something:
- Validate your idea within your circle of friends and family (are you solving a problem or a pain point?) and identify your customers and the value you are adding.
- Check if it exists, see who your competitor will be or is, and learn from them. Identify your competitor.
- Have an idea about the cost and revenue stream. I would say to have a proper business plan.
