Zoe Krislock | CEO, MiniLuxe | Redefining an industry and giving space to others

Giving space to others, does not take away from the space you have carved out for yourself. This week's guest on the podcast is Zoe Krislock, CEO of MiniLuxe. Zoe is an experienced senior executive and leader who has spent her career driving brand expansion and retail growth. She spent over 15 years at Nike, most recently serving as head of the Canada and US Midwest markets. Zoe began her career as a merchandise manager, buyer, and department manager at Nordstrom, and later spending seven years at Gap during its most important growth phase. She holds a B.A. in Marketing from San Jose State University.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Krislock has also established a track record of developing top female talent. As MiniLuxe CEO, she combines her capabilities as both brand custodian and operating executive with a passion for women-led, purpose-driven business. Listen to this episode to hear about her journey to MiniLuxe, the sometimes challenging lessons she learned along the way, as well as how and why she's transforming the nail industry.

Thank you to our partners at MiniLuxe for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. MiniLuxe is on a mission to change the nail-care industry by providing self-care for everyone, and clean products with purpose.

This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support!

Full Episode Transcript

Eva Hartling: Zoe, it's such a pleasure having you join me on The Brand is Female today. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat.

Zoe Krislock: Thank you for the invitation.

I'm so thrilled to be here.

Eva Hartling: I always like to start these conversations by going back in time a little bit. And I'm curious to ask you growing up, what did you dream or envision you'd be doing later in life? And could you ever imagine it would have something to do with the beauty industry?

Zoe Krislock: Wow.

Going back in time, huh? I think, my journey, I probably was never that child that had the big long-term dreams, I think I leaned into wanting to do things I loved and being curious. And that's probably led me to different thoughts of what I would become and everything usually seemed to be around art and a little bit of math and curiosity and adventure

and sport. So I definitely didn't have the dream of being this from the time I was six, but I did have the dream of Being out in the world and doing things that mattered. And I wouldn't have assumed I wouldn't be here today. In part of such a great company in the beauty industry, that was definitely not part of the plan or the dream.

Eva Hartling: So tell me a bit about maybe, going to school and what did you think your path was going to be at that time? And, when you set out to choose what field you study what kind of future were you envisioning for yourself or what was appealing to you as a potential.

Zoe Krislock: Yeah, I think as I was probably, in my high school days, I think what I envisioned I'm a person who probably envisions more feelings than specific things, but I saw being independent. I saw somebody who was able to make decisions and the freedom of that. And I think my early love was around art and interior design and really spatial.

Spacial things and loveliness through that. So if you look now where I ended up, it's in the same vein, but the journey was very interesting in getting here. So I had originally wanted to go to university for that interior design and. Maybe parents had a little influence about a traditional college education, university education.

So I ended up going to university and I majored in advertising and minored in business, which kind of gave me that art and science balance. And I think that struck the cord. For probably the career I've had. I like some of it to be free and creative and then other parts of it to be structured, but I don't do so well when it's all of one or all of another.

So I like the balance of the two.

Eva Hartling: That's so interesting. We definitely have that in common and I've found, it's that perfect mix of business, but enough creative output as well. So I definitely understand that feeling. I'm curious to know who were role models to you and were there any women specifically, and maybe it wasn't women, but people you looked up to or who provided some type of inspiration on you.

Sure.

Zoe Krislock: I think most of them were women. Actually. I grew up in a really awesome middle-class family and I probably had the first girl dad around who thought I could do anything. I put my mind to and encouraged myself to be creative and try things. But the people I really looked up to were my mom, my aunt, and one specific teacher.

In early education and there's a lot of commonalities between them. And there were a lot of differences. I think what I saw is strong women that had a point of view and had families and they weren't just off doing their own thing, really had an opinion about what they should be doing and why they should be doing it.

And my mom was a school teacher and she's 80 years old today. And she has former students that still come and tell her what impact she made on their lives. And I think that was so telling about how she spent her time and how she looked at her career. And I got to live with that every day in our household.

And then there was my aunt who was one of the first. Leaders in the real corporate banking industry. And she worked on developing the first ATM machine and seeing her world with all men and how she was part of that. And it wasn't always easy, but she had a great brain and she had a great opinion and, she forged her way in, early on.

In that community, This teacher I had went takes me back to the art and, how do you use art to express yourself and be part of the world in that form? So I think it's all very different women, but really with a similar thread, but how they approach it was all very different. And I think that was really influential in my early upbringing about what you could be.

And it was all, it was really a landscape of being what you want to be and, forge your way. And I think that was a really profound part of my early upbringing. That's

Eva Hartling: so interesting. So you had that representation of, strong, forceful women, leading amazing careers around you, which is really the best influence a young woman can have.

Zoe Krislock: And, unfortunately, I'm old enough that we didn't have. My world wasn't very big. It was what our neighbourhood block, family and friends. And so I was so fortunate at that time in space to be able to have women in my close proximity, there was that way. You're exactly right.

And

Eva Hartling: I'm going to fast forward a little bit because you spend, you have an impressive track record in business and spent 15 years in executive roles at Nike which is a very inspiring leader in its industry. But when I think Nike, I also think, sports.

And an industry that's typically male-dominated. So I'm curious to know about that experience and being a woman executive within Nike. What was that like? And maybe what skills do you think you brought to your role within the organization as a woman?

Zoe Krislock: Yeah. I really, feel so grateful for my career journey.

Before Nike, it was a gap and before gap, it was Nordstrom. So my world has been with a lot of men for most of my career, but Nike was definitely a unique part. And I think part of it, I was very comfortable at Nike, even though the ratio of women to men is very different and especially at the executive level, but I've had a love of the sport.

And I think, you read a lot of articles about how playing sport as a young person makes a difference in your leadership qualities. And I'm definitely an advocate for that and an advocate to get girls playing a sport, because I do think not only do I just have an affinity to play and watch and talk sport, but I do think it helps you become a better leader.

But I think both of those things together made my entry and existence in Nike very easy. Because there was a common love. And even if you might disagree with some business ideas, you always have the kind of common love of the sport. So it did break down some gender moments we might've had in that commonality.

I think as far as leadership, one of the things. I learned is about the importance of having a point of view. I used that previously, but I think in that setting, I learned that some people just really like to talk and they actually don't have a point of view. And I think when you're in a leadership role and you're sitting at a table, it's important to talk when you have a point of view and to listen when you.

And I think people value that. And I think sometimes women are better at that than men are. And I think that it was interesting initially because people perceived me as not being participative. But then when you come out with your comment or your thoughts, or your point of view, people are like, wow, okay.

This is her area of expertise. This is what she's thinking. And I think it was a while in getting that understood. But I saw more and more of us doing it and it makes for A, an efficient meeting. But I think it also means when you talk, people do listen to you

Eva Hartling: and in terms of managing teams, I always love asking that question to, women who have led teams in an executive or a corporate context.

What kind of specific traits do you think you brought to your role when it comes to managing.

Zoe Krislock: I think one of the things that I'm proud of is I love the diversity on a team. And I look to create diversity, not just through culture, but through gender, through thought through experience. I think I haven't unique leadership capability to find commonality amongst a team of very unique individuals.

And I think that creates the best team ever. I think one of the things. I'm an authentic leader. I don't always know all the right answers. And I'll tell you when I don't. And that's what being a team is about. But I also think there's a lot of empathy to having a strong team. People have moments and all moments are not at work.

And I think being able to give people the space to have their moment in life and with their family and be up one day and be down one day and understand that. I think that is an important trait that maybe I had early on. And I didn't appreciate it. I think as I've worked through COVID and others.

Pandemics epidemics in different countries. I think that's become a quality that I've profoundly improved, but I've also appreciated when I've had it from a leader, but I do think it's appreciated for me as a leader.

Eva Hartling: Yeah, that's, that makes a lot of sense. And that's such a, such an interesting observation.

And unfortunately, or fortunately, yes, I think a lot of our skills were tested during the pandemic and some, we were able to develop. I still looked, for the silver lining. Even though there were a lot of very negative events as a result of this pandemic You've made the shift from, being a corporate leader and you've become an entrepreneur who started her own business.

Zoe Krislock: And the vision was really to elevate an industry, which is highly exploitive and unregulated. And that's true both in the US and Canada. And so his purpose was really about creating a better place for the employee and the client and improving the living wages for this employee workforce. Now what brought me to it and why I think it's so important and why I've taken the journey now as the leader of this mission is I learned at Nike and when I was at other places, I've had the opportunity to work around the globe and I consider myself a global citizen, but I was afforded the opportunity to look at how companies.

Can not only do good business, but they can do good, good to improve the world. Good to change the world. And it became almost a moral compass for me to be somebody who was involved in a company that wanted to change things for the. So I loved my job at Nike, but when I saw this opportunity, I was like, oh my gosh, here's the opportunity to go.

And in a business that you think is just based on superficial beauty, you can change the regulatory rules of, and standards of this business and about toxins and carcinogens. And how standards of cleans are executed and. And maybe, more importantly, you can make the world a better place before these hundreds of thousands of workers in this industry who are right now in an informal economy paid under the table.

No benefits, no paid time off, there's no structure to it. And that really profoundly impacted me. And I thought, oh my gosh if I could do this and if I could really make a difference in this little slice of the pie and started in the US and now moving to Canada, I think that is a great statement on what I brought to my career journey.

Eva Hartling: Absolutely. So you've made the shift from, the sports retail-like he's so much more than that, but you've basically shifted from a position at Nike to taking on the reigns of a company that is. Quite revolutionizing the beauty industry which is Miniluxe

so I'm curious to know what drew you to that platform and what was it that made you say, I want to be, leading this new project and I see a lot of potential in his concept. So I'm curious about how you got there. Perfect. Then we have the answer. Okay.

Zoe Krislock: Going back.

Eva Hartling: So that's quite fascinating. And I think there's a lot of things that we don't know about the nail industry specifically and I'd like to ask you what should consumers, find out what should be talked about when it comes to the nail salon industry, knowing that many of us are clients and we don't necessarily fully comprehend a business model or know what their reality is.

Most nail salons exist in North America, for example.

Zoe Krislock: Yeah. I think I've done my nails, a good portion of my life, and I really never knew about this industry and it's a little bit alarming and I will talk specifically about Canada because I think. Country. I have lived in Canada before I lived there for three years and, for a society that really is about sustainability, clean and green.

It's alarming to learn about this. So really what you need to understand at the highest level is that there are really no standards or regulatory rules put in place to govern nail salons in Canada. And that is true also in us. And what does that mean? It means that there's no standard around health and hygiene, how they clean the tools they use on you during your services, how the product isn't cross-contaminated, the level of toxins that are in the product used.

And then from those toxins, what's that environment that the employees in. Eight hours, 10 hours a day. And when I look at this, I think to myself, gosh, here, you're taking this moment that you crafted 45 minutes of your life to do, and you want to feel better and had time for you and do something special and you might not be coming out better than you went in.

And that is alarming. And I think that's something that we, at Mini Luxe we want to change. We want to make sure that. The that we are creating industry standards and that we have the highest level of cleanliness and that every tool is either three steps, sterilized, or we dispose of it after we use it on you.

And that way we know that when you come out of this mini moment, as we like to call it, You are not only confident in feeling beautiful, but you're also clean, safe, and healthy. On the flip side for the worker, we don't use acrylics or any toxic product because that dust and those fumes for this working person and employee who is usually of age bearing time that.

 They will be sick and they will not have healthy children. And, those things really should matter to all of us in society. And I think because you there are, and it's interesting to learn in the US every all 50 states have different licensing. In Canada, only four out of 10 provinces have any rules at all.

And so that means that in some of these provinces people can just decide to be a nail technician and not have any kind of level of licensing. So I think part of the story of Mini Luxe is how can we continue to elevate the industry standards and create some norm so that people can be healthy and.

And that people that as a client or an employee, this is a good situation. And I think a lot of women who get their nails done have no idea. That's

Eva Hartling: the story. I think you're absolutely right. And also understanding that most workers in the nail industry are women themselves. So this is affecting women directly.

Zoe Krislock: It is really affecting women. And I think the other piece of this as I spoke to the informal economy paid under the table, most work, 10 hours a day. No benefits or paid time off at all, then add to that. There's a lack of continued training. There's limited if any progress in career growth, so what I really want to do is what I brought to the companies, I want to change the narrative of this particular career.

This group of talent is talented. This is a craft. I don't know if you've ever tried to paint your dominant hand with your non-dominant hand. It doesn't work very well. And what they do is just truly a craft and it takes. And I think for the narrative of this particular part of beauty to be, oh, you're just a nail designer or you do that.

I think this industry needs to go through the evolution as beauticians went through when they became stylists, there was a fundamental shift and I would like to bring that shift to this industry because I think the talent and the care and the pride that this workforce. Is amazing in Canada, there are over 60,000 nail designers in the country.

I think that's an important group to reach out, to, and try to hit help lift not only economically, but through adding value and looking at them with this new lens that really showcases and highlights the crop.

Eva Hartling: That, that's a great goal. And I'm curious to ask you've worked in companies that are known for having a very strong internal culture.

And I think for, purpose-driven brands, company purpose-driven brands or companies or organizations in general a lot starts with internal culture. And it's interesting what you talk about because I see a parallel with the fashion industry where, you know, a lot of the inequities, a lot of the heavy pollution lack of fair wages.

And obviously, women are often the ones bearing the weight of this model. So it sounds like the nail industry is has a lot of similarities and you're helping uncover what is wrong with the current business model basically. But I'm curious to know what kind of internal culture are you building at mini Luxe.

And I can imagine. And please feel very empowered and, they contribute to this great purpose that you've set out because you're not only creating a model for your business specifically, you're setting out to change the entire

Zoe Krislock: industry. Yeah. That's a big idea, right? I think, at Mini Luxe what, we're, what we're really moving towards is being a digital-first employee

and empowered platform. And what that looks like in the future is how do we give the opportunity to our workforce to have flexible work hours, be able to work where, and when they want to mean, do they want to do services in a studio and be part of a team? Do they want to do Mini luxe anywhere and do at-home services or do our pop-up shops?

And I think that those ideas give the designer, the ability to build a work situation that accommodates their lifestyle. But also we want to advocate them building their brand. If you want to be that mini Luxe designer, who's out there doing these. At-home services and you're on social media and you're sharing your story.

We want to be your biggest advocate. I think this whole workforce needs just one big advocate, the hug of support, and we want to be that. So we want to have that whole spectrum of consistency and team in a studio to, Hey, I want to work all these different places, different hours of the day. And we will have a platform that can meet client demand.

Talent and supply and merge the two. So that it's the best of both worlds for both sides of the business. But it's really, to me, it's about being an advocate for their talent and the vision of their own career. I think the one thing that this, that mini luxe does is not only do we train you to be a market-ready nail designer, and we continue to elevate your skills and training based on new trends coming.

We also offer transferable skills that might be the first step in their career and much of what they learn here. They can take to a consumer service industry. They can take to the next idea that they have for the journey of their life. So we really want to be here for you forever. Be great for you for now.

And we really think there's a lot. We can offer you from understanding early entry, customer service, time management. Teamwork and collaboration to really make you a great nail designer. And I think that's the culture we're trying to build, and we're proud of the values that are doing it. It's about the team first.

It's about diversity is beautiful. It's about being clean and transparent. Always. It's about having a team that's strong, bold, and empowered. Those are the things that we speak to every day. And that's what we're hoping to build for this group of women that occupied this Industry.

Eva Hartling: That's fantastic. And such a, such a great concept that is helping do good in the world.

For, the average consumer who typically is a woman, although there are other great. And I like to refer to not just consumers, but I think we all need to. See ourselves as citizens, right? Because we aren't the ones enacting change and, making, addressing any inequity and, in, in our world, whether it's changing a, an industry and a business model as you're doing so, as consumers, as citizens, what can we do differently?

When it comes to the beauty industry in the nail industry,

Zoe Krislock: I really think it's an awareness on the other side of the table. So to speak in the nail industry, what is that person sitting across from you, making you feel good about yourself, giving you some confidence and letting you express yourself through a particular colour or nail art?

What does that take from them? And I think sometimes it's a very transactional experience. I'm here as a consumer. You're going to do this for. Thanks. Maybe there's not even thanks. Sometimes it's very rude. Display of interaction. And I think remembering humanity is so important that a person sitting on the other side of the table, is a, is somebody who cares about what they're doing deeply.

And they have a family and they're part of our community and they want to be valued and they want to be a contributor. And I think that is the real story here. Everybody wants to be a contributor to society, and I think by giving people the economic. The ability and freedom to be able to do that are really important.

And so I think, although you might be getting your nails done if you remember the training and the care that this person is giving you and what their life is about, I think sometimes we've gotten so busy in the world. We forget about the other. And I think just taking a few minutes to think about that and maybe not talk about it, but just think about it.

I think whether, you're at McDonald's or Tim Horton's or wherever, and somebody is trying to make their life better too. So I think that's what I've learned from this step in my new career. That's fantastic.

Eva Hartling: Yeah. I want to know what is your definition of success and has evolved over time?

If I had asked you the same question, five or 10 years ago, would the answer have been any different,

Zoe Krislock: my own personal success or the company's success? Both. Both. I think. Personally probably I, yeah, I definitely know personally the definition of success has changed. And I think that before it was really never, it was understanding of, could I do it?

Could I be good enough to get a promotion? Not because I wanted the promotion. I just want to know if I could do it. And I think that I've solved that for myself. I think that now. I think now it really goes back to change. Can you evoke change and do things better for people, even if it's just one person today.

And it's just a little thing. I think it's really, I think the last two years have really taught me that I learned that way anymore anyway, but I think, seeing some of the distressed humanity's gone through in the last couple of years, I do think just showing up and trying to be kind and good and make.

In a bigger little way is really compelling now. So it's helping a coworker, learning something or you help somebody from your past, mentor them or get them a job experience that they need. All those little things might not take so much out of you, but they mean so much to people.

So I think that's probably my own personal. I think in many lucks, the success could be, oh, so big and sometimes so little and it all seems to matter equally. I do think, the two goals I would have is for mini Lux long-term is, can we change the regulations in countries? So that toxicity as at the lowest level, and it's regulated with standards and I know that's not very

sexy, but it's really important to creating a better world for all of us. And then I think the next piece goes to long-term and short-term is how does this group of women with between north America is almost half a million people? How can they be proud of what they do? Great living that gives them what they dream of.

And I think that everybody in North America has an aspirational dream to make a better life for themselves and their families. And so how can we do that? I think on a week-to-week basis, it's little steps and somebody learns something new. Somebody has more clients than they did the week before.

If you only look at the long-term goal every week gets a little hard. So I like to take the little wins to equal the big ones, I think.

Eva Hartling: Yeah. That's very smart. How do you stay grounded as a busy executive? And you've, you've lived the fast-paced, executive life for a long time in your career.

What are ways that you, I don't think balance can be achieved all the time? Although we always try to, aim for balance. But how do you keep that grounded state, so that you're able to feel good about yourself, perform, at a better level? And just generally keep saying in our, in our crazy fast-paced lives,

Zoe Krislock: Yeah.

I think the first thing I did is redefine the word balance because that's just a bunch of hooey so to speak. So I think that I work hard and I love working hard, but I love to be off. And when I'm off, I do not call in. I do not do that. But in the midst of all that I do, I found a couple of things over the course of the last, like five to seven years that really worked for me.

And they might sound superficial, but they really do. I make sure I keep some white space for myself every day. And the white space could be. 15 minutes. It can be 20 minutes. It can be somewhere where I can actually just think so in the summer, I don't really love cold weather. So in the summer, it's in the form of a walk.

I usually do a little cruising and it's amazing how your, my mind just shuts down the work stuff and it just wanders around. And there's so it's like when I was younger, my mom used to call it daydreaming. I don't really know what I'm thinking about. And it's just my head kind of floats.

And I feel like that gives me a really good centring. Yes. And then the other thing that I find that really helps me is I practice gratitude and I find three things in the morning before I get out of bed. And I find three things at night before I go to sleep that I am truly grateful for. And, I think the other day I had a really good apple.

I really grateful for this, it's those little things that bring you joy. Actually. I'm really grateful for this apple. And I think somehow for me, Creates a little bit of harmony. So you could be at this fast busy pace, or you could be frustrated or you could be like, never get enough done. And I think a little bit of daydream and a little bit of gratitude keeps I think so instead of maybe balance, I have, I'm a little more centred.

Yeah. And then I balance that work and the time off in clumps of time, more than day today, I think. Yeah,

Eva Hartling: and I echo those tots, I have the same practice. And I find the white space, which yes, sometimes feels I used to feel very guilty about. I just want to sit here and think about, nothing specific for half an hour and it can be referred to as daydreaming, but I find that's when.

I give enough space for my thoughts to get organized, even if it's not a conscious process, it's half an hour later, things make sense again. And I kind of processed information during that time. So I absolutely I absolutely

Zoe Krislock: need you. Yeah, I think it provides I always find them more creative after some of that.

And I also take some pressure off of things that I think are really like, oh my gosh, what am I going to do? All of a sudden, it's not such a crisis or it's not so bad, or, somehow it just like back to its centers and balances you internally a little bit. So it sounds like we're on the same vibe for that one.

Eva Hartling: Absolutely. And then my favourite question to ask everyone on the show, what do you wish women would do less or more of? And you can

Zoe Krislock: also answer both I'll answer both. I think. Women should stop trying to be perfect and celebrate progress. And you can take that from personal to professional, to whatever.

We worry about a lot of stuff, trying to be perfect. It's ridiculous. And it's Hey, every day it can be just a little bit better. And, and to me, that's the journey than the photograph, that you might see. And I think so I wish women and I think women need to support each other.

in that Effort for sure. And then I think what we need to do more of is I said not, I dunno if I got these right. But what we need to do more is realize that we. Need to help each other more. I think this is a theme that, and I'm probably guilty of it when I was younger. I thought there was only space for me if I was going to go somewhere and now I realize there's space for all of us and it, and I think the kinder and more help we are treating each other the more.

There's space for everybody just because you help somebody doesn't mean you will fail. And I think that is a journey. I think younger people are better at it, but as part of people who've been in our careers for a while, I think being a leader by the example of that, it does not take any effort to be good and helpful and kind to somebody.

It might take a little time, but I think showing women how to navigate something, give them some learnings that you've already had. I think we need to do more. And I don't even think it's just with women. I think being a woman, mentoring a man and giving insight into how women operate and think is just as helpful.

And everyone's oh, are you a mentor only to women? I'm like, no, I'm actually proud that I'm a female mentor to men because I think that helps the women's situation as well. And so I think that women, instead of trying to be perfect all the time, take a little time. It's celebrating your progress and helping another girl out, man.

Yeah. Yeah.

Eva Hartling: Absolutely. And again I echo, I think a lot of women have realized, we were all brought up in that scarcity mindset were, there was only space for a few of us that made it to the top and we had to fight hard to get there. And now it's no, there's actually, we support each other.

There we go. We're stronger as a community and there is space for everybody. And once we realize that it completely changes the outcome.

Zoe Krislock: I think it was true, I think it, it is more of a male mindset, I one and I think females are a little bit better. We won and I think that will change the story, but I don't think, I think we were brought up looking at the situation and that's how the behaviour was.

So we emulated it and as more women came into the workforce, we were starting to figure this out a little bit faster now, so that's really.

Eva Hartling: Yeah. This was fantastic. Thank you so much for speaking with me, very impressed with everything you're building and doing at mini Lux will we'll link your website and social, and I'll keep checking in with you because you set out to change an industry and create a positive impact in the world.

And this is fantastic. So thank you so much for making time to speak with me.

Zoe Krislock: Thank you so much. And I look forward to speaking again. You can hold me accountable for seeing how our change progresses, but we're really excited about our journey. And thank you so much for the time today. Thank you.