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diverse backgrounds, many of whom come from outside the industry. They are all incredibly bright, detail-oriented and motivated. The one thing they all share in common is they have a drive to get something done and get it done right, and they want to manage things from start to finish. There's a bit of a controlling aspect there, but it works. I don't look over their shoulders. For the most part, they run their own shows. I hire the best people, compensate them well and empower them to do their job by giving them the tools they need. gym or buy a bicycle, for example. Happy, healthy employees make for a happy, healthy business; and hopefully, happy customers. My staff is fantastic; I can't say enough good things about them. They're energetic, engaged and involved. I put a complete kitchen in our new offices and we have a well-stocked washer and dryer area so my staff doesn't have to go home and be bothered with taking time from their relaxation time to do laundry at home. At the end of every year, pretty much every employee gets a bonus— sometimes substantial if they've brought Rasgon installed a washer and a dryer so staff members could do laundry while at work. The entire Cosmetic Design Group office is an open, interactive environment. How do you keep your staff motivated? in new business or implemented some other significant operating improvement. Most everybody gets annual raises. I treat my employees very well and rarely say no to them for any request. If your employees are happy and welltaken care of, they're going to do a great job. It has really paid off over the years and has really been a great part of our success. I've been focused on my employees and have appreciated what they've done for the business. I believe it's been a two-way street. You have to keep your staff happy. We work in an industry where we read a lot about the people who own companies, but the truth is my staff runs my company. It's not that I don't oversee it, but they do the day-to-day heavy lifting and hard work. They're the ones who have built this company. I could have never done it without them, and I still couldn't do it without them. The trick is to find good people, motivate them and compensate them well. I think that is what is unique about my company. Every person has always had full medical; everybody makes a great salary compared to the industry norm; there's a 401(k) in place; they get up to four weeks paid vacation each year; and each employee gets an annual allowance for wellness to do yoga or join a Are there key personnel that you'd mention? Everybody's important; there's no one employee I can single out. We work hard to continually improve the working atmosphere and environment. For all employees I pay to have their cars washed every other week. When 42 November 2013 | beautystorebusiness.com we first bought the building and were going through commuting transitions, all of their food was paid for. We built an outside deck area with a daybed, barbecues, tables, chairs and umbrellas so they can all get away from their desks and get outside and enjoy the day—relax, eat lunch, take a break and recharge. Are we under pressure? Absolutely! This is a high-pressure industry with a lot of deadlines. But they do a great job and need to unwind from time to time. Every three weeks or so, we all go out as a company for happy hours. We chat, get to know each other and relate on a different level other than business. We have a music system set up so everyone can put their own music in that we listen to during the workday. It's a very open environment; there are no walls in my office except for the bathrooms! It makes for a very interactive office where ideas are bandied about and shared, and getting help is very easy. I don't believe in a hierarchy; my staff is free to interact with each other, and my door is literally always open. That is how we have built an atmosphere for innovation and teamwork into our company culture that our customers and our business have benefited from! Stýli-Style, which started in the beauty industry. It was then moved by the former management into retail, where it started to falter before we purchased it. We relaunched the brand focusing on its roots, which is the beauty business. Our company overall is growing this year as we pick up a lot of private-label business. We are also accelerating our search for other acquisitions. About a year and a half ago, the company [reached a point] where I couldn't manage it anymore in terms of its size so I brought in a CEO, Steve Dickstein. He and I had known each other socially for about 15 years, and we kept in touch. He was the president of Freeman Beauty Labs six years ago and then went to Hugo Naturals as CEO. He started his career with large companies such as Clorox and Mars so he has an interesting perspective. I hired him to help me build our infrastructure and take the company to the next level, which we've been very successful in doing the last year and a half. We're poised to grow a lot more; we're excited about the future and the growth; organically with our current customers, and with new customers. We have seen a huge increase in our nail-enamel business. The future looks really bright, and we're excited about it. Have there been notable recent developments within the company that you'd like to share? What nail-polish and cosmetics trends are you seeing now? We're always looking into growing through acquisitions. We look at about six companies per year to purchase. About three years ago we bought I think one of the most prominent trends we've been seeing as of late is the concept of cosmetics that have skincare applications—such as antiaging