HEALTH meets with Maria Hatzistefanis, the Founder of Rodial, a brand synonymous with cutting edge and highly luxurious skincare products, to find out what makes her tick.

Q. What was your key inspiration for starting the brand?

Maria: I saw a gap in the market for a high performance skincare brand offering targeted solutions to specific skin concerns, with both long term and immediate results. In 1999, I launched Rodial in London. The name is derived from the Greek word for pomegranate, Rodial is short for ‘rodi’.

Q. What’s Rodial all about?

Maria: Rodial is a global brand of luxury skincare products with unique ingredients and innovative new technologies to target specific skin concerns. We have more recently launched Rodial makeup, a capsule collection to sculpt, highlight and define the face for a flawless finish.

Q. How do you juggle your business with family?

Maria: During the week my boys are at school and I am at work. I try to spend quality time with my boys and husband over the weekends and on holidays. We have a place in the Cotswolds and spend every weekend there.

Q. What’s the hardest and easiest part of owning your own business?

Maria: The hardest part is dealing with my team, ensuring that I have the best talent to help me grow the business. The best part is seeing a product that I have been working on for months make it to the shelves and getting great feedback from our customers.

Q. What’s your advice for anyone who wants to start a business?

Maria: Starting your own business takes two hundred percent drive and commitment. If you are not there yet, get some experience in another company, especially a startup. That will give you a good idea of what it takes to own your own business and then you can decide if this career path is right for you.

Q. What is something many people may not know about you?

Maria: Before starting Rodial, I briefly worked in Corporate Finance in New York, definitely not for me!