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Mother, daughter team up
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December 13, 2000: 12:33 p.m. ET
Mother-daughter relationship broadens as their cosmetics company flourishes
By Jane Applegate
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Martina Arfwidson and Gun Nowak were sharing a private joke when they arrived at their Face Stockholm boutique on a recent day.
A staff member quickly handed them copies of the company's new mail order catalog, delivered a few hours before the owners walked in. While Nowak expressed her appreciation for the design and colors, Arfwidson fretted over the fact that all the catalogs were mistakenly delivered to the Soho store and not to the office where they belong.
This quick scene exemplifies the clear division of responsibilities for this busy mother-daughter management team.
"Through the years, it's kind of developed who's strong in what areas," Arfwidson later explained. "Mom has the passion for the products and colors. I find her out in the countryside, comparing 50 shades of lipstick painted on her arm. I tend to adore structure and administration, the legal work and contracts."
Dramatic change of direction
Four years ago, the Swedish-born mother and daughter dramatically changed direction, pulling their trendy cosmetics line out of major department stores and selling directly to customers through 24 company-owned boutiques. (They still sell Face products in one upscale Hong Kong store and at the Fred Segal boutique in Los Angeles, Calif.)
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It wasn't anything I would wish for my daughter to work for her mother. I mean, I couldn't ever think of working with my mother.
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Gun Nowak
Face Stockholm |
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This direct sales strategy gave them more control over their cash flow and marketing. And it allowed them to build more of their cozy, brightly lit boutiques.
To reduce their overhead, they moved the company headquarters and distribution center out to Hudson, N.Y., a small town in the Catskill Mountains, about two hours outside of Manhattan. They are in New York City several days a month, promoting products to the fashion press and visiting their three boutiques in New York City.
Gun Nowak founded Face in Stockholm in 1980 after operating several busy clothing boutiques in Europe. Although she loved selling clothes, she became interested in cosmetics when a sales rep offered to sell her a line of products. She ended up creating her own line of colorful, natural products to fill a void in the Swedish cosmetics market. At first, she marketed the products to makeup artists and theater people. The products attracted so much attention, she expanded into the retail arena to meet the demand.
Today, the company offers 160 shades of lipstick and 120 nail colors, plus a rainbow of glittery eye shadows, eyeliners, creams, cleansers and other beauty products. Many celebrities including Goldie Hawn and Whoopi Goldberg are loyal customers, according to Arfwidson.
While her mother was busy selling cosmetics in Sweden, Arfwidson moved to New York City to pursue a music career. When her musical interests didn't pay off, she joined her mother's growing company.
'Holistic tools for healing'
"Similar to music, beauty products are peaceful, holistic tools for healing and pampering," said Arfwidson. "By collaborating with my mother, I have found a way to combine some of the things that are important to me as a woman and a working artist."
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We're friends, we're business partners. The relationship has become very rich.
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Martina Arfwidson |
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With her daughter focusing on operations in upstate New York, Nowak divides her time between the New York headquarters and an office in Stockholm with 29 employees.
"I needed a reason to come to New York so I could spend time with Martina, and opening Face Stockholm in the United States was the perfect solution," said Nowak.
Nowak admits she never expected her daughter, who had little interest in fashion or makeup as a teenager, to join the family business.
"Dream, yes," she said. "But it wasn't anything I would wish for my daughter to work for her mother. I mean, I couldn't ever think of working with my mother."
By complementing each other's skills, the mother-daughter team covers all the bases. They spend most of their time together, working and playing.
"Our life is very integrated," said Arfwidson. "It's not like we have time off and time on."
Working so closely has also "made our relationship so broad," she said. "We're friends, we're business partners. The relationship has become very rich."
(Their relationship may be rich, but neither owner will disclose any financial information about the family-owned enterprise.)
Accepting their differences
They do stress the importance of open communication and acceptance of the differences in how they work at the business.
"We are of two generations," Arfwidson said. "I like to work online, while my mother avoids using computers."
Her advice to other parents and children on working together: "You have to have a basic respect for each other as people. As long as you are addressing problems and willing to hear each other, there is a possibility to grow." 
Jane Applegate, a syndicated columnist and author of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business, covers small business for CNNfn. "Succeeding in Small Business" appears on CNNfn.com on Wednesdays.
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Face Stockholm
SBTV.com
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