My father has created an enormous business and an incredible brand, and I’m contributing to the business that he’s built every day at Midway Labs USA (one of the largest Sports Nutrition brands in the world). In the process I brought in my own concepts and feminine touches building and branching off Glamour Nutrition which is a brand of beauty dietary supplements that connects directly with woman, the true meaning of “ Beauty from Within “. I started working when I was 14 years old, learning from a very young age the meaning of hard work. I was free to make my own choices and had a lot of responsibility and trust put into me from the very first moment. There was a lot of pressure and stress involved, I was reading agreements and participating in board meetings while kids at my age were still doing their homework or hanging out with friends. My life was extremely different from everybody else as I ended up growing up so quickly, but in the end I really enjoyed all the experiences. Strangely enough I got the idea for Glamour Nutrition where I least expected it. When I got invited to be part of the agency Wunder Models in Los Angeles, I was a little skeptical because I couldn’t imagine myself just taking pictures for a living, but seeing that whole other side of the entertainment business gave me great insight about what woman truly want. I noticed majority of the models had bad skin and teeth and that surprised me. I was one of the few that didn’t need that much make up and mainly because I took supplements my whole life. I started to see an opportunity for a nice in the industry and looked at our own line of products to see how could we better communicate with woman. After one year modeling I decided to go back to my real passion and built my own brand: Glamour Nutrition.
In your own words what do you do?
I oversee all the projects and deals at Midway Labs USA as well as marketing concepts. My day to day consists of making sure that all the areas of the company are in good health, from financial, legal, administrative matters to production and international deals. I’m very fortunate to have such a great team of professionals from each area working with me on a daily basis, so it’s very exciting to be involved in the process of such big and innovative projects!
What led you to your current business?
My father Wilton Colle was a natural born entrepreneur and founded Midway Labs the day I was born. My life in the business world started right there, as he has been taking me to meetings since I was 5 years old. Even tough I couldn’t understand much I know that my subconscious absorbed all that information and when I grew up the transition to business was inevitable.
Could you walk us through your process of developing your business?
I was fortunate enough to start working off an established company, but success it’s no coincidence. It takes real hours and energy to build up something out of nothing. Everybody in the team must be willing to put in the work and that includes doing what you don’t like, it’s not always going to be a sea of roses but when you truly care about your business, there’s no better feeling than accomplishing something together with the team. When the “project” is above anybody’s ego or agendas, that’s when the real magic happens.
Did you encounter any particular difficulties in the beginning?
In the beginning my biggest challenge was the fact that I was young and was the “daughter “ of the boss. I felt constantly pressured because I was aware that majority of people were going to judge me. There was many who refused to take me serious and I was getting very frustrated by it, but at the same time there was nothing I could do. I always knew that my own father would fire me if he had to, he wouldn’t put me where I was if he didn’t believe I was capable enough, but of course not everybody else was going to think the same way. So I put in the effort to show them why I was in the position I was, by working long hours, doing the work nobody else wanted to and targeting problem by problem. It eventually got to a point where people had to come up to me for all the answers and instead of judging me, now they saw me as an equally important piece for the entire company.
Meetings with outsiders was also an issue when I would meet with people that could be the age of my parents, It was awkward at first but eventually it becomes clear that I had knowledge and experience to conduct the deals I was sent out for.
What is your long term plan?
We ultimately want to bring the benefits of nutritional supplements to everybody, specially those who never tried before! It amazes me how little information people have about all these powerful ingredients that are at their disposal, little do they know that if they incorporate certain supplements into their daily routine, that could change their entire life for better! As a corporation we want to spread that knowledge through the growth of our brands internationally.
Could you share with us some industry insights?
Now a days with technology incorporated in our daily routine, the world is changing fast. Information is spread easily, everything is more dynamic and all the companies have to adjust themselves to this, specially when communicating with the customer. With the rise of all the social media and blogs, now it’s easier then ever to be close to your audience, we can know instantly if they like or dislike something and I believe companies should start taking more advantage of this.
What are some important lessons you’ve learnt about entrepreneurship?
One the most important lessons in my opinion is to never put business above your morality and personal values. Business is essentially a transaction of energy between people and if your energy is “dark” it’s never going to sustain itself in the long run. Your morals and values are the compass of your life and that’s what should be guiding you in every business decision. People that try to throw one another under the bus will eventually stagnate, the ones who do work hard, keep themselves out of the drama and truly care about the company will be the ones to rise. I have met and watched so many people that had every opportunity given to them, they could have been incredible but instead they decided to go against their morals and only focused on “immediate” gains instead of the long run, well I have not heard about these people ever again and I believe that’s proof that Karma exists in the business world as well.
Really think about the choices you make, it has to feel right and be fair.
Any tips for achieving success?
Trust yourself , you can’t win in life If you are loosing in your mind. “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on it’s wings.“ I love this analogy because if you trust in yourself then you shouldn’t be worried about anything else or anybody else.
Connect
Instagram: @catcolle
