The 7 Unglamorous Things No One Tells You About Being An Entrepreneur

I founded Restorsea in 2012, and I'm still learning. Despite having a career in beauty, having worked with Avon, Elizabeth Arden, Guerlain, and Peter Thomas Roth, nothing could compare to starting my own company. Below are 7 of some of the most interesting lessons I learned along the way—they're the un-glamorous, gritty, dead-serious parts about being an entrepreneur that nobody tells you. 1. Trust me on this: everyone needs a Glam Squad for hair and makeup. It's essential. I realized this when after getting full hair and makeup I was mistaken for my (presumably younger and prettier) sister (and I don’t have a sister). 2. No one will care more about your company than you will. I still find myself picking up the dead petals off of the floor from our weekly flower arrangement. 3. Running through airports is the most exercise you will often get in a week. 4. It is very hard to take other people’s money. What keeps me up at night is a) getting to break even and b) giving my investors back a 10x return on their investment. 5. You actually save time by doing things yourself. Sometimes spending 5 minutes doing something yourself saves 30 minutes in trying to correct someone else’s booboos. I tried to outsource the coding and printing of weekly invoices but realized that taking five minutes to code, check, itemize and sign everything means that the invoices are correct to begin with thereby saving us all time. 6. You need to take care of yourself. It’s why I meditate, do Pilates and drink my homemade Kale smoothies even though I would rather be eating a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos. 7. It is your responsibility to grow with the company. My business partner and mentor Bob Goad said that “Founders have a horrible track record of staying with their companies. However, no company is better off without the founder.”

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On self-care epiphanies: the founders of Equinox and GlamSquad share theirs. Craving some more Patti Pao advice? Check out her method for curing cystic acne.

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