How the Ella Baché CEO built a business empire

Australian skincare icon Ella Baché has been one of the best-loved brands on the Australian high street for the past 60 years. But in those decades, it has been continually evolving.

From its roots as a family-owned business, the company now has 100 franchises, its products are available in over 150 salons and 35 David Jones stores nationwide, and also runs a skincare college that provides training and education to students aspiring for a career in the beauty industry.

Pippa Hallas – who has been CEO of the company for over 14 years – has told ifa that the key to their success has been their ability to continually evolve.

Speaking to ifa ahead of her keynote address at the Women in Finance Summit 2024, the female CEO explained how one of her greatest strengths as a business leader is her ability to drive change.

Like nearly all Australian businesses – her business faced seismic disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she had to adapt to survive and thrive.

Almost three-quarters of revenue at the company and its stores was generated from services but that was thrown into disarray when the previous government-imposed lockdowns and shuttered the business in March 2020, resulting in a 50 per cent revenue loss.

While the business had invested significantly in digital channels before COVID-19, Hallas fast-tracked the transformation for the skincare business and the college.

“For example, everyone in our beauty academy college could learn on our online learning platform,” she said.

“We used that platform to keep our therapists and franchisees connected and ensure that the students continued to learn. The people in our network came out of COVID feeling like they had a lot more knowledge around products and customer service and experience.”

The business also established 100 virtual salons where franchisees and therapists created educational and instructional content and posted it on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to engage customers, sell products online, and drive revenue.

“The content on our digital channels has become our main marketing strategy,” Hallas said.

“It drives our bookings, salons, and product sales online. But the difference now is that we’re operating in a world where everything is open again so we run an omnichannel business.”

Education is an ongoing journey

Hallas says being a successful business owner is partly about being able to stay in-the-know with the latest trends, flagging the importance of ongoing learning and professional development.

“You have to remain curious if you want to be a business leader,” she said.

“I deliberately set up points in the year where I educate myself on the latest developments in technology, artificial intelligence, and other subject matters that everyone’s talking about. I spend time out of the business with peers so I can bring those learnings back into my business.”

In addition, for the past eight years she has been going to Harvard Business School for one week a year to do an executive education program with 100 other CEOs.

“This enables me to get on a plane, which gives me precious thinking time. I can walk through the streets of New York to see what’s happening in retail overseas. It also allows me to have a week outside my everyday life and family and learn from the professors at Harvard and other CEOs.”

Hallas also flagged the importance of having strong female mentors, and proactively build a network of industry leaders, peers, and colleagues to thrive in their careers.

“I’ve built my network organically and by seeking it out. I’ve met wonderful people along the way,” she said.

“You can join awesome global CEO networks where women have created their own community.”

Learn more about how to embrace change and run a successful business at the Women in Finance Summit 2024.

Pippa Hallas will share how she has led a legacy brand in a modern market to build a business empire.

It will be held on Friday, 15 November at The Star, Sydney.

Click here to book tickets and don’t miss out!

For further information, including agenda and speakers, click here.

This summit is produced by Captivate Events. If you need help planning your next event, email director Jim Hall at [email protected]