[quote style=”boxed”]Stephanie and I rarely take days off, and one of those reasons is because we love our work. One of our favorite quotes is, ‘What you put out in the world, you get back.'[/quote]
Adrienne and Stephanie Vendetti are sisters, best friends, natural-born redheads and Founders of How To Be A Redhead. How To Be A Redhead empowers every redhead to feel confident, to look amazing and to rock their natural beauty. Red hair is more than a color, it’s a lifestyle!
Adrienne has kept her natural red hair and has struggled to find beauty products that cater to young, trendy redheaded women. Stephanie has experimented with different shades of reds and blondes and had trouble finding fashion pieces to compliment her natural redheaded features. Needless to say, they’ve been through all and are here to tell all. When they put mascara on at a young age, they will never forget how beautiful they felt! The discovery of streak-free instant tan; products that help redheaded, frizzy hair; natural but fabulous bronzers; lotions that didn’t irritate their redheaded, sensitive skin (they could go on and on!) were revolutionary. Over the years, Adrienne and Stephanie have learned to master all of the “faking it” and complimentary redheaded techniques. So, having at last embraced their red hair, they created How To Be A Redhead in 2011 for redheads throughout the world.
Since there was no place for Adrienne and Stephanie to turn to for advice, they hope redheads all over the world can finally give a sigh of relief knowing there is a finally a “ginger” community for all those beautiful, trendy, fashionable redheads.
What are you working on right now?
How To Be A Redhead has several projects it is working on. It’s hosting an event in New York City on March 16, 2012 called “Rock it like a Redhead.” It’s the world’s first-ever beauty and fashion event for redheads.
Everything about this event is for redheads. Every single detail. Even our party planner, Annette Naif, is a redhead! We are so excited to throw the “Rock it like a Redhead” event and make redheads feel confident about their beauty.
How To Be A Redhead is also in the works of setting up a membership section of the website. Redheads will now be able to talk to each other in a forum, send in photos, write blog posts and many more awesome additions!
Where did the idea for How To Be A Redhead come from?
We grew up as natural redheads and struggled to find the proper products, fashion advice and lifestyle advice. We couldn’t believe that there wasn’t an online or book source to cater to redheads. So, we took it upon ourselves to do it! It has been 22 months since the launch of How To Be A Redhead, and the response has been overwhelming, from all areas of the world! We are so happy that How To Be A Redhead empowers redheads of the world to love their beauty.
What does your typical day look like?
We wake up every morning so excited to work on the website and interact with our audience. Our work ethic is very strict, as we wake up by 7:00-8:00 a.m. and work until 6:00-7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. We are constantly on our iPhones and Macs, interacting with companies, readers and spreading the How To Be A Redhead word.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Everyone around us always tells us, “You two just do it without hesitation.” And we must say: it is true. We are extremely motivated, and when we brainstorm a great idea, we get moving on making it happen. Another big part of our motivation is to surround ourselves with people who think and do the same.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
The social media trend really excites us because we are able to communicate with our readers every moment of the day. If you think about it, technology is pretty incredible and allows us to see what our audience wants for their red lives!
What was the worst job you ever had, and what did you learn from it?
Adrienne: I’ve had a few jobs that were considered “the worst jobs I’ve ever had.” My parents made me work at Sea World when I was 16. I don’t have many positive memories from that job, but I do remember getting my first paycheck and quickly learning the value of a dollar.
Stephanie: I worked at a bakery and had to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to help bake. It was terrible!
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
When we first launched How To Be A Redhead, we thought we’d have to invest a lot of money to get it started (i.e. tech support, hiring SEO services, etc.) because we had no experience with websites. So, we spent a considerable amount on startup costs. We now realize that you can launch a website with zero down if you do it the right way. We’ve mastered running a website on a very tight budget without the need for outsourcing work.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Being an entrepreneur, it is very easy to say, “I am going to take today off” because there is no one telling you what to do. But, every entrepreneur has to realize that time management and hard work is a must, and it will pay off. Stephanie and I rarely take days off, and one of those reasons is because we love our work. One of our favorite quotes is, “What you put out in the world, you get back.”
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
We don’t think anything is a failure, but a learning experience. We think the amount of money we spent to start the website could have been spent more wisely.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
The power of social media is amazing; communicate with your audience! The How To Be A Redhead audience is so responsive and really keeps the website going. It always shocks us when we hear that a company doesn’t use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ as resources for their company.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be and how would you go about it?
Bullying. Many of our readers write into our “Red Diaries” section talking about how they’ve overcome redhead bullying. We hope bullying subsides because it does effect lives. We are in the process of joining organizations that are working to stop bullying in schools and hope to represent the redheads that face discrimination.
What are your three favorite online tools or resources, and what do you love about them?
Of course, Twitter and Facebook are huge online tools. But we also love Hootsuite because it allows you to control multiple accounts on one screen. When you have busy days, it makes it a whole lot easier.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The Secret. We have always loved the teaching about putting an idea out into the universe, believing it will happen and watching it come about. There have been so many amazing stories with how the website launched, and a lot of it had to do with our positive thinking.
When was the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it?
It was probably when we laughed at our mother. She’s absolutely hilarious.
Who is your hero?
Our dad. He’s an entrepreneur and has always believed in How To Be A Redhead. The site wouldn’t be where it is today without his support.
How do you turn a creative idea into a money maker?
When you have a creative idea and are targeting a market that isn’t being targeted by anyone else, you have the opportunity to make money.
What is on your bucket list?
Adrienne: Travel! I want to go to Asia and South America and explore the world. I’d also love to do a wine and cheese tour of France with my husband.
Stephanie: Go to the airport on a random day and book a ticket to anywhere in the world.
Connect:
How To Be A Redhead on Twitter: twitter.com/howtobearedhead
How To Be A Redhead on Facebook: Facebook.com/howtobearedhead
How To Be A Redhead’s Website: www.howtobearedhead.com
How To Be A Redhead on Instagram: howtobearedhead
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.