Confidence in Negotiation: Brittny Robins

Growing up on a farm as one of five girls, Brittny Robins was the go-to sister for anything beauty related.  Today, when she goes back to the family farm she goes as the founder and force behind Flawless by Friday, a skin care line that focuses on unleashing the best you – inside and out. 

How did you hear about Young Women in Business & Achievers Women’s Network? What inspired you to participate in our Negotiation panel discussion?

Founding Flawless by Friday (say that ten times fast) exposed me to an amazing community in Toronto that focuses on empowering women in business and I’ve been making a cognizant effort to be involved.  I have some close friends who work at Achievers who have witnessed the evolution of my company – and me being a pain in the a** to get stuff done - so when they reached out about joining the panel, I eagerly accepted. 

Tell me about your story.  How did you get to be where you are today?

I started my career in the marketing and events space to gain experience to help me transition into my real passion, beauty, where I worked at a prominent cosmetic company.  During this time, I was also reflecting on the intricacies of the self-confidence in women (remember, one of five girls).  One of the main insights was that how we interact with the world is a projection of how we feel about ourselves – and I know I could do something with that.  I decided to take a risk and start a beauty venture that was about encouraging self-confidence in women by being the most comfortable, confident version of yourself.  The first step of taking a risk is understanding the big picture you’re working towards, but after that, the focus should be on taking manageable steps every day to get there.

When you look back at your career to date, what is one important challenge, event or achievement that stands out as a milestone?

Every entrepreneur has end goals that they work towards because having a long-term version helps you stay organized in the chaos that defines your day-to-day life.  One of my goals was getting Flawless by Friday into the cosmetic big leagues, so when I first met with Hudson’s Bay and Lord and Taylor to pitch to them I knew it was a milestone moment.  I was don’t-sleep-for-days-beforehand nervous, but I genuinely believe in my product and ended the pitch with verbal agreements from both buying teams to move forward in Canada and the US.  The lesson?  Don’t let being nervous stop you from putting your best foot forward.       

What is the one trait that helped you get to where you are today?   

I don’t have a business background and I didn’t start this venture with a firm understanding of how to run a company.  What I did have, and what we all have, is the power to make a choice about what I wanted out of life.  I had a long-standing interest in the beauty industry, I had several years of experience working with top brands and I wanted to empower women, so I made the choice to parlay these things into my own business. 

Written by: Sarah Clayton