In this episode, Nathan is joined by Mary Centofanti, one of the owners and creators of the vegan brand, Davroe, which is maybe the best kept hairdressing secret.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In 2006 we needed to make changes to the company that we purchased. I went to the formulating chemist and said: “I want this range to be sulphate-free and vegan”. To his credit he agreed and it took us two years to get the formulations and fragrances right because they’re key to the product as well as performance. We launched in 2008 and a lot of people were asking why we were doing this because no other producers were doing this in Australia. It took another 5 years to get momentum going and convince hairdressers and salons that this was a good thing.
• Australia is the hub, it’s where we manufacture everything, we’ve built the laboratory, we do our R&D, we do our compounding, our upscaling, we distribute everything from there, we’re very, very hands on. All the products in the range are products I wanted to bring to market, it’s about us looking at what we think the industry is moving into and what the consumer is looking for.
• When I started at 15 years of age, it was never in my wildest dreams that I entertained owning this company or doing what I’ve done with Davroe. But, I had really good bosses who were very open about a lot of things and gave clear parity between us and them. They’d have lunch with us in the lunchroom and they’d talk business and I would listen in to their conversations and I learned so much. From the minute I walked into the office on my first day I felt like it was my second home. I felt part of something.
• There was a moment where John and I had to find a balance between our personal lives and work, because we live and work together with each other and our kids, we all want space at certain times. Finding the balance is really tricky. We all go to work and come home separately, even though it’s two to three minutes away. We all seem to gravitate towards each other at lunchtime and we have dinner together every night but then we all go our separate ways in the evening, the evening is our own time.

BEST MOMENTS
‘It feels great to be away from home, we haven’t travelled for up to three years, before that we travelled quite a bit overseas. It’s amazing to see people face-to-face again and catch up.’
‘The consumer knew they wanted a change which was one of the driving forces for us as well.’
‘We watch what we eat and what we put on our faces, so why should hair be any different?’
‘We jumped in, it was full-on, we made some really major changes but I’m so very happy that we did. We’ve met some wonderful people along the way and now my children are working with us, it’s a real family business.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Mary Centofanti has a real passion for the brand and commitment to delivering premium quality hair care products and has been at the forefront of the business for over 35 years.
From humble beginnings, Mary Centofanti began her career with Dresslier as a fledgling receptionist in 1984. 23 years later, in 2007, Mary and her husband John acquired the then struggling business motivated to turn things around. Armed with a strong vision and a set of guiding principles that are steeped in passion, determination, integrity and community, they embarked on a decade long journey that has led them to where they are today, one of Australia’s leading hair care manufacturers.

Website: https://davroe.co.nz/
Instagram: @davroe.girl
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marycentofanti/?originalSubdomain=au 

ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, I’m Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. I’ve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences.

CONTACT DETAILS
www.hairlifeshow.com
Instagram is @nathan.hairlife
Email me at nathan@hairlifeshow.com