Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Malavenda.
Maria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am where I am today because of the underlying commitment to be myself, no matter the circumstance nor the consequence. As a creative and analytical strategist, I’ve never quite fit the traditional mold and I’ve been okay with that. I like to think I got to where I am today by a lot of hard work, surrounding myself with a lot of really wonderful people, and a lot of adapting. Many people call me a visionary architect – the person who can see the completed puzzle among a messy pile of pieces, or the forest through the trees. The one who connects the dots to tell the story and helps others visualize the journey. The person who can innovate their way out of a jungle. Someone who brings clarity and forward movement by removing and changing the barriers and adversity we face. Someone who has a thirst and quest for knowledge and refuses to hear the word “no”.
I’ve been fortunate to have obtained an unbelievable ivy league education however it didn’t come easy. Most of us have our parents there to support our choices, help direct our decisions and continue to be there for us throughout our academic endeavors – to the point of making sure we stay on the straight and narrow. I wasn’t so lucky. I was born the oldest of four girls from parents who were first-generation Americans. They didn’t go to college nor did they have any expectations for their children to pursue a college career. Their parents were from Europe which had a significant impact on how they were raised, and as a result, how I was raised. My childhood was during times in which the daughters had a planned path – to get married and have children. It was the men who went off to college, the men who were given all the opportunity. To top it all off, my parents struggled financially. In fact, my sister and I started working at the age of 11 and 12 for my father. We were brought to his office every day after school and worked full time during the summers. We were those extra sets of hands that didn’t need to be paid for their effort. Interestingly enough, I used my creativity and imagination to get past many of the barriers that were put in front of me and my sisters. If we didn’t have money to go see a movie or do something else that required money we would build things, bake things and go door to door trying to sell our latest inventions to our neighbors. I knew however that education was a driver. The more I learned, the smarter I became – and that education would be my ticket out of this way of life and on to a better one.
By the time I left for college – it was a journey that was 100% supported through my own academic scholarships and a full-time job. It wasn’t all romantic. I had to work full time while going to school full time to pay for tuition and living expenses that weren’t covered. This is when my entrepreneurial bug reemerged. I would always try to “hack” through a situation to figure out ways I could make more money – whether it was editing term papers for my friends for $100 each, typing the papers at $10 per page, cooking meals where everyone chipped in and paid me, or cutting hair for the guys in my dorm and eventually several other dorms. I was very creative and used that creativity for good whether in my writing, cooking or hair “design” technique. Later I learned I could apply this same thought process and methodology to figuring out revenue streams that were difficult for others to see. I had the ability to take a creative approach or so-called “out of the box thinking” to problem solving which served me extremely well.
Yet, with all this forward movement, I was never looking ahead. I never anticipated what my future might hold – I just knew I loved to solve problems and removing barriers to adversity with a positive, passionate persistence. I survived through internships, school work and other odd jobs and successfully graduated with high honors. I don’t know if this meant I’m just a masochist or really smart but I still didn’t have a plan for my future other than where I wanted to work. I took my first job out of college with Johnson & Johnson in Marketing. I was thrilled to be working for one of the most influential brands across the globe. I excelled and climbed to the role of VP, Marketing within six years. At that point, one of my consultants working with me pulled at my “entrepreneurial sleeve” and suggested we start a consulting firm. He had just retired at the age of 40 from McKinsey and said he was bored. I was young and naive so I figured – what the hell. We launched what was my first startup and it took off. That feeling of success remained with me. We sold the company to Microsoft and I went on to work for Deloitte and Accenture after that.
From there, I decided to try the corporate life again and took a role with Monster Worldwide as VP, Strategy & Corporate Development. Each one of these experiences would leave their lasting imprint. Monster was my favorite because of the people and the culture. I was surrounded by brilliance – innovations coming from everywhere and a passion to pursue the impossible. People collaborated and supported each other at every turn. It’s no wonder that at one point in time – that company was one of the most successful and widely researched brands across the globe. However, it wasn’t enough. The entrepreneurial pull came again and I left to pursue more of those ideas on “fixing the adversity and difficulty” that stood before me, from fan engagement in professional sports and entertainment (built and sold a company to IMG), to a wireless medical device that monitored heart rate, respiratory rate, blood flow and movement with a data analytics backend (built and sold a company to Bosch). With these successes under my proverbial belt, I again decided to go back to corporate however this time with a full understanding of the outcome – to position a company for sale. What happens next were the events that began to shape my most recent and most important innovation – EVVEMI.
I started working with ZoomInfo which frequently brought me to the west coast – so much so I decided I should move there. After years on the east coast, I left NY for San Francisco and never looked back. During that move, I found my apartment fairly quickly, taking care of housing, and then turned my focus to my next most important need: my hair. I needed a hairdresser and fast! This is one of the most important relationships in my life.
Ask any woman about her hair and she’ll tell you her life story. Well, what comes next is a great story. Throughout my career journey, I’ve always been fascinated with visual arts – more importantly with how a woman can “transform” how she “feels” by changing her look whether it be her hairstyle or hair color, putting make up on her face or changing the style of her clothes. The result – an empowered, self-assured woman. What could be better? This empowerment had served me well throughout my career. I grew up in New York where beauty and fashion are part of the very fiber of what makes New York City the most sought after destination across the globe. It’s where innovations in fashion, beauty products and media are developed on a frequent basis. Not only did I work for top reputable organizations, I was also fortunate to have worked with clients from some of the world’s biggest and best during my corporate and consulting years – from Hearst Media (think ELLE, Marie Clare, Haper’s BAZAAR), to Procter and Gamble, to L’Oréal, to LVMH (think Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Fendi). That aside, I never worked on the services side of these industries but I was fortunate to experience the beauty industry’s best artists. I quickly learned what I had been taking for granted for many years when I moved from NY to the West Coast. Hair is the most integral and fundamental aspect of our self-expression. It’s tightly tied to our identity, self-confidence, health and well-being. I should know because I had what some people call a bad hair day that turned into a bad hair year and it truly rocked my world. Before moving I had been working with the same hairstylist for ten years and he was phenomenal. He knew everything about me and helped me through some of the most important and impactful events in my life from bad breakups to my daughter’s graduation from high school and much, much more. I can remember each major situation bringing on a new hairdo or color, most of which came from his influence over me. He was my match. I never really understood the value of that relationship until my move to the West Coast.
When I moved, I asked a few friends for new hairdresser recommendations however they didn’t work out for what I needed. I now understand it was because their hair type and color aren’t like mine, but at the time I had no idea. I turned to online booking and rating sites and found myself spending hours and hours researching Yelp! and other platforms like Styleseat, trying to interpret five star recommendations and looking for pictures that resembled my hair from portfolios of hairstylists. I had no idea whether or not they were truly any good! And the same thing would happen… I’d go down a list of criteria and see if they checked the boxes. I’d review their portfolios, then call the salon and ask more questions to the point where I’d finally make an appointment. The day would come and I’d sit in the hairstylist’s chair experiencing anxiety – you know that sick feeling in your stomach, hoping that this was going to be “the one” to finally get it right. The experiences with these people went from bad to worse. One woman who had 125 five-star recommendations on her profile showed up drunk to the appointment. Then someone who had been written up in Forbes as one of the “top” hairstylists in San Francisco took scissors to my bangs without asking me if it was okay. For the next 16 months, I went on to see five other hairstylists and proceeded to have my hair cut to a style that wasn’t a fit for my head shape, burnt, and event turned orange which caused breakage and simply unhealthy looking hair. During the process, I was becoming more and more depressed. I didn’t want to go out to see anyone – I was a hermit and started gaining a lot of weight. I had finally had enough and made a last ditch effort to reach out to my friends who work for L’Oreal for help and guidance. I gave them a list of 25 different characteristics for what I was looking for in my hairstylist and at the top of the list was the type of personality I wanted that person to have. My friends in the business had access and insider knowledge of many stylists in the area because L’Oreal and other haircare manufacturers employ hairstylists as their educators.
At this point, I realized that much of what I was looking for wasn’t available online. I also remembered that my hairstylist who was a perfect match for me, had a profound positive effect on my life, and I missed that relationship terribly. My friends put me in touch with a stylist out of Los Gatos and said “we know you’ll love him” based on all of the details you’ve given us. I trusted their word because I had provided so much detail! I made the appointment, ultimately made it to his chair and at that point he took one look at me and said “honey – your hair is shit. We can’t do anything today. I need to have you for a full 8 or 9 hours to fix this”. At that point, I had to make another appointment and come back. Because I still was hoping that my friends got it right this time I ignored the feelings of disappointment and rescheduled. I went back later and spent the entire day with him. 9 1/2 hours later, he turned me around to the mirror and I started to cry. I could not believe what I saw! Of course, I took my fingers, like most women do, and ran them through my hair. It felt healthy again! This was the day that EVVEMI, my current company, was born.
Innovation comes out of adversity and difficulty and this process wasn’t just difficult – it was hell. I needed to fix it. No man or woman should ever have to go through what I went through to find the person who can make us feel our best with the right hair. This process also made me realize that the relationship we have with our hairstylist is one of the most important in our lives. Being with the wrong person can have a traumatic effect on us. Terrible hair can literally be debilitating.
EVVEMI’s mission is to make sure you are working with a hair pro that deserves to be working with you (has the right credentials, has maintained their education, etc.) and most importantly – understands you and your specific hair needs as an individual. Beauty is not transactional – it’s personal. Great hair requires having faith and trust in someone to do what they need to do to make you your best – transforming and empowering you to face the world every day.
I’m now leading the charge to change the way we each connect with hair professionals, products and services, taking adversity and difficultly head on. I’m loving the impact we’re making on every person by understanding the details of every need and challenge in managing their hair. I continue to look forward to driving a much needed shift in the beauty industry one head at a time. . .
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ve had many obstacles and challenges and hell no, it wasn’t a smooth road.
I’ve faced sexual advances/harassment obstacles: My first job had a training program in month one. After the program, we had to be tested by the regional vice president. My trainer and I went out to dinner with the regional VP the night before the exam. The trainer left early because his kids weren’t feeling well and no sooner had he left that I felt a hand up my skirt. I smacked him (my male cousins taught me well) and I darted from the table. The next morning I still had to meet him for the exam at 6:00am and I said nothing. Back then, women would be fired for speaking about something like this. I was scared to death I would be fired. In this case, I passed the test and moved beyond this.
During the next several years, I would be met with other harassment and malicious, vial comments. As a management consultant, I was one of the top revenue producers. On one occasion, as I was about to walk up for an award at our annual meeting, my male colleague pulled me aside and asked how I did it. He then finished by saying: “Several guys were betting how many times you’ve been on your back prior to the signing of the contract – if you say my number, I’ll let you in on the winnings”. On other occasions my manager would tell me I was too pretty to be that smart. There was a separate incidence when my direct report attacked me in the elevator and tried to rape me. I reported it to my boss (CEO at the time). My direct report was let go, and not surprisingly, four weeks later I was fired for a BS reason – using my work Amex in an emergency to buy a pair of shoes when I was on a business trip despite the fact that I had already paid back that same amount out of my personal account.
None of these compare to what I experienced while living in Silicon Valley. About a year and a half ago, my founder and I decided to start fundraising. We identified an angel investor who was a previous executive from Google. He agreed to give us $450,000. We were in the process of negotiating the terms when he asked me to meet him prior to signing because he wanted to go over a few things. At that meeting he said, “You know, I’m not going to sign anything until you “F***” me”. I looked at him and said: “You know – it’s time for me to go”. I left and called another member from the same Angel group to meet for coffee with my co-founder and report what had occurred. We wanted direction on how to best handle the situation. Next thing we know, we were getting a call from the Angel Group’s CEO. He had to “investigate” what happened. Within days he explained that he spoke with the man who made the comment who actually admitted to saying it however followed that with “I have Turrets and can’t help myself”. Really?!! Let’s not forget the time I attended an investor meeting that finished with a wine tasting. After the wine tasting, I was walking back to my car and one of the guys I had been speaking with pinned me up against the wall and attempted to kiss me. I slapped him and said “What the hell?“. His response: “You were flirting with me”. The straw that finally broke the camel’s back happened during a meeting in Palo Alto when a gentleman walked over, grabbed my left hand and pointed to my engagement ring. He asked: “How engaged are you really? This ‘MeToo’ thing doesn’t apply here since we don’t work together. I really like your look and would love to get with you”. That’s when I made the decision that I had had enough of Silicon Valley and headed south.
Despite these experiences and generally facing gender equality challenges with pay rate and promotions, I’ve done my best to use each experience as an opportunity to learn and grow. These experiences will not keep me down nor will they ever be used to define me. I have the strength, foresight and perseverance as a result of these experiences and for that, I am grateful.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with EVVEMI – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
EVVEMI is the first-ever recommendation, matching and engagement platform for beauty services driven by science. EVVEMI makes the best haircare possible through epigenetics, individual beauty data and one-on-one chemistry connections. No more leaving choices up to BS metrics like star ratings, pretty pictures, and follower numbers. We reinvent how you interact with beauty by capturing your critical hair information, building your understanding and creating data driven matches with unique hair solutions, hairstylists and barbers.
EVVEMI is proud to be driving the strongest client – hairstylist relationships in the industry, creating hundreds of matches that have driven the very best hair results and empowered women and men to look and feel their best. We’re actively developing the deepest understanding of each client by capturing their unique needs and challenges which is also driving the best ongoing and immediate support for our clients managing their hair. We’ve increased hairstylist-client success from the industry-wide 30% to EVVEMI’s 92% across our supported relationships. That means 9 out of every 10 client beauty management relationships we are managing our successes!
The line that separates EVVEMI from other tech platforms in the beauty industry is clear. We empower the individual to own and understand their hair needs and actively drive services that work, products that solve, relationships that empower and decisions that last. Other platforms solve basic logistics issues that don’t hit the heart of challenges in each person’s beauty management routine. We do.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have our sights set on disrupting the entire beauty services industry for the better. Our goal is to continue to build a network of highly skilled and trained beauty professionals, those individuals who have maintained their education on a quarterly basis and take care and consideration into how they perform their services. The hairstylists and barbers that continue to invest in their growth and deserve to be servicing customers like you and me.
Beside the continuous buildout of our technology, we know we must continue to provide “out of the box” solutions to achieve that goal. Education and creating awareness are the force behind this movement. That’s why we decided to launch HairCon(TM) powered by EVVEMI in January 2020 here in LA – an annual conference dedicated to connecting top industry hair experts with consumers, bringing opportunities to discover the newest trends in products and services, and enjoy personalized consultations and discussion with top celebrity hairstylists and other industry leaders. Next up, we will be expanding across the US this year and next. We’re then targeting global expansion as well as moving into other areas within the beauty and wellness services sector – skincare, nails, makeup, massage, etc.
We will continue to remain open to any and all opportunities that present themselves, always planning, always listening, always believing with “eyes wide open”.
Contact Info:
- Address: 840 Apollo Street, Suite 100
El Segundo, CA 90245 - Website: https://www.evvemi.com
- Phone: (424) 394-6778
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evvemi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evvemi/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/myevvemi/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evvemi/
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