Why start the business in London as opposed to your native Greece?
“Honestly? I happened to be living in London at the time. I had studied [for my masters in business] at Columbia University, but moved to the U.K. for a finance job with Solomon Brothers’s headquarters. Starting Rodial in London was easier, though. It’s a city—more than any other city—where consumers love whatever’s new and up-and-coming. And they embrace small brands, especially ones with a backstory. People talk a lot about the American startup scene, but I would launch a company in England again and again.”

What is it about Brits that makes them so accepting of new brands?
“It’s part of the British culture—everyone wants to be quirky, eccentric, to have what no one else has. Take our fashion as an example: People are a little more streamlined in cities like New York, Paris and Milan. But in London, anything goes. It’s cool to be crazy. Which gives the brands that live there the room to be more innovative and out-of-the-box—and that’s true no matter what industry you’re in.”

You mentioned earlier there are some things not to put on your resume.
“Obviously, there’s a gut feeling you get when you sit down with someone that says, ‘Ok, we can or can’t work together.’ But if someone’s resume shows they’ve changed jobs too often, that’s a red flag to me. Staying places for less than a year either means you can’t fit, or that you’re always hunting for a higher title and salary. I probably wouldn’t hire them.”

So, would you say you’ve perfected the hiring process?
“I probably get it right 95% of the time, but then there’s 5% of people who look right, feel right, say the right things… and then you can only judge them when they start working. Some people just interview very well… But if it’s not working, don’t force it. Your team is the most important part of your business and you can’t be afraid to do what’s necessary to get it right.”

One last sage piece of wisdom for young disruptors hoping to work in the industry?
“Not to discourage anyone, but, at least in this space, it’s harder to launch brands now than it was before. It used to be there were a certain number of print publications; you knew who the editors were and how to work with them in order to get your products out there… But now, the digital landscape is so vast and hard to navigate that it makes it more difficult to launch brands and products. Plus, the rules are constantly changing—what works now might not work six months from now. My advice is to dedicate an ever-larger portion of your team to understanding this digital media part of the business.”

For more advice from this entrepreneur, visit MariaHatzistefanis.com.