Q&A with Matt Church

Professional Beauty chats to 2014 Business Leaders Summit speaker Matt Church about his business journey and insights into the beauty industry.

Matt ChurchMatt Church is a well-known international speaker who educates and demonstrates the power of thought leadership as a driving solution for 21st century business issues. He is a speaker for TED Sydney and also acts as advisor and mentor for TED Global. He will be speaking and MC-ing at the 2014 Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo Business Leaders Summit on August 23.

How did you get to where you are today?
I trained as a Biochemist, then was picked up by the Australian Council for Health and Education where I was, in turn, picked up by Lend Lease to run their internal corporate wellness program. So, I have been in adult education and leadership development for over 20 years.

What have been some highlights?
I was the ‘Australian Fitness Leader’ of the Year 20 years ago, and a couple of years ago I was voted ‘Australian Speaker of the Year’. So having reached the top of a couple of industries, I decided to launch into the development of a business called Thought Leaders, which is a leadership development company. It’s now got offices in Dubai, London, Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles.

Challenges faced?
I believe that the pace of a business is set and/or limited by the pace of the evolution of the leader. So overcoming my own weaknesses of character and understanding how my mojo directs and affects my business was the single greatest challenge I had to overcome.

What are your main areas of interest and how is it relevant to salon owners/beauty professionals?
I’m interested in leadership development, specifically how individual leaders like salon owners and beauty professionals get to control their internal state, because personal leadership and taking care of you, is the key to customer leadership and the culture of a salon.

At Business Leaders Summit this year we are going to look at how salon leaders and beauty professionals can get their own mojo right and become amplifiers for the people around them – essentially creating cultures worth belonging to, doing work that’s worth doing, and being leaders worth following.

If you could only give one piece of business advice, what would it be?
If I could give one piece of business advice, it would be to step into leadership and understand that whether formally appointed the title of leadership or not, it’s essential that everybody at every level in a business takes responsibility for the affect they’re having on the people around them.

For more information visit http://www.internationalbeautyexpo.com.au/en/for-visitors/business-leaders-summit/ or http://www.mattchurch.com/

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