Veteran entrepreneur Gail Federici isn’t any stranger to the shock to the system.

The founder and chief executive officer of Color Wow, who also cofounded John Frieda, knows her way across the every day challenges of scaling businesses. To maintain herself agile, she’s also mastered the art of the cold plunge.

“It sets your mind up,” Federici said. “This is tough to do, and we do hard things. It makes you’re feeling optimistic, and you’re feeling good about what you could have to do.”

Federici plunges within the morning before her exercise routine, before exercising and showering. “I do it at home, but we’re going to start out doing it on the beach,” she said, after the remainder of her team at Color Wow took an interest within the buzzy wellness practice.

“Funnily enough, the team desires to do it. I’ve got the cold plunge at home, but possibly once per week or once every other week, we’ll go to the Long Island Sound and run in there within the early morning,” she added.

Team constructing is a key piece of Federici’s leadership strategy. She pulls inspiration in all places, from Stoic philosophers to the Navy SEALs. “[The SEALs] motivate me. My mind is powerful, and from a piece standpoint, I’m extremely disciplined….I prefer to be motivated, I prefer to continue to learn, they usually are motivational to me.”

A part of her mandate as CEO is to energise her team with the identical appetite for challenge. “When there are challenges, it brings out one of the best in you and your team members,” she said. “We discover the humor when every little thing incorrect is occurring, and then you definitely fix it.”

“There’s plenty of fun that you could have when everyone works really hard,” she continued. “There’s a shared sense of purpose, and that’s what motivates me. That’s what I like about working.…It’s rewarding, and it’s fun.”

At Color Wow, that shows within the business’ upward trajectory. Last 12 months, the brand introduced Curl Wow, a spread with proprietary technology that targets curly hair textures. At launch, industry sources estimated the range would hit $8 million in sales for its first 12 months in the marketplace.

“Endlessly, I’ve called the board room the war room — through my John Frieda days,” Federici said. “The higher you do, the more the large artillery comes out from the large giants. Hence, you would like an incredible team once you’re a small company and winning plenty of awards and also you’ve got a lot of innovation.”

Though the business has shifted dramatically since Federici first began on John Frieda, it’s the fight that keeps her going. “At times, it’s very frustrating. With John Frieda, we didn’t actually have a website. Now, all of the algorithms are changing on a regular basis. It’s difficult to continue to learn because every little thing keeps changing, but learning is what I actually like,” she said. “I like learning with the team, and I like the team aspect. When things are difficult, I at all times say I wouldn’t be within the trenches with anybody else.”