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Lee Rizzuto, Jr., senior vice president of Conair Pro's Global Professional Business Units, talks candidly about his company's future plans and how technology is the key to building business.
Tell us about your company's history.
My grandfather, Nicola Rizzuto, invented the wire-mesh hair roller in the late '5Os and, subsequently, the brush roller. Together with my dad, Lee, Sr., they started Continental Hair Products in '59. Initially, the product range was professional beauty sundry items. There were no electrical items until the late '60s. When the company introduced pistol-grip dryers into the marketplace, it transformed the image and livelihood of professional hairdressers worldwide as well the industry's culture. Back then, most women would go to a beauty parlor for a wash and set that would cost between $3 to $6 and take several hours. With the introduction of the pistol-grip dryer came a new term: "cut and blow." The service, which took about 30 minutes and cost $20, helped beauty parlors become profitable salons. For the first time, men who wouldn't step foot in a beauty parlor began visiting salons. The pistol-grip dryer was the precursor to a whole new genre of professional styling tools that were introduced by our company, whose name had changed to Conair in the early 70s. Today, Conair produces and markets more than 100 million appliances each year.
How did you get your start in the professional beauty industry?
I grew up in the business. As a child, I always enjoyed working at the company and with product. Initially, between the ages of seven and 14, I worked in the warehouse, sweeping, loading and unloading trucks, doing inventory, working in the repair and engineering departments-whatever was necessary. I was never forced to work; it was just interesting to me. I remember my first trade show,...