The Powerful Women Project: Interviews with Inspiring Entrepreneurs. Part 1: Sharon Rabi
In celebration of International Women’s Month, we’re introducing a special blog series – The Powerful Women Project.
This month, we’ll be interviewing four incredible, strong women – in business, tech, and entrepreneurship – who smashed the glass ceiling and reached inspiring heights. Each story of success is different. The path she took, and the obstacles she overcame.
What motivated her to keep going, day after day. These are just some of the fascinating issues we’ll be discussing during the Powerful Women Project.
In our first interview, we introduce Sharon Rabi, the 29-year-old engineer, physicist, and entrepreneur who took the world by storm with the DAFNI brush, a heated straightening brush for wavy-haired women on the go.
Sharon spent over three years developing the brush, driven by the desire to help busy working moms who don’t have hours to spare in the morning straightening their hair.
The DAFNI brush was first introduced by Sharon in a YouTube video that went viral, receiving over a million views in 24 hours. This led to major companies like QVC and Sephora purchasing the brush, and the rest is history.
Sharon Rabi is recognized by Forbes as a top 30 Under 30 entrepreneur.
How did she go from straightening hair to startup success? Read our Q&A with Sharon to find out:
Powerful Woman #1: Sharon Rabi, Founder of DAFNI
Every woman has different commitments and schedules in and out of the office. How do you manage your work/life balance?
I was an entrepreneur before I became a mom and motherhood has definitely changed my equilibrium. It is clear to me that when I look back on my life, my biggest achievement will be the people I influenced, starting with the most important people to me, my children.
Having said that, I believe life should be lived with courage and self-belief. I don’t believe I can truly teach my children my most important values without setting an example. It may sound funny but I don’t really look at it as work/life balance.
I have life goals; raising a happy family, bravely following my dreams, living a healthy, conscious life, and I do my best each day with every goal while accepting my imperfections.
What’s been your greatest challenge and your greatest reward in your professional career?
The answer to both is people. Entrepreneurship, more than anything else, turns up the volume on everything in life.
I probably know 10X more people than I would have known if I hadn’t written a patent and set out on a weird mission to build an international brand. I have met people whose presence is a constant motivator, and I’ve also met some very negative people who taught me a lot about my inner strength and who we are as a company.
What are the unique qualities or characteristics that you have brought to your career and workplace?
I think I have earned the title “innovator”. I am always thinking about what can be done differently; what should we invent next; what avant-garde way should we use to tackle the market.
It is also super important for me to elevate women as a part of the business, and we’ve done several events to support women in shelters around the world. It is so humbling to know you’ve made a positive impact on someone’s life.
What’s the one piece of advice you would give to a young woman just starting out in her career?
Start. You don’t need world-class investors to prove your concept, and you don’t need to have all the answers. Whatever it is you wish to do, you will find the experts that can help you online.
Pick up the phone, meet them, understand what is really needed out there. Whether you will become a successful entrepreneur or not, it will show you the world and expand your horizons.
If you have it in you, then do it.
And please don’t ask close friends and skeptics for advice; they will – from the good and kindness of their hearts – try to talk you out of it. Remember that everything around you was created by people, and most of them are not smarter than you.
