Episode #285, Anne Maza, Olivia Garden Co-Owner

·57 min·5 clips

Anne Maza reveals how her parents built Olivia Garden from wigs in 1967 Belgium to a global tool empire.

The episode features an interview with Anne Maza, VP of marketing and sales for Olivia Garden, hosted by Gerard Scarpaci. Anne begins by recounting the brand's origins in 1967 Belgium, where her hairdresser mother and entrepreneurial father started selling high-quality wigs and hairpieces. She describes her father's innovative display stands and the family's hands-on approach. In 1985, the family moved to the U.S. to expand, starting in a garage with interlocking perm curlers as their first product. Anne discusses the brand's strategy of focusing on one product at a time. She shares a personal failure from 1994 with the Free Flow curlers, which distributors bought but hairdressers rejected, teaching her to wait for reorders. Anne explains Olivia Garden's product development process, which involves hairdressers in dream team meetings and takes 2-7 years per product, contrasting with white-label approaches. She talks about her role and her brother's in running the company, with about 80 employees globally. The conversation touches on trade shows' relevance post-pandemic, retail challenges for independent stylists, and the importance of hairdressers recommending tools. Anne reveals the name Olivia Garden was chosen for international appeal and abbreviates to OG. She reflects on how wig trends have cycled back but the brand doesn't regret pivoting. Throughout, Anne emphasizes customer service, quality, and learning from failures.

As heard by us

A practical lesson in how pro beauty products earn trust through sell-through, reorders, and real-world feedback.

The discussion draws a practical lesson from the pro beauty world: products earn trust in the field, not in a polished presentation. Its strongest thread is the reminder that a tool can seem successful when distributors buy it, while the real test comes later through reorders…

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Why you'd press play

A salon-side lesson on why a distributor sale is never the finish line.

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