Ines Rosa is the CEO of Sense and Body, a distributor of beauty products in Poland and Europe, and the founder of Sentique International, a company specializing in care and beauty products. She is also the CEO and founder of JCOS, an umbrella brand that represents the highest-quality Japanese cosmetics and care accessories.

She’s also a Women in Retail Leadership Circle (WIRLC) member! In this member spotlight, we asked Rosa a series of questions about both her professional role and personal life, including the woman that inspires her, her leadership style, her advice for the next generation of female leaders, and much more.

  1. What’s the best book you’ve ready recently?

“Eleanor” by David Michaelis. The story of Eleanor Roosevelt.

2. What tip do you have for productively leading a WFH or hybrid team?

I greatly value personal contact, so I prefer hybrid work because it allows in-person meetings. In my case, for many reasons, apps that help in Teamwork have been working well for a long time. In the companies I manage, I use Teamwork, which allows me to keep things in order and streamline the cooperation between people.

3. What mistake did you make at the beginning of your career?

I am a person who likes to be 100 percent involved in everything I do. At the beginning of my career, it was difficult to assess the potential of the projects I was interested in well enough. Sometimes they were too burdensome for the company or, in turn, looked promising, and the effect turned out to be unsatisfactory. I had a problem with adjusting their weight to the appropriate degree of resource involvement.

4. What’s the hardest thing about being responsible?

Being responsible! For the team, for the success or failure of the project, and for team motivation. Managing a company, department, organization, or any group of people we lead carries a sense of duty. I think it’s essential for every leader to have this. Not everyone is suitable to be a leader, and not everyone has to be one, and indeed, not everyone has to want to. It’s a choice that shouldn’t be a burden.

5. What is the best way to motivate team members?

Positive motivation. I am a psychologist by education, and the trend of positive psychology, which focuses on supporting people in their development, has always been the closest to me. Of course, without going to extremes, because that’s never healthy. From my professional and private experience, I know that motivation, positive messages, and reinforcement give the best results.

6. What woman inspires you right now and why?

I am inspired by several women leaders. I have admired Patty Wagstaff for many years, a woman I am fortunate enough to know personally. A U.S. National Aerobatic Team member, pilot competed nationally and internationally until 1996. She was the top U.S. medal winner, winning several years of gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions. She won her first of three U.S. National Aerobatic championships, the first woman to win that competition. She broke the glass ceiling in the world of piloting. She overcame many gender stereotypes in aviation and helped many women in aviation careers.

7. What are you most looking forward to in the industry in the coming year?

I am very interested in trends set by successive generations. Interestingly, consumers entering adulthood influence trends in the cosmetics and fashion industry. They impose their pace of life, interests, and priorities. The diversity in the media, advertising, and how to reach customers are also fascinating.

I look forward to reports on consumer sentiment and needs. Such news has always been beautiful to me.

8. What do you pay attention to during an interview with a potential candidate?

Openness. This is a vital feature for any candidate. It will be easier for an open, curious person to enter the structures of a new team, learn and adapt to new tasks.

9. What have you learned about yourself in the last year?

Patience, which I often lack, is essential and makes functioning easier. Specific processes take time, and it is beneficial to accept this fact.

10. What values are most important to you as a leader?

Openness, honesty, and responsibility. I think a combination of these three is essential for a leader.

11. What is the most important thing people should know about you?

Flying is my second nature, parallel life. I love aerobatic flying. Simultaneously with my professional career, I started learning to fly airplanes. I started with a Private Pilot certificate, which I completed in Europe, and after moving to the USA, I got my Commercial Pilot certificate in the U.S. I am working on my instructor’s certificate and fly acrobatics whenever I have a moment free from professional duties.

12. What one habit did you adopt during WFH that you kept/want to keep after returning to the office?

Celebrating tea breaks and a short walk. I’ve learned that when I feel too much pressure on my performance, and stress builds up, it works for me to take a short break, and redirect my attention to other things. I realize that the fact that I was alone at home helped me in such a pause. Once back in a bustling office, it’s much harder to maintain this habit.

13. How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

A woman who is curious about the world, active and spontaneous.

14. What’s your favorite app?

I like listening to music, so all that give me access to it, like Spotify or Apple Music.

15. What are you doing to recharge?

I fly aerobatics. It always works. If, for some reason, this is not possible, a good night’s sleep and a walk with my beloved dog always work.

16. What is your most biggest achievement?

In the professional field, I believe that the latest umbrella brand JCOS (myjcos.com), which I created and successfully introduced to life in Europe and the U.S., is the most outstanding achievement. Two years of work on the project resulted in the introduction of JCOS (Japanese Cosmetics) as an umbrella brand for Japanese cosmetic brands, which I distribute in drugstore retail chains in Europe. During the year, we achieved such success in one of the leading retail chains that we jointly created a space dedicated to JCOS, called JCOS Corner, and introduced new categories of cosmetics to JCOS. We are present in retail and e-commerce in selected European countries. Now we are working on the introduction to retail market in the USA.

17. What advice would you give the next generation of women leaders?

That they don’t let themselves be forced into stereotypical gender roles, but also don’t try to be someone they’re not. Let’s be enough. Let’s support each other. Together we can do anything.

18. What wakes you up in the morning?

Dog waiting for a walk and food.

19. What do you like most about being a member of Women in Retail?

The sense of agency that a women’s organization gives. The power of women.

I would also like and hope that we will actively exchange and support each other in professional challenges. I am thrilled to share my over 20 years of experience in the cosmetics industry, which I acquired in Europe working with cosmetic brands from around the world, introducing them to international drugstores and perfumery chains in Europe. I am eager to learn how to effectively and successfully do the same in the USA from my American colleagues.

Interested in connecting with women like Rosa? Apply today to become a Women in Retail Leadership Circle member!