[Aleks Vranicic, VP of Sales, Vitelle]Would most like to meet: George Washington
Favorite food: Thin crust, wood fired pizza, with a cold beer
Guilty pleasure: Bourbon
Favorite place to travel: Island Hvar, Croatia
Can’t leave the house without: The iPhone, sadly
What makes your company unique? Vitelle is one of the first companies to really start the private label trend. We’ve been in business since 1997 and have grown every year. We manufacture more than 500 SKUs in house, with four skincare collections, two body-care collections and makeup—all featuring high quality formulations and packaging to match. We research new and innovative ingredients that the industry hasn’t heard of, and do our best to be a trailblazer and begin setting the trend. With our low minimums, we appeal to all business sizes from solo skincare professionals to large brands and distributors.
What’s your dream vacation? Attend the Ultra Europe music festival in Split, Croatia. Then, jump on a chartered yacht with my family and closest friends—and a skipper and chef of course! Island hop around Croatia and see Dubrovnik. Finally, get dropped off in front of my house on Island Hvar. (P.S. I’m from Croatia.)
What’s in the pipeline for the company? This year we launched the Inception MD Collection—our most active line. It can be private labeled, and the formulations are registered in the Euro Zone; we’re looking to expand into Europe even more.
If you could cross one thing off your to-do list, what would it be? Good question! The list is never-ending, but I’d have to say getting through this year’s growing pains. We’ve had to add personnel and reorganize everything, which involved some learning curves. Now it’s been a few months with smooth sailing, so that’s a big accomplishment.
What’s your favorite part of the day? I’m a night owl, so staying up late is my thing. But I do love my morning coffee!
What’s the most fun part of your job? This is an easy one! What fills my bucket is seeing businesses create a brand and thrive—especially if it’s a small business that’s been struggling. With some coaching from us, they muster up enough confidence to jump in; that’s when the emails and phone calls start coming in from those customers saying how happy they are and that they wished they’d done this years ago.
How do you motivate others? People love great, true stories, and I love telling stories that are inspiring. To be able to show our customers, who usually feel stuck and frustrated, out-of-the-box things they can do with their brand by using true industry stories is very motivating.
If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing? Used car salesman … just kidding! I’d probably be coaching soccer or farming olives, lavender and grapes.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the spa industry? I’ve said it for 17 years: The most important business decision you can make in this industry is to have your own brand. Grow your own equity, not someone else’s. After all, who are you in business for?
Tell us something most people don’t know about you. My wife says that I’m a bit of an anomaly. I’m a soccer jock, gardener, construction worker, car mechanic, electrician, roofer, chef and, most of all, a skincare professional that’s now in manufacturing.
How do you unwind? I love gardening and cooking. During those activities, I’ll put on some music or listen to an audiobook at the same time. It’s true therapy!
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Always trying to improve and be more organized. Always.
This story first appeared in the September issue of DAYSPA Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
