Gail Federici knows hair. As co-founder of John Frieda and founder/CEO of Color Wow, she has a sunny disposition but an iron-willed determination and is a fearless leader with a heart for her family, whether blood-related or in her day-to-day business. A mixture of both pragmatism and unconfined ambition, the mother and entrepreneur has proven her ability to launch and sustain a best-selling business over decades in the industry.When she and Frieda founded the haircare brand in 1989—in response to trialing a thickening lotion at UK retailer Boots the year before, which immediately received a 20,000 bottle order in response—they could not have  anticipated the impact. One bottle of Frizz Ease All-in-1 Original Serum is sold every 30 seconds, and the frizz control market is expected to hit over $4 billion by 2034. Sheer Blonde was another successful outing and a standout at the time when mass market haircare was rarely tailored towards specific hair tones. In 2002, the John Frieda company sold for $450 million.Color Wow, her next adventure in haircare, was founded in 2013,  again looking (and succeeding) to fill industry white space. From its debut product of Root Cover Up, which uses reflective mineral powder for a natural finish, to Dream Coat Supernatural Spray, which harnesses heat-activated polymer technology to create a “raincoat” that keeps hair shiny and smooth over days, Federici proved her magic touch in creating product hits. One bottle of Dream Coat Supernatural Spray sells every 12 seconds, and Color Wow’s net sales in 2023 were $176 million, a 136% increase year-over-year.