Mansplaining? Klara Cosmetics CEO Klara Sabotkoski won’t let anyone give her lip

Apart from confidence, Klara Sabotkoski has another trick up her sleeve during a meeting — a bright red lipstick.

Klara Sabotkoski, CEO, Klara Cosmetics, has a flawless base to tackle mansplaining. And that is something she comes across often while travelling all over the world, meeting heads of makeup brands — which are mostly headed by men.

“I have to sit in a conference room with all men in business and negotiate margins, business, drop off dates and space,” she tells ETPanache. Her solution? Confidence with a slick of lipstick.

“Confidence is self-esteem,” Sabotkoski says. “You could be the brainiest, the most good looking — but if you don’t walk in and have that confidence in yourself or allow anyone to put you down, you’ve lost that because you’ve allowed it to be taken away from you. So, always walk into a room and stand your ground.”

Blend and buff
Sabotkoski says that having the confidence to represent your brand and yourself is most important. Even if it means waiting to have your say. “The hardest thing with businessmen is that they have a lot of ego. Many often think they are smarter than us — just because. My friend once told me to sit pretty and talk less. We both promptly started to laugh because that is never going to happen.”

While talking less doesn’t work, Sabotkoski insists that waiting to talk does. “Sometimes, as a woman, you should look fantastic [wear what you feel confident in], walk in and don’t say much. You analyse, let them talk and talk. And talk. And then you stand up, state what you need to and walk out. And that kills any ego because 10 minutes later, they are walking around and wondering what just happened.”

She adds, “It doesn’t hurt to wear a nice lipstick that makes you feel good — I wear a bright a red lip.”