Meet & Greet

In Profile: Cassandra Moustacas

Founder and director of envy™, Cassandra Moustacas, understands beauty. More importantly, she understands envy. She has been working for more than a decade to help her clients achieve them both.

“I have always had a passion for making others feel good,” says Cassandra. “It excites me to make a difference to someone’s life through touch, both spiritually and visually.”

It’s her hands-on approach that has made envy™ the success it is today. With business generated solely through referral, envy’s facial and skincare regimes are infamous.

Cassandra built her business on the belief that she could do better, and worked tirelessly to deliver this to her loyal clientele. In an industry as fickle as this, her story is refreshingly traditional: What began in the back room of a Clovelly hair salon soon moved to its current Frenchman’s Road location to accommodate a rapidly growing client base and an expansion of their services.

“I owe my great skill and knowledge to my teacher Dawn Edwards from the Sanctuary College of Beauty Therapy, or as I used call it, Beauty Boot Camp. She still is producing some of the finest therapists that exist today, and I was blessed to have learnt from her.”

“Working for others, I found myself frustrated not being able to express my individuality. It was Dawn who inspired me to open my own business – she showed me what it was like to make a real difference to someone’s skin, and gave me the confidence to be a leader.”

As a boutique skincare centre specialising in signature treatments for both men and women, envy™ offers a much-needed respite from the hectic nine-to-five, and is a place where Cassandra’s hand-picked staff offer the highest of beauty standards.

“Education is the single most important thing in this industry,” says Cassandra, “In those early days, I was obsessed with dermalogica, a brand whose core principle is education. Back then, they were a fairly new brand and not many salons had it, so I made it my mission to open a skin-orientated dermalogica salon with this amazing education-based product range. I wanted to offer a unique experience… wow, has time evolved since then! I love the freedom of owning my own business, I love the many challenges I face daily, I love overcoming these and making a difference not only to people’s skin, but to people’s lives,” says Cassandra. 
 
Since opening, envy™ has continued to grow. 2006 saw yet another extension to envy™ with the addition of a second storey to the Randwick premises, and there are plans for more to come. As the mother of two young boys, this growth is no small task, but it is something that she continues to dedicate herself to.

“The salon has grown dramatically as have I,” says Cassandra. “We have remained true to what we based ourselves on, keeping ourselves boutique unlike many businesses that opt for the fast food chain of beauty. I believe in providing my clients with good old fashioned customer care, and amazing treatments in a relaxing environment that is a secret haven from this hectic world – something everyone needs on a regular basis!” 

Indeed, envy™ has twice been a finalist in the Randwick small business awards, and has held the honour of being a dermalogica platinum salon in both 2003 and 2006. Typically modest, Cassandra attributes these decorations to her team.

“Without them, there is no envy™,” says Cassandra of her team. “You can’t teach people personality; you can’t teach people to care. You either have it or you don’t. This is why it’s so important to build a strong team around you; a team that is more than capable of, and willing to, deliver the envy experience.”  

With such a small team, it’s essential that Cassandra gets the mix just right. She believes in a ‘friend first’ approach, and as such, envy prides itself on one of the lowest turnover of staff.  

“I love my job, and I know they love theirs as well,” says Cassandra.