Sylvía Briem

"You must not fear being a beginner"

Sylvía Briem is a creative and sincere entrepreneur who comes as she is: "Just stop me if I talk too much! I have ADHD and tend to go in circles," she says with a smile at the beginning of our conversation, setting the right tone; the chat with Sylvía covers wide ground but is always interesting and enjoyable.

Sylvía's career further shows that she is unafraid to tread untrodden paths and take on all kinds of challenges. As a child, she had a passion for acting but was advised to follow a more practical path; she studied psychology at university, learned hypnosis, became a health coach and fascia release teacher, worked for thirteen years as a Dale Carnegie instructor, and ran one of the country's most popular podcasts, Normið, with her colleague Eva Matta.

"All of these had in common that the focus was on people," says Sylvía. "For example, I really enjoyed teaching at Dale Carnegie and watching people grow and overcome themselves – perhaps because you grow yourself in the process. Then I made a U-turn a few years ago when I felt called to other projects."

With household accounts in a big red folder and cigarette smell in the car

Sylvía was born and raised in Kópavogur and has always lived there except for three years when she and Emil Þór Jóhannsson, her husband, moved to Grafarvogur after their first child was born.

"Today we have three boys," says Sylvía. "I decided that from an operational standpoint, it would be best to mass-produce the same product and focus on having boys. There are certain synergies in that."

Sylvía was very athletic and spent most of her time playing handball but didn't hesitate to try other areas: tennis, basketball, track and field, soccer. "I was just so excited and pumped up and ready for anything." This boldness and energy was likely inherited from her parents, who always had many projects in the works.

"My mom and dad had me when they were just eighteen," says Sylvía. "So I got to experience various trials of my parents, who were essentially growing up while raising me. In the early years, they didn't have much, but they were always incredibly hardworking and gradually built up more financial security for our family."

"Dad tried various businesses and was involved in establishing Friday's in Smáralind. Some ventures succeeded, others didn't. Mom and he would often pore over the household accounts, kept in a large red folder, and sometimes they had to cut back; I remember, for instance, when mom sold her car and bought a cheaper one that had a disgusting cigarette smell. I also remember when mom called the newspapers to cancel subscriptions when we needed to save money. But they always found inspiration again and possessed great diligence and perseverance, which I've also tried to adopt."

Stubbornness and perseverance important – the glossy image is deceptive

Today, Sylvía runs the wholesale company Steindal ehf., which she founded in 2019 with her husband and brothers Óttar and Ágúst Angantýsson. They are known, among other things, for introducing the drink Töst to Icelandic consumers, a non-alcoholic option that quickly became a hit. Other popular Steindal products include Red Bull and El Taco.

"In 2019, Emil lost his job when WOW went bankrupt, and then we went full force into the wholesale business, which until then had been a small side project," says Sylvía. "Some people seem to think that everything we touch turns to gold, but that's far from the truth. We've tried countless products and simply learned what works and what doesn't. Plenty hasn't worked at all. We learned after we got started. You must not fear being a beginner!"

Sylvía says that the Steindal adventure has been fun but has also often tested their limits. "I remember, for example, when I went to a meeting with a purchasing manager, with my second son, 6-7 months old, in my arms. The little one was somewhat sick and vomited forcefully on me during the meeting. I tried to keep my cool, but it wasn't easy. Then just before that same weekend, all our products sold out in the stores, and we needed to distribute again, but by then, of course, we had all caught the stomach bug. We couldn't let that stop us, though, as we were the only staff of the company, so we rushed in and out of stores with boxes, all green with nausea, vomiting in between. We have many stories like that."

Today, fourteen full-time employees work at Steindal, plus five part-time staff. If someone gets a stomach bug, they can rest at home – thankfully.

Strong community of women in Icelandic business

According to Sylvía, the wholesale industry is quite male-dominated. She actually enjoys working with all these men but admits that sometimes tragicomic and even irritating situations arise. "For example, I've often experienced going to conferences where everyone shakes my husband's hand and directs their words to him, about matters that I will be making decisions on. It's ridiculous, of course. But I'm determined, strong-willed, and persistent, and I don't let it bother me."

What have the last few years taught you?

"I think it's very important to trust your intuition, that gut feeling. Whenever I've ignored it, things have never gone well. Something in your stomach guides you in a certain direction, and you have no other rationale for it. It can be difficult to trust such a feeling, but experience tells me to do so. The subconscious is often smarter than conscious thought."

What advice would you give to women who want to take the leap and start a business?

"Learn from the people around you. Talk to others and just get started – don't fear tackling the difficult hills that first seem insurmountable. Keep going! Women in Icelandic business are also very open and helpful, especially older fountains of wisdom who are happy to let us younger ones draw from their knowledge. They want to open doors, prevent us from running into the same walls they did. Such solidarity is so valuable."

Any more words of encouragement?

"Someone once told me: If this were easy, everyone would be doing it. That's true! Starting a company isn't supposed to be easy. You need to possess great perseverance and also joy, passion. It's a bit of a cliché – but without joy, you'll just become exhausted and burn out."