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1.    What has been your proudest career moment?‍

Becoming Chair of BABTAC & CIBTAC – something I dreamed of when I first started out in Beauty at the age of 17! More recently though, I was beyond proud when Caroline asked me to become a Trustee of Beauty Backed Trust, it was such an honour.

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‍2.    Who has been/is your biggest mentor?

Without a doubt my mum. She inspires me every day - I have learned so much from her and continue to do so. She truly is a remarkable woman. From our industry though its got to be Estée Lauder - a woman who worked through so many challenges and built a multi-billion dollar empire and one of the true pioneers of beauty products.

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‍3.    What’s the most valuable piece of advice you have ever received?

There is no substitute for hard work - the level of success and personal fulfilment you can achieve is directly proportional to the amount of hard work and effort you put in. Follow your gut. Under promise and over deliver.. and most importantly.. never be afraid  to reach for the stars.

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4.    Which training body would you recommend for someone wanting to enter your area of the industry?

Obviously as Chair I would say CIBTAC but even if I wasn’t they would still be one of my recommendations. In fact CIBTAC Qualifications were my first choice when I started my career. However, there are a number of equally good training bodies – the important thing to remember is to chose an Awarding Organisation who’s qualifications are mapped against the National Occupational Standards (NOS) and make sure it is an actual qualification you are working toward.

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‍5.    How do you make sure you stand out from the crowd e.g. up-skilling, research, social media?‍

Exposure across all available marketing channels is obviously important, especially to attract new clients, but your greatest assets and advocates are your loyal returning clients. That is the most important component of success and can only be achieved by maintaining the highest levels of professionalism- achieved through fit for purpose qualifications and continual up-skilling to keep abreast of new technologies and innovations.

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‍6.    If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting their own business, what would it be?‍

Make sure that you not only have the correct qualifications and skill set to perform the highest level of treatments but also that you equip yourself with the skills and knowledge to run a successful business, with support in your own identified areas of weakness. Always be open to learning. One of my favourite sayings is `everyday is a school day`

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7.    What’s the best and hardest thing about your job?‍

The best is that I am so lucky to be part of such a fabulous industry and I get to work beside truly inspirational women on a daily basis…e.g. the Beauty Backed Trustees.

The hardest for me is that we are not working on a level playing field -  the fact that our industry is not regulated means that people do not legally require fit for purpose training in order to operate.

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8.    How do you switch off after a difficult day?

I’d like to say that I have the perfect solution for this but I have to admit that I find this difficult. I am very passionate about what I do and it can be a struggle but I have trained myself to compartmentalise as much as possible. It's still a work in progress! Total escapism TV like Below Deck certainly helps…

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9.    Desert island 3 course meal?‍

I love Thai food so it would need to be that...

Larb Gai..Spicy chicken salad

Spicy stir fry for main with egg fried rice

Fruit salad with lots of ripe pineapple and melon for pudding

I also love chips but not sure where that fits lol..

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10.  Which 5 people (dead or alive) would you have at your dinner party?

My dad for sure… it would be lovely to have a chat with him again...

Michele Obama

Estée Lauder

Princess Diana

Enrique Iglesias totally for the eye candy…

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