Behind every small business is a story and Waxing Works is no different. I have had quite a career and things have come full circle as I entered the world of waxing again.

Waxing is an intimate business, so I thought reciprocate by sharing more about what led me here.

London bound

I left home when I was very young and a little naïve. Without a care in the world, I headed to London. I wanted to explore and explore I did! The plan was I would live in London for six months. That’s what I told my mum, anyway. Little did I know back then that those six months would turn into 25 years!

My story begins in Hampstead, North London, where I had my first job as a live-in Nanny. It was a great start for me; I love kids, earned some money and had lots of free time to explore.

The 80s were a great time to be in London if you were young, free and full of life. I made a lot of new friends and one of them, who was very much into alternative medicine, opened my eyes to the power of health and healing.

The ability to help and heal others fascinated me, and I soon became qualified in a wide range of massage techniques and aromatherapy. Before I knew it, I was offering my services as an in-house therapist for the major hotels across London, including Park Lane. As you can imagine – I was having a ball – the stories I could tell!

With the money I made, I was able to save up and buy my first flat. Can you imagine that in 2022, a first-time buyer in London at 23! Things were looking great, and before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a one-bedroom flat in Dulwich, South London.

Then my life changed dramatically. The interest rates shot up from 3% to 17.5%. Not only did my mortgage payments quadruple, I was also involved in a car accident and ended up in intensive care at King’s College Hospital.

After about 12 weeks of recovery, I found I couldn’t afford my flat. I was in no fit state to drive or work as a therapist, but determined and resourceful as ever, I rented my flat out and went to live with friends. For those of you that remember The Young Ones – it was a little like that!

A change of direction

Luckily for me, I had built some good relationships with my clients who still wanted to support me. So with their support I changed direction, got myself a part-time job as a bookkeeper and developed a range of pre-blended aromatherapy oils to sell to them. The oils were in small brown bottles, and looked a little like sample bottles, not very appealing. A client advised me to think about my branding and scaling things up.

I knew very little about business back then, but I put my thinking cap on and did some research. After some hard negotiating and haggling, I raised some money and created ‘Mere and Willow’. Starting off with five different pre blended oils, I was ready to sell!

And guess what? I got my product into over 250 salons and gyms within the M25. Selfridge’s and Fenwicks even took my range! I was overjoyed! Ok, it was hard work but a huge learning curve. Two years on from the accident and I was exhibiting at a show when a distributor started showing interest in ‘Mere and Willow’. The time was right for me to sell up. I was now fit and healthy again and ready to get back to working with my clients.    

I sold Mere and Willow and with that money I set up my very first salon, in the basement of a hairdresser near St Pauls in Ludgate Square. There, another part of my life began. More about that next time.