Cannes from the sea
Cannes

Once I recovered from the shock of a private plane, I settled down a little and relaxed into the flight. There I was, chatting away to my clients as if this happens every day in my life!!

We soon touched down, by which time I felt comfortable. The limousine drove us to the marina, where we boarded a boat called My Destiny. OMG I thought a private plane was luxury, but that plane had nothing on this boat… or should I say ship!

This Ship had just been launched. It was shiny and brand new and had come from Europe. I had seen nothing like it in my life. The crew of 10 welcomed us onto the ship. I found out they all of worked there full time and they allocated me two crew members who were to look after ME for the two weeks I was on board.

My cabin was beautiful, with a huge bed, full-sized bathroom and sitting room. My job for the two weeks whilst there was to massage both Mr C and Ms G once per day at three o’clock. The rest of the time was mine.

Once settled in, I set off to explore the ship. There was the master’s suite, which was out of bounds as this is where my clients stayed. The rest of the ship was mine to use and enjoy. There were about four or five floors, the crew quarters, the guest quarters and the master quarters, along with dining rooms, an enormous library, sitting rooms and three outside sun/dinning decks. This ship also had a garage on board and in here were the toys – a speed boat (the launch), two jet skis, and many more things which I could use whilst on board. 

We left Genoa and headed off to Cannes, as Mr C has some business there. Once we arrived, we had to anchor up a mile outside the marina as our ship was far too large to moor up in any marina. For two weeks, we stayed anchored in the bay. It was stunning.

Up till then, it was unbeknown to me that Mr C had something to do with MGM studios and we were at Cannes for the film festival. The dates I cannot really remember but it was when Meryl Streep was promoting A Cry in the Dark and Sylvester Stallone was promoting one of the Rocky films. This was a very exciting time for me.

My daily routine was to get up with the crew, hop onto the launch and head of out to the French food markets. Here my love for great food was born. The crew were wonderful and taught me so much. Once back, I had breakfast and chilled out, read a book, and was invited to use the toys from the garage if I wanted. Lunch was a light snack and then my two hrs of work would begin. After that, one of the crew would take me back to the mainland where I  would do some sight-seeing and chilling. Back on the ship, I ate with my clients every night and the stories that they shared were out of this world. It was at one of these evenings that I was told of a party that my clients were going to host on Saturday night, what fun I thought until I realised that this would not be like any party I had ever been to before. It was to be filled with A-list Hollywood stars and Meryl Streep and Silvester Stallone where the main guests, along with many more famous people and ME (Gulp)… !

How in heaven’s name did I get to be in the middle of a Hollywood Party floating in the Med on this wonderful ship! Completely out of my comfort zone, sipping champagne in the corner watching the world go by.

As you can imagine, my two weeks flew by, but what an experience. It’s one I shall never forget until my dying day, Life is so funny sometimes. You really have to go with the flow and see where you end up.

Most young people leave home and go to university and make friends for life. Instead, I left home and moved to London to start work. I have so many stories of that time and met many amazing people who are still friends now.  So, to continue the journey of how I became the waxing specialist I am today, we go back to London in the 80s.

Whilst studying as a therapist In London, I had many jobs. One was part -time in an accounts office in Belgravia, working for an amazing man called Paddy Barthrop. He ran a chauffeur company and often hosted many a fun party, inviting lots of the Westend concierges.

These parties not only turned out a great networking event for the chauffeur company but also for me as an up and coming ‘alternative therapist’. And this is how I got to work in some amazing five-star hotels, with some extremely famous clients.

The chauffeurs knew me well and, once qualified and insured, these wonderful people encouraged me to print cards and started recommending my services.

I handed cards out to all and sundry and my pager started to bleep – yes, that makes me sound old – it was before mobile phones!

I also got a few shifts a week in a wonderful health club called St James’s, right next door to Berry Bross if anybody knows that, it’s where my love for good quality champagne comes from… But I digress! I have such wonderful memories, and made some lifelong friends. It was the start of a life journey that has been, to say the least, adventurous and delightful. 

One particular funny and embarrassing story I want to share is almost unbelievable.

One day my pager bleeped. It was one hotel letting me know that there was an American couple wanting a massage.

I arrived at the hotel as I always did, in my ancient Mini, which always made the concierges laugh when parking it for me alongside the Rolls Royces.

I met with my clients and before long I had them feeling relaxed and stress free. They were so happy with my service; they asked me back the next day and then for the rest of the week.

The next thing I knew, they were asking me to join them on a trip to Cannes for the film festival. They were planning to spend two weeks on a yacht in Monte Carlo.

I did not hesitate – this was a glorious adventure and one I would not say no to!

They arranged for me to meet them at the hotel with my massage bed and suitcase, and this is where the embarrassment starts.

Being a young lady with not a lot to my name, I had gone off to a charity shop in Kensington where I purchased a few items of clothing, including some jumpsuits – it was the 80’s!

I arrived feeling bloody gorgeous in a bright orange one…. yes bright orange! My female client took one look at me and nearly fainted. How was I supposed to know that this was what American prisoners wore?

This oversite actually benefited me, as she immediately had a word with her chauffeur, gave him some money and asked him to take me down Bond Street to kit me out appropriately for a two-week trip away in Cannes. I honestly couldn’t believe the generosity of these clients. 

The shopping trip delayed me slightly. My clients had already gone on ahead of me with another chauffeur, so they instructed mine to follow once we were done,

We drove to Elstree Aerodrome, went through customs and drove up to a private plane. At this point, I am not really aware of what’s going on. On arrival at the plane, I picked up my handbag, as did the chauffeur, which turned into a little tug of war between us. I didn’t want my handbag going into the hold. Eventually he reassured me that all my belongings were being taken to my private cabin!!! What!?

OK, I am now realising this would not be your average plane trip! I walked up the steps and into a sitting room and was shown to my cabin, which comprised a small sitting room, a bedroom and a bathroom…. all for me! I was in another world.

My clients were sitting in the main saloon. Mr C was looking at me with delight, as he could see the wonder in my eyes. The hostess then asked me to buckle up for takeoff and offered me a drink. I felt so completely out of my comfort zone. I regressed into childlike mode and said yes please, I would like some milk! The embarrassment!

I knew right then that this was going to be a trip to remember forever.

We flew to Genoa and if you thought this private plane was something special, this was nothing compared to the private super yacht I was about to spend two weeks on.

To be continued…

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.