I didn’t think I’d be good at anything
I was diagnosed with dyslexia as a young child. Growing up, I didn’t have the confidence to believe I’d get a job I loved, let alone run a business.
Then, in high school, I fell in love with acrylic nails. I asked my nail technician where she learned, and booked in for a course the very next day.
I worked at Target during the day and learned nails at night school. It turned out I was good at it. I went on to get my beauty qualifications and started working in salons.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re not “business material”, I want you to know: neither did I.
Scared, and doing it anyway
A few salons in, I knew something didn’t feel right about the way they were run. So at 21, I rented my own space in a hairdressing salon. I was petrified. I also loved it.
Not long after, the owner offered to sell me the business. My husband (we had only just met) sat down with me, showed me the numbers and encouraged me to go for it. So we did.
The first thing I did was hire a staff member. I had no idea what I was doing, and that first hire wasn’t the right fit. But I tried, I learned, and I kept going.
Over the years we grew the team, bought the salon next door, moved to bigger premises at half the rent and added skincare. The biggest lesson? It’s people who grow a business. I didn’t have to know everything myself.
The day I started thinking like a CEO
When I fell pregnant with my first child, a client told me I wouldn’t be able to run the business and have a baby. I went home and cried.
Running a salon while learning how to be a mum was one of the most overwhelming times of my life. Then my husband said something that changed everything: “You need to start thinking like the CEO of this business.”
That one sentence flipped a switch. I started shaping a business and a life that supported my goals instead of draining me. That’s where the Beauty CEO Method came from, built on profit, peace and purpose.
I had all three of my children while running that salon. By the end, I was working three to five hours a week while my team ran the day-to-day. After 17 years, I sold it. I talk about why in episode 21.
Rest, then a smaller dream
After the sale and the birth of my third child, I needed rest. So for a few years, I enjoyed a slower life with my family.
Then an idea started to grow: a small studio closer to home, with the services I love and clients who wanted something better. I couldn’t find the right space until I found a company that builds home pods. After 11 months of planning, waiting and building, my home studio opened in north-east Adelaide. It was booked out within 30 days.
This time I built the business around my family, not the other way around. My husband works shifts, so the business had to fit the hours we actually have.
That little studio also carried us through a hard season. It let me support and care for my children when they needed me, and it brought me back to God. I share that story in episode 38.
ADHD, dyslexia, and why I keep things simple
I was diagnosed with ADHD at 39, and suddenly so much of my life made sense. Add dyslexia, and you can probably guess why I love a simple system.
Today I’d call it a strength. It’s why everything I teach is built on simple systems and automation, and why I stopped copying how everyone else does it. Episode 37 is all about it.
Along the way
I wasn’t trying to become a multi-millionaire. I was trying to build a life with more freedom.
Along the way, I built:
- A multi-six-figure beauty business
- An education career to support the next generation
- A community of more than 1,000 beauty business owners
All while raising three young children, living with ADHD and dyslexia, and learning how to be a boss.
None of it happened because I became someone else. It happened because I knew I could learn, pivot and take a chance on myself. Then I changed it up again and went out to build something just for me.
A few things you might not know about me
- My mornings start with a coffee with my husband, sun on my face and bare feet on the grass, with worship music in my ears. It’s how I reset before the world gets loud.
- I love a colourful Pinterest board, but my own space is calm, clean and clutter-free. (It’s easier to clean, too.)
- I spiral… and then I solve. I might have a moment, but I always pull it together, look for the lesson and find the fix.
- I’m proof that messy beginnings can lead to magic.
What I do now
Now I help other women believe in themselves and build businesses that fit around their skills, lives and goals, so they can create more freedom, more impact and more income without losing themselves in the process.
I teach nail techs through The Gel Bottle Academy, host the podcast and coach beauty business owners one-to-one. I’m winding down my own client book so I can spend more of my time teaching, including online courses.
If you see yourself somewhere in this story (the fear, the juggling, the business that’s grown bigger than your life), you’re in the right place.
You might have seen me in NAILPRO, The Advertiser, GLAM Adelaide, Beauty Biz Magazine, The Profit Lovers and Sunny Storm Marketing.