Laura Hargreaves, a local beauty therapist, shares her experience of setting up her business Touch Beauty Therapy, the lessons she’s learnt and explains why it’s so important to stay true to yourself when you’re your own boss.

I was lucky enough to know at 15 that I wanted to study beauty therapy. But little did I know then what an adventure (and journey) it would take me on.

As I hit the recent 30-year mark of my business, I started to reflect on how far I’ve come and how I got here. And as I saw my eldest daughter embark on her own career and my youngest daughter start to consider hers, it got me thinking about how important it is to share our success stories, insights we’ve gained, and be open about how hard it can be, but how satisfying too. How things change in industries, and how we have to learn to roll with it. An important lesson, I think, especially in a world where everything seems to be constantly changing.

There is a lot I’ve learnt during my career, and it’s not just the practical things I’ve learnt about that have served me well (though they’re important too) but the more abstract things: my purpose in work, how my beliefs and passions fit into what I do, and how I always try to see the bigger picture, to play the long game.

It’s these lessons I want to share here, and I hope they give inspiration to anyone out there looking to set up their own business. It’s hard work, absolutely, but I can’t stress how incredibly rewarding it is too.

PLAYING THE LONG GAME

Once I knew I wanted to study beauty therapy, I went all in. That’s just the type of person I am, always have been, even at the tender age of 15. I wanted to do everything I could to make it happen, to absorb as much as I could about how to set up a business and make it on my own.

I started with a part time job in the local hair salon in Grassington, your typical ‘Saturday and school holidays’ job. Even though I didn’t want to be a hairdresser, I knew the client care experience I would gain would be invaluable. Plus, the owner – a previous beauty therapist herself – offered me her current stock room to use in my future business once I had qualified. In fact, it was her complete faith in me that that gave me the confidence to know I could run my own business.

Recognising the benefits of practical experience drove me to collect jobs like a magpie collects trinkets. I continued working at the hairdressers whilst studying at college, and whilst also taking on work experience at a local beauty salon. The latter was not a walk in the park, believe me. They worked to incredibly high standards and I’d often come home in tears. But they (rightly) said ‘We know we’re strict. But if you fail, we fail’. And it paid off. I’m known now for my professionalism, especially when it comes to cleanliness and hygiene, and I know that’s thanks to that experience.

And so I continued building (and building) my experience. I received funding and valuable training through the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme; I was also asked to run a Personality and Appearance course at Skipton Girls high school for the Duke of Edinburgh students (a topic I want to explore further, but more on that later); I took on even more part-time jobs to give me extra income – anything to help me gradually increase my equipment alongside my own business. And, eventually, over time I was able to gradually decrease the part-time jobs. Overall, it took years of juggling work and distance learning, and making sacrifices to ensure I could support myself full time in this industry that I loved.

But it wasn’t wasted time, as throughout those years, not only was I gaining experience and knowledge, but I was steadily building a loyal client base and developing a positive reputation. This meant that other business started reaching out to me for support, including incredible establishments like the Devonshire Arms, who wanted me to help at their newly-opened spa. In fact, that was such a success that I eventually bought a cottage nearby Bolton Abbey and moved my business to the spa full time.

I was there for five years. But things changed, life changed and I had to adapt. By this time, I had a young daughter and so I decided to set up at home so I could more easily balance my work and life.

And that’s how I run my business. I adapt when I need to. I adapted again when my second daughter arrived, and I needed the spare room back. Keeping an eye on the bigger picture in this way has allowed me to take stock of how my business should go and work on maintaining that delicate balance of what needs be right for me as well as for my business.

HAVING A PURPOSE

Yes, willing to adapt to what life throws at you is essential to growing your own business. But there are other reasons to adapt too, and for me that was the constantly evolving beauty industry I found myself in. And over these past 30 years, I have seen some significant and fascinating shifts and it was through the navigation of these changes that I realised what I loved about the industry, what I felt my purpose was in it.

Take my client base as an example. To begin with, my clients were all women, and they thought beauty therapy was something for holidays and special occasions. But during the 1990s, not only did a unisex client-base started to develop, but people started recognising that beauty therapy could be a way of relaxing and making them feel like themselves again.

Moving to the present, we’ve seen that desire grow even more. In the more clinical world of the pandemic, where we lacked human touch, we felt lonely, we craved comfort. Connection. We wanted to feel like ourselves again. And that is my driving force as a beauty therapist. A purpose. A reason I love it.

But, believe me, it hasn’t always been apparent. There have been times when it hasn’t been clear, when I’ve doubted my purpose, when I didn’t realise how much I offered.

I remember whilst on maternity leave with my eldest daughter, I had the time to assess my thoughts. My mum and I would talk a lot during this time and one day I told her that I didn’t feel like I was doing enough in my work, that I wanted to offer more, facilitate life changes, dynamic changes, change the world even! My mum stepped in and said something that has really stuck with me. “But don’t you see,” she said, “that’s what you’re already doing. Years ago, I was in hospital having had you, and the family doctor came round to check in. I was applying some lipstick when he arrived and he said to me ‘that is what you need right now, to feel like you again’ and that is what you do with your work, you make people feel themselves again.”

We sometimes need reminders like that, ones that put us back on track. Don’t get me wrong, being your own boss is incredibly liberating, it gives you the freedom to create a business that is exactly what you want it to be. But, when you’re self-employed, you need reminders like that which my mum gave me, you need to remember why you’ve chosen that job in the first place, what it is you’re hoping to achieve. For me anyway, knowing this is incredibly important. I want to be fulfilled by my job, valued, appreciated. It’s essential for oneself.

But, at the same time, you have to stay current, you have to change – even if you’re not ready. But as long as you find a way to do this, whilst still staying true to yourself, then you’re on the right path. And that is exactly what I’ve strived to do, and continue to do.

REFLECTING MY BELIEFS

My business is clearly a huge part of my identity and it’s been important that it reflects my beliefs. Two topics I feel very strongly about are animal rights and equality – areas that don’t always get the best treatment in this business – so I made it a mission to make sure that all the products and skincare ranges I use would reflect those. I never buy into trends for trends sakes, I make sure that all changes to my business are backed up by extensive research and thought.

Another of my goals as a beauty therapist is for my clients to leave feeling that little bit more relaxed and confident, to feel they’ve been cared for. Their skincare is a huge part of that. And as someone who had always had issues with their skin – sensitive skin, plus acne when I was younger – it was something I wanted to specialise in.

It’s the reason that, when I was starting out in the nineties, I sought out a skincare range that really looked after your skin. For me, that was Dermalogica – at the time, a new skincare range, and it was just what I was looking for. So innovative, with its fuss-free, contamination-free, grey and white packaging. No jars or pots, no animal testing, no harmful irritants, and it was unisex. All this was unheard of back then, they were very much ahead of their time. I was determined to stock it.

It wasn’t easy though. I waited, I saved, I didn’t have a holiday for three years. But I got there, and it was worth it. This is how important it is to me that the principles of the products I use reflect those of myself. And it’s still the guiding light, even now. When I’m choosing new products, I still look for brands that are the whole package – good for us, as well as the planet. It’s why I recently started stocking the products of Eve Taylor, a wonderful role model in this industry. All her products are natural, affordable. She only uses the finest quality ingredients, which are derived from nature and science. Just what I’m looking for.

LOOKING FORWARD

And even now, 32 years in, I still love to stretch myself. I enjoy visiting secondary schools where I offer courses in self-esteem, motivation and lifestyle tips – similar to what I did many years ago at Skipton Girls High School. I feel there is definitely a gap here for high school students who are under immense pressure due to hormonal changes, peers, and of course, the mad world of social media.

I am more than happy to offer advice in relation to all things, whether that is treatments, cosmetics, even ingredients, as I’m sure we can all agree how over-facing this can seem at times.

Whilst we have all had to adjust and adapt to paperless, cashless, and the rise of technology, it’s also hugely important that we stay connected with the human “touch”. As they say, you can often forget what someone has said, but rarely do you forget how someone has made you feel. Please do get in touch!