For Alex, there was a beauty industry full circle moment at this year’s IIAA (International Institute for Active Ageing) Salon of the Year Awards, where she delivered the final speech of the day as the previous year’s Therapist of the Year.

Now in its sixth year, the awards brings together more than 150 skincare professionals from across the UK and Ireland to celebrate their achievements and the outstanding results they deliver for clients.

For Alex, whose career began with Saturday visits to her mum’s hair salon in the North East of England, the occasion was a chance to reflect on how far she has come – and the unconventional route she took to get there.

Her story highlights the breadth of opportunities available within the beauty industry and the importance of challenging outdated perceptions of beauty as a career. From specialist treatment and skincare expertise to entrepreneurship, education and business ownership, the sector offers diverse pathways for those looking to build a rewarding career.

Finding her place in beauty

After completing her A Levels, Alex found herself struggling with the structure and pressure of traditional academic routes, despite having always performed well at school. While University had been the expected next step, she knew instinctively that it was unlikely to be the environment in which she would thrive.

Beauty, however, had always felt familiar.

Her mum is a hairdresser, and Alex remembers spending Saturdays in the salon, chatting to clients and helping wherever she could. The environment immediately appealed to her.

“I loved the salon environment,” she says. “I had a bit of pushback from my parents initially, but I knew that working in a salon, in some capacity, was where I belonged.”

That decision came with its own challenges. Having attended a private school, Alex recalls feeling that beauty therapy was not necessarily viewed as a conventional or ambitious career path. Years later, when she attended a school reunion and told a former teacher she was studying beauty therapy, the reaction left her feeling as though she had somehow failed.

Looking back, however, she believes those perceptions ultimately strengthened her determination.

“I think I’ve overcome that stigma by simply ignoring people like that and building my own confidence,” she says. “I’ve always had an almost irrational belief that things will work out if I’m willing to put the work in.”

Learning that success doesn’t happen overnight

Alex became self-employed at just 20, working from her mum’s salon after leaving college. Like many new therapists, she initially assumed that clients would quickly find her and that building a fully booked business would happen almost overnight.

It didn’t.

Instead, she learned one of the most important lessons of her career: building a loyal client base takes time, consistency and a willingness to put yourself out there. “I quickly realised I’d have to market myself consistently and accept that building a loyal client base takes years,” she explains. “It’s still one of the biggest lessons I share with younger therapists.”

That entrepreneurial mindset has remained central to Alex’s career. Around six years into the industry, she decided she wanted to take her business in a new direction and specialise in skincare.

Having previously used Advanced Nutrition Programme supplements herself while struggling with acne, she initially contacted the company with the intention of stocking its products. This led her to the wider IIAA network and Environ, which would ultimately become pivotal to the development of her business.

She was immediately impressed by the results she saw from Environ, but there was a problem: the training she needed to complete required five days away from home, something that wasn’t practical while she was pregnant with her second son.

Then the pandemic changed the situation.

When training moved online during lockdown, Alex seized the opportunity. She spent five days studying from home with her baby asleep in his pram beside her.

“I took out a Bounce Back Loan and invested every penny into Environ, Advanced Nutrition Programme and a Dermalux device,” she says. “It was a huge leap of faith, but it completely transformed my business and changed the trajectory of my career.”

Taking a risk on a new town

Perhaps one of the biggest risks Alex took came almost three years ago, when she decided to move her business to an entirely new town. She had become increasingly certain that skincare was the direction she wanted to pursue, but felt there wasn’t a sufficiently strong market for it where she was based.

Convincing her mum and sister, who were working with her at the time, to make the move was a major decision. Initially, she lost a significant number of clients. But within six months, she had overhauled her social media presence, entered an industry award – and won.

From there, the skincare side of the business began to grow rapidly. Alex eventually moved into a larger clinic and made the decision to stop offering nails and lashes, focusing her business entirely on skin health.

Her success has since been recognised through multiple industry awards, something she is particularly proud of as a therapist based in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in England.

For Alex, her location has become part of the message she wants to champion. “There’s sometimes a mentality that people in the North can’t compete with those in the South, but we absolutely can,” she says. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, anyone can achieve their dreams.”

The importance of community

Alongside business growth, Alex says the relationships she has built within the industry have been fundamental to her success. She credits Corinna Tolan, of Monica Tolan The Skin Care Experts, as a particularly important influence, describing her as an “incredible advocate” for skin therapists. Her involvement with IIAA has also introduced her to a network of women who have become close friends and a source of support throughout her career.

“Beauty can sometimes feel like quite a lonely profession,” Alex says. “But these women have become my support system. If I’m doubting myself or struggling with something, one of them will always pick me up – and I’d do exactly the same for them.”

Community and connection were also key themes throughout this year’s IIAA Salon of the Year Awards. DonnaMarie McGrillen, owner of Vermilion Clinic, highlighted the role of community engagement and networking in growing a successful business, sharing how events and meaningful connections with clients had helped strengthen her own business.

Corinna Tolan similarly spoke about the transformative impact of social media, emphasising the importance of consistently showcasing treatments, celebrating client results and creating authentic content to build awareness and attract new customers.

For Alex, both lessons resonate strongly with her own experience.

Trust your instincts – and find your niche

If she could go back to the beginning of her career, Alex says one of the biggest things she would change is how much she worried about other people’s opinions.

She points to her early decision to focus on Instagram for her business at a time when many people were still using Facebook as an example of why trusting your instincts matters. “I was told to stick to Facebook because hardly anyone used Instagram. Just look at Instagram now!” she says.

Her advice to the next generation of beauty professionals is to identify what they genuinely enjoy and become known for it. “Find something you’re genuinely passionate about, whether that’s nails, lashes, waxing or facials, and give it everything you’ve got,” she says. “Never stop educating yourself, become known for what you do, and don’t be afraid to get your face all over social media.” She also stresses the importance of boundaries – something she admits she is still learning herself.

From enforcing a strict cancellation policy to being clear about when she can and cannot offer advice, Alex believes protecting your time is essential to building a sustainable career.

But perhaps her strongest message is about individuality. “The best thing you can do is stop trying to look like everyone else,” she says. “Your personality is your biggest USP. Treatments can be copied. Prices can be undercut. But nobody else can be you.”

For someone who once felt embarrassed about choosing beauty therapy over a more traditional career path, Alex’s journey is a powerful example of how far the profession can take those willing to invest in themselves.

And as she accepted the opportunity to address her peers at the IIAA Salon of the Year Awards, her story offered a fitting reminder that success in beauty isn’t defined by where you start – or what other people think you should do – but by the confidence to build a career on your own terms.

The British Beauty Council’s Education Pillar aims to showcase the breadth of careers available across the beauty industry while creating greater access to education, work experience and industry-led opportunities for the next generation. By sharing the experiences of professionals like Alex, we can help young people see where a career in beauty can lead – and the many different routes they can take to get there.