Budding lawyer chooses to follow her dreams and open her own beauty salon

However, instead of buying her first house, Lauren decided to invest all her £10,000 savings into her own beauty business, and she says she hasn’t looked back.

Amazingly Lauren, from Waterlooville, also completed a law degree at the University of Portsmouth while saving – finishing it before turning her back on her law career and opening a salon instead.

Her love of all things beauty started at university when she took an interest in nail art.

The 23-year-old said: ‘I thought it looked really easy but I soon learned that nails are not easy at all. I began working at them and that's when I realised I loved it and that I didn’t want to do law anymore.

‘Beauty is so much more fun.’

Lauren started doing mobile treatments when she finished uni in April, but by June she had decided to take the plunge.

‘I was still living at home with my parents, saving for a house when I made a tongue in cheek comment about wanting to have my own salon,’ she said.

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‘A few days later the balloon shop came up for sale around the corner and my mum called me and said I should take a look.

‘When I did, it looked like it should be a salon. When we got it, there was a lot to do – the walls had to be repainted and floors had to be replaced, it was a lot of hard work, but it was the best thing that I have ever done.’

Lauren’s salon Beauty by Lauren-Ann, in Mill Road, opened in 2018 and it provides a range of services, including manicures and pedicures, lashes, spray tans, ear piercing, facials, waxing, botox, make up and more.

However, it’s not all been easy as the business was forced to close due to coronavirus restrictions - a devastating blow for Lauren and the other six girls who work from the salon on a self-employed basis.

Lauren said: ‘We had to shut for about four months. It was hard but we kept ourselves busy.’

Lauren and her team started doing bespoke nails that their customers could glue on at home - and the idea became so popular that they ended up sending their designs across the country.

They were also undergoing a refurbishment, installing a pedicure bar, when they received the news that they could reopen, and given just 48 hours notice.

Lauren said: ‘It was such a rush, we were calling all our clients. All my friends and family had to pitch in. It was all hands on deck but we are so glad to be back open again.’

Now Lauren hopes to set up a training academy at the salon, so she can help others break into the beauty industry.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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