Starting her own business during the pandemic is paying off handsomely for Bishop's Stortford beauty therapist Izzy Brown.
The 20-year-old made the decision to become her own boss in order to provide an all-round beauty service to clients at her home-based studio, creating her Beauty Bliss By Izzy brand.
And despite opening during the coronavirus crisis, she is about to celebrate her first anniversary of pampering men and women with massages, manicures, pedicures, brow and lash treatments and waxing.
Izzy went to Hillmead Primary School and Birchwood High School in Stortford before getting her NVQ Level 2 qualification in beauty therapy at Cambridge Regional College.
She then combined studying for her Level 3 at the Elite School of Beauty Therapy in Stortford with working at the Varsity Hotel & Spa in Cambridge.
Izzy gained a wealth of experience at the luxury venue, but she was mainly giving massages and was keen to do more.
So, during one of the lockdowns towards the end of 2020, Izzy and mum Jenny took on the project of converting an office at their home in Oaklands Park into a new studio. They did most of the decorating themselves, with a navy blue colour scheme chosen to be warm and welcoming.
She is enjoying being busy doing something she loves, welcoming clients for treatments from 9am to 9pm seven days a week.
"I'm working from home and I find my clients like it being one to one," said Izzy, who lives at home with her mum and brothers Ollie, 22, and Josh, 19.
"I don't rush my treatments and take time to make sure my clients are comfortable, relaxed and enjoying their treatment.
"Everyone says it's relaxing when they come into the studio and I like to make it as welcoming as possible, particularly for people who may not have had a massage or treatment before."
Izzy uses vegan and cruelty-free products for nails and facials, as well as always looking for those types of products for all of her other treatments.
She has a loyalty card scheme which gives clients discounts on their third, sixth and eighth treatments. And a 'refer a friend' scheme gives the referrer a 50% discount on their next treatment.
Parking is easy as her home studio is in a quiet residential street rather than in the middle of town.
"Clients can come in, have a chat and go away feeling relaxed and refreshed," said Izzy.
To find out more about Beauty Bliss By Izzy, go to www.instagram.com/beautyblissbyizzy.
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