The tanning sensation sweeping across the world – read Rosie’s inspiring story to success in her own words.
I never realised tanning was my obsession, in all honesty, I don’t think I realised how much it meant to me until I saw how much happiness it gave to others.
Rose & Caramel started in my kitchen back in 2010. At 22 I started my first business, a sunbed shop which was the end terrace on a busy street in Halliwell, Bolton.
The entire shop was the bottom half of the house, I squeezed in 3 sunbeds, a tiny beauty room, 2 nail desks and the smallest spray tan room you’d ever seen, I had no idea that what I’d given the smallest space to would become my whole career.
It’s surreal to say now, here’s how it all started, an old man who was a self-proclaimed medical herbalist would visit the salon and drop off sunbed creams he had made, his loneliness was his real reason for his visits and for that I gave him my time and within that time, I began to become inspired by his knowledge.
I asked him if he could create for me my own tan solution, but at 83 he came back at me with a business proposition for him to train me in all his cosmetic knowledge and for a direct link to all his suppliers – for quite a substantial fee! Everyone thought I was crazy, he only supplied a few creams to 12 shops, but I believe knowledge is power and knew that his knowledge would be everything I needed to build on something I loved.
So I scraped the money together to pay him and began training immediately. The training was held in his dingy kitchen once a week. He was the proud owner of a blind dog with three legs and a house that hit you with the most peculiar smell from the minute the door opened, but I took in every single word he had to say.
Since that day Rose & Caramel has launched 3 world-first products, won several global beauty awards, worked closely with a wide variety of celebrities and sell our products globally through retail giants Pretty Little Things, Amazon Worldwide, Beauty Bridge & our own website www.roseandcaramel.co.uk
Covering our customers in confidence is now the sole focus of the business, ensuring that everyone who uses our products is confident, happy and feels the best version of themselves because it really is something as small as a tan that can make you feel that little bit healthier, love your new outfit that little bit more and make your smile that little bit wider.
I believe when you feel good on the inside you truly glow and what my tanning obsession has shown me globally is that no matter what we look like on the outside, our insecurities on the inside are all the same.
I’m really fortunate to now be able to share my journey with you in my new monthly column with Revive.
Don’t worry, I’m not just going to write about tan – I’m passionate about all things from business to real life and each month I’ll be delving deep into a variety of topics with a female edge… and I’d also love to hear what you readers would enjoy being reading about too!
