Mums give up jobs in nursing for bath bombs and beauty
A MUM has told how she and her best friend traded in their careers in nursing to launch their own beauty business.
Cassie Middleton, 33, from Hatton, was part-way through her nursing degree when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The mother of two decided that the stress of having both her children out of school during lockdown and trying to complete a degree was too much.
So she dropped out of her degree and decided to launch her own business Unique Scentsations.
She said: “I started the company on 1 July 2020 and I was doing my nursing degree and then Covid hit, and the kids were off school and it was just stressful and I couldn’t cope with it.
“I decided to put it on hold and to start my own business. I’ve done networking in the past and knew that I would have loved to have a business in that industry.
“We started off just bath bombs and wax, and then in November, we launched our rep programme so the reps promote the products for us and they get a commission.
“We were so busy at Christmas that my best friend Alyssa came over after work to help me with painting and packing, anything we could do to get the orders out.”
Unique Scentsations specialises in bath bombs and other beauty products, including bath melts and wax melts.
Upon seeing the success of the business, Alyssa Simpson, 34, from Hilton, decided to buy into her best friend’s company and also left her job as a nurse.
Both women, who have known each other for more than a decade, decided to make the business their full-time jobs, and have seen great levels of success.
Cassie added: “I think Alyssa secretly quite liked the work because it was so different from a busy hospital ward.
“We discussed about her coming on board and in January she bought into the business and left her nursing job to work full-time for the business.
“We moved into Alyssa’s garage in December, and it’s just got busier and busier. We’ve got a massive range of bath products and skincare products, soaps, and we’re now looking for somewhere to extend into further for the business.”
In the run-up to Christmas, Cassie expects the next month to be busy. But she says that the pair now know how to cope with the busier times and balance the workload with their families.
And given their success, Cassie currently has no plans to return to her nursing career.
“Obviously with Christmas we’re working super flat-out, but that’s what you do for your own business,” she said. “We make everything ourselves, we don’t buy anything, everything is hand-made.
“I definitely wouldn’t go back to nursing. I do look now and the girls are just finishing their three years, so if I stuck by it, I would have just finished.
“But I think it’s such an uncertain time for the NHS and I loved the complete change in direction.”
Covid hit, the kids were off school and it was just stressful and I couldn’t cope with it.
Cassie Middleton