HEARTBREAK SPURRED WHITNEY ON TO SUCCESS
AN AWARD-WINNING entrepreneur who started her business aged 17 from her parents’ spare room said she is driven to succeed by pain after her mum and dad were both diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Whitney Dudley, from Merthyr Tydfil, said she hopes sharing her story will encourage others to not give up on their dreams even after heartbreak.
The 22-year-old said she started doing make-up at her home in Gurnos while she was studying for her A-levels.
She said: “I was in college at the time and doing art and design at Merthyr College as part of my A-levels.
“I got into make-up because art was my favourite subject. My mam got diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and for a young girl at 17 I wasn’t coping. I used art as an outlet as it was my way to express everything I was feeling. I then went into body painting and through that I found make-up and make-up became my release. I was lucky that my parents let me do it.”
Following her A-levels, Whitney got in to Arts University Bournemouth where she hoped to qualify in make-up artistry.
She said: “I had my heart set on Arts University Bournemouth and I got in despite being in such a bad place mentally. I stayed there six months. Meanwhile my mam was in and out of hospital really ill. Alcohol became a coping mechanism and one night I had a wake-up call and thought: ‘I can’t keep doing this.’ So I went home and left university in early 2020.”
Before lockdown happened in 2020 Whitney used the last of her savings to qualify as a make-up artist in Manchester before working from her parents’ spare room again.
“As I got busier and busier I thought: ‘I could take this to a salon.’
“I opened up my business, Whitney Dudley Makeup, in December 2021 on High Street in Merthyr Tydfil town. I saved £10,000 to open the salon. I opened it literally from nothing and my parents were so proud. Everything was going so well for me – it was absolutely a dream come true. I kept questioning why it was going so well and then last year it all came crashing back down.”
In April her dad, Alan, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Whitney said 2022 was one of the best and worst years of her life. She said she put lots of hours into her business so she could afford to give her parents the life they deserved. It meant she worked with celebrities and bagged herself a prestigious national make-up award. But more heartache was to come.
She said: “I was pushing my business and worked with celebrities including Chloe Ferry and Lateysha Grace.
“I opened an academy at the age of 21 to empower women and inspire women. I educate them and give them qualifications so they can start their own careers. I offer two fast-track courses and it’s an alternative to going to college.
“I was doing really well but then on October 5, 2022, my dad died.”
Whitney said she was in so much pain following her dad’s death that she didn’t think she would be able to
carry on with her despite her success.
“I don’t think I will ever be over it,” she said. “My mam and dad were and are literally my best friends and the reason why I do everything I do is because of them.”
She said the reason why she managed to carry on was because of her drive to make her parents proud. She believes her dad is still guiding her to achieve her dreams as he did during his life.
She said: “I business believe everything that happens to me now is because of my dad. One day I asked him for a sign while I was really struggling and I got home that day to an email from the National Beauty Awards to say I was a finalist. I thought: ‘What are the odds of this happening to a little girl from Merthyr Tydfil?’”
Whitney said she went to the awards at the Hilton Hotel in Liverpool last month where it was announced she had won. She said it was a “bittersweet” moment as it gave her the confidence she needed to carry on with Whitney Dudley Makeup but she wished her dad was there to see it.
She said: “Winning that award gave me the confidence to come back to work because I didn’t think I would be able to. Now I am better business-wise than ever. I contacted the company afterwards saying thank you because they really did make my dream come true... I’d been lost and looking for a purpose and I feel like my dad is guiding me along the way.”