A former McDonald's worker has found success after launching her own business in Liverpool.
Natalie, 43, worked at McDonalds as a first assistant manager before she began to question whether she should carry on what she is doing or start something completely new. At 37, she enrolled on a microblading course and she was instantly ‘hooked’.
After qualifying in microblading, she continued working at McDonalds while also carrying out microblading treatments for 18 months meaning she was working seven days a week back to back and also having three children to look after. In 2019, she decided to take the leap and pursued microblading full time and has never looked back.
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She is now the owner of Polished Brows, a five star training academy and award winning cosmetic permanent makeup clinic based in south Liverpool. It specialises in hyper realism eyebrows as well as providing training in microblading, ombré, powder, combination brows, lip blush and eyeliner treatments.
Natalie told the ECHO that for every treatment she offers at Polished Brows, she also offers full training in, explaining there are ‘different paths to take within them’. She said: “From a beginners point of view, if you just want to do microblading to start with, you can then come back at a later date to convert your skills to machine or you might want to throw yourself in at the deep end and learn every brow method there is.”
Every month, Natalie runs and teaches courses herself at Polished Brows. She added: “It's not easy at all, it’s very intense. There is more to the curriculum than what meets the eye than what people realise. I’ve devised a new learning platform which takes anything from four to eight weeks to complete depending on the course that you are enrolling in. Even when the classroom training is complete, it's not done there as you need ongoing support as students have case studies to do.”
Natalie went on to explain that meeting new people and job satisfaction was something she never experienced when working at McDonalds. She said: “The job satisfaction is on a whole new level. Getting your eyebrows microbladed is not an impulsive decision, it’s something clients research for a long time, look at reviews, look at photographs and then they can contact you and I might have a waiting list so it's something that they've not impulsively done.
“It's so liberating, it’s lovely. Teaching students is very empowering. It really is. I'm not just saying that. They can do what I teach them, they can be their own boss and can give themselves financial freedom.
“The reason I did it wasn't for the money, it was to have that balance in my life because I’d never had it before with having three kids and after having to put them in full time nursery, I missed so much so I wanted to do it for the balance and now I'm here for them more than ever.”
Natalie said that a testament to Polished Brows isn’t just about her, it’s about the clients as they are a huge part of the process. She added: “I don't have a trademark eyebrow shape I put on every client, I feel like the client needs to be part of the process and I feel they think they are so that's where my five star reviews come from.”
She said she doesn’t ever regret her time working at McDonalds. Natalie added: “It's that business side, it's not just about the talent and the hard work you put in, it's about attitude. You can be really talented but if you're not going to put that hard work in, then your attitude is not right and you're not going to make success of it. I do believe in business acumen in any industry. It sets you apart from the rest when the industry is so saturated as well.”
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