The woman behind Cheltenham's beautyfi

Zhara Simpson
Apr 2, 2020
3 min read

'It has always been my dream to own my own beauty salon... I even used to paint my dog's nails.' Sometimes life gets in the way, we lose ourselves and what we once dreamt of becomes a distant memory. Shellie, 46 is a mother of three beautiful children and throughout her life settled to work for other beauty companies, but not losing vision of what she's always wanted since she was just a little girl.

Her childhood friends were her guinea pigs growing up and fortunately being her creative and careful self, she never let them leave her bedroom salon unhappy- just like her customers now. In her late thirties she 'plucked up the courage to go in it alone' and stumbled upon her small business, Beautyfi.

'I grew up practising beauty treatments painting nails, doing make-up and cutting hair on my childhood friends...so my passion and intent started early on.' You know the phrase 'practice makes perfect' that is just what she did. The difference is sometimes it can get tedious for us- but for Shellie, it only got more exciting and now- you know just how much she loves running her salon.

She put her magic touch into what was just an empty shop tucked away and transformed it into her own. 'I achieved my long-awaited dream' and invited her first customer through the doors in 2015. She says it was 'quite a risk as a single parent' but gosh, hasn't it paid off? If you have met Shellie, you will know her friendly presence and beaming smile when she welcomes you into her parlour.

Being a single parent is difficult and she was scared to take that leap of faith being a mother to three. When I have spoken to her in the past (while shes perfecting my messy eyebrows) she always says that she never will push her kids into something they don't want to do- only pursue what they love and 'brings you happiness.'

The lifelong dream has been her new reality for the past five years.

She does everything alone which is rare to see in such a busy beauty salon and she does it so well. That's what separates beautyfi from any other salon that you have been to, the momentum and atmosphere never shift in spite of how busy she is or exhausted she feels. She closes the doors at five and goes home to be a mum and still balances a social life too.

'Being a beauty therapist is such a rewarding career and my favourite part is bringing a smile to peoples faces after I have finished their treatment.'

Shellie is a creative soul and before she has even picked up her tweezers she can 'already see the shape' of the customer's eyebrows. And like when she had her guinea pigs, I mean childhood friend's she won't let them leave unless they are happy. 'The age range is extensive as my eldest customer is 84!' which says it all really.

Even when she talks about the customers that she 'transforms' whether its nails or beauty treatments her smile is permanent, in fact, it's contagious.

'i love that we look after our appearance even at that grand age' and chat to so many people every day in her career. Being able to work and talk is such talent without getting distracted or messing up but because of all the experience, while keeping the adoration, it has become her second nature. I bet her daughter's loved having the free treatments growing up!

All the way through treatment she will keep a conversation to avoid that awkward silence that all of us, I'm sure have experienced. Her job is interesting due to the variety of customers and how many stories she has heard while they've been in her chair (I'm sure like any customer-facing job) yet I bet she's heard the most! A day at work for her is just full of shared laughs between herself and the clients.

'How many people can say they love going to work? I feel so fortunate to get paid for something which started as a hobby.' I bet her pet dog loved getting pampered and showing his nails off when she was growing up. beautyfi is a homely beauty salon which started out as a childhood dream and became Shellie's perfect word.