From Standing at the Start Line to Running Her Own Race: Anna's 6 Week Mentoring Story
When Anna first came to me, she was on maternity leave with two young children, a full time job waiting for her at the end of her leave, and a nail business that had a handful of clients but nothing really holding it together.
No structure. No system. No clear direction.
She knew what she wanted.
To build something real.
Something that could actually support her family so that going back to her full time job at the end of maternity leave became a choice rather than a necessity.
But knowing what you want and knowing how to get there are two very different things.
This is Anna's story...
Before the Mentoring:
Anna came into the programme with a very honest awareness of where she was. In her own words:
"I had a handful of clients but honestly that was about it. There was no real structure, no proper system, no clear direction. I was doing nails but I wouldn't have called it a business, not properly."
She was also carrying something that I hear from almost every mum who considers working with me.
The quiet fear that the timing was wrong, that she wasn't ready & that investing in support before she was fully up and running might not make sense.
And underneath all of that was a fear she had not said out loud to anyone.
"I worried about being judged. Like, what if I ask something really basic and embarrass myself?"
If you have ever felt that way, you are not alone! It is one of the most common things that stops talented, capable women from getting the support they actually need.
The First Shift:
One of the most significant turning points in Anna's mentoring came not from a strategy or a system, but from a moment of realisation.
She had been searching for her niche.
Trying to figure out what made her different, what angle to take, what words to use.
Looking for something that felt like it was hidden somewhere waiting to be discovered.
Then it clicked!
"My niche wasn't something I needed to go and find. It was something I already had. I genuinely care about the health of my clients' nails. I don't want to just do a set and send someone on their way. I want to understand where their nails are at, start them from there, and build them up properly over time."
That moment changed everything. Because once Anna could see that clearly, every other decision became easier. Her content, her messaging, her client conversations, her bookings. All of it started pointing in the same direction.
Fitting It Around Real Life:
One of the things I am most proud of about this programme is that it is built for real life. Not an idealised version of it.
Anna was on maternity leave with a new born and a four year old when we worked together, her days were unpredictable. Some of them were pure survival mode & she still built something.
This is how she described the experience of fitting it in:
"Life with little ones is unpredictable but the flexibility meant I could fit calls around nap times or evenings without it adding to the chaos. It never felt like pressure on top of everything else. If anything it became something I genuinely looked forward to. A bit of time and headspace that was just for me and my business. It made me feel like I was still moving forward even in the middle of a mad season of life."
If you have been telling yourself you will invest in your business when things calm down, I want you to hold that thought.
Because for mums of young children, calm is not always coming.
What changes is having the right support in place so that the time you do have actually counts.
What She Built in Six Weeks:
Over the course of our six weeks together, Anna built a full business foundation. Here is what she had in place by the time we finished...
A proper pricing strategy with full confidence in her numbers.
A clear niche focused on nail health and guiding clients through a proper nail journey rather than quick fixes.
A booking system and customer journey from first enquiry through to follow up and rebook.
A social media presence that genuinely reflected who she was and what she stood for.
Content going out consistently that spoke to her ideal client directly.
A Facebook group outreach strategy bringing her visibility in her local community.
A local partnership with her Walking Mums community offering her services as an exclusive perk.
An in-person event booked to take her business out into the real world.
She described it like this:
"I now have a proper booking system, my pricing and packages are sorted, I have a social media presence that actually reflects who I am and what I do, and I have content going out consistently. It finally feels like a real business with proper foundations, not just something I was winging."
The Results:
Building the foundations is one thing, seeing them work is another. And for Anna, the results started coming.
"New clients have come in through social media and through Google reviews. The fact that people are finding me, reading reviews, and actually booking in, that's not luck. That's the foundations we've put in place starting to do their job."
Her existing clients also responded to the shift in her confidence and clarity.
"They're rebooking more consistently, they're leaving Google reviews, and they're engaging with my content more too. I think when you show up with more clarity and confidence, people respond to that. They can feel that you know what you're doing and why."
And the moment that made it feel most real to her?
"When a new client booked in through social media. Someone who had never met me, found me online, read about what I do, resonated with it, and booked. That was the moment I thought this is real. This isn't just me doing nails for people I already know. This is an actual business, attracting the right people, and it's working."
The Confidence Shift:
If I had to pick one thing that moved the most across our six weeks, it would not be the systems or the strategy. It would be Anna herself!
She came in at the halfway point of her programme having quietly wondered whether mentoring was even right for her, because she did not think she knew enough about business.
She left with this:
"How much I already knew. I went in thinking I needed to be taught everything from scratch, but actually a lot of it was already in me. I just needed someone to help me see it and point it in the right direction. It stopped feeling like I was behind and started feeling like I was ready."
That shift, from feeling behind to feeling ready, is the thing I want for every single woman I work with.
What Anna Would Tell You:
If you are sitting on the fence about whether 1:1 mentoring is worth it, here is what Anna had to say:
"Do it. The one to one tailored approach is something you genuinely cannot get from a course or a YouTube video. What made it for me was being able to have completely open and honest conversations without any embarrassment. You can ask the questions you'd never put in a group chat, talk through the things that are actually holding you back, and get answers that are specific to you and your situation, not generic advice that may or may not apply."
A Final Thought:
Anna came into this programme not knowing which direction to run.
She leaves it running her own race, on her own terms, with a business that is growing week by week and a clarity about where she is heading that she did not have before.
That is what happens when you stop trying to figure it all out alone and get the right support behind you.
If you are a mum in the beauty industry who is ready to stop winging it and start building something real, I would love to help you do exactly that.
Send me a message and let's have a conversation about where you are and where you want to be.
You might be closer than you think.
Kayleigh
Next Level Beauty Academy
Real talk. Real life. Real results.
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