At just 19 and with no experience, Katie Godfrey found herself around Dh300K in debt after opening her first beauty salon. What started as a high-risk decision with little planning eventually paved the way for a successful business and a career built on helping others succeed in the same industry. 

Although opening her first salon without any qualification or experience was a big risk, Katie said that if she hadn’t taken that step, she wouldn’t be where she is today. Now, the former salon owner-turned entrepreneur helps other salon owners and mentors them for a living.

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Paying off a Dh300K debt

When she first started her salon business, Katie would eagerly invest in new industry trends, in which she later said she should have been more mindful and waited to see how long those trends would last. She then fell into debt, which accumulated more and more as she continued to invest in her business. At some point, that debt collected, and she was left with £65k (Dh319,000) in debt.

“Not paying off the debt wasn’t an option,” she said. “I gave myself a five-year goal to clear it all, and I did exactly that.” Apart from investing financially into her business, the salon entrepreneur and mentor invested heavily in her time, which she used to build the business and learn everything there is to know so that she could improve, which paid off in the end.

The turning point for Katie as an entrepreneur was working on the business, rather than in it. “Once I started gaining clients and building a team, I saw the money starting to come in more consistently. The real turning point, though, was when I stepped out of working in the business and began working on the business,” she explained.

“That was a complete gamechanger for me. Changing my role within the business was one of the best decisions I made, and it led to significant growth across my chain of salons, training academies, and product range.”

Lessons learnt along the way

Katie said that there were a few big mistakes she had made, but that in hindsight, that proved essential for her to build the career she has today. The first was opening a salon without any clientele and having zero knowledge on how to run a businesses, which was all the more so difficult, being as she was in debt.

“However, I had no option but to keep going and learn how to build a business, otherwise I would have gone under, which wasn’t an option for me,” she said.

Katie during one of her many coaching sessions

Another key lesson came from becoming a leader to her staff. “I had no boundaries and just wanted to be liked, but that didn’t work as we grew,” she admitted. “Through my mistakes, I learned how to become a great leader, which led me to managing over 45 team members across multiple branches, and now helping my clients with their teams.”

“After 16 years of owning chains of salons, my most recent and biggest risk was putting everything into the business coaching space,” Katie added. “I no longer had a passion for running my own salons and wanted to focus on helping others build theirs.”

Today, the beauty businesswoman is an author, podcast host, and even a judge for major beauty awards. She has been honoured with accolades, including as Beauty and Aesthetics Business Strategist of the Year at the Corporate Vision Global Business Awards, and has founded award-winning salons, training academies across the UK, and a professional product range sold internationally.

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