Starting your own business and taking that leap of faith can be nerve-racking and a massive risk to take, but having the opportunity to do something you love and are passionate about makes the success so much sweeter. All too familiar with this strategy is the owner of two very successful businesses, Charlotte Kirk.
Charlotte, the mastermind of The Dolls House and newly open The Dolls House 2 salon, was destining to open her own beauty shop from an early age. Her love for makeup and beauty began from the tender age of 7, with creating makeup and hairstyles for various members of the family. Charlotte recalls she would create styles for her step nan for fun, who would love what Charlotte had created that she would wear the look for work. Her obsession for makeup grew, being surrounded by girls she was always the port of call on nights out, with friends turning to her to help them get ready, from sticking on lashes, applying eyeshadow to painting nails her love to make people feel glam was something she enjoyed.
Beauty wasn’t Charlotte’s original career choice, after leaving school she headed to college to seek a career in fashion, with a vision of eventually heading to University. The course wasn’t what she expected it to be and was unhappy with her choice of career, with the stress of also becoming a successful fashion designer, she decided to take time out. Taking on numerous jobs in retail, she received a call from a friend’s family member informing her there was a job advertised for a makeup artist for her to apply. After a 2-hour break and an interview, Charlotte got the job at The Dolls House. Working in the salon pushed Charlotte to gain the qualifications she needed for the role, and she returned to college to study Beauty level 2 and 3.
After working at The Dolls House for 2 years she had the opportunity to move to Dubai, which seen Charlotte unhappy with her choice, she missed home and come to the realisation that nowhere in the world compared to Liverpool when it came to beauty, so after a year she decided to move home. On her return she started working self-employed at The Dolls house, which became the incentive to be her own boss and gave her the passion to run her own business. Working every waking hour, helped push the motivation and with a stroke of good fortune, the owner of The Dolls House Rebecca, whom had seen the potential all them years ago in Charlotte, had decided to sell the business and offered this opportunity to her.
The dream came true and on 1st March 2016, Charlotte and her sister Molly purchased the business and became the owners. The Business grew and always prepared to share her knowledge and skills the girls decided to run a makeup masterclass, which consisted of a group of attendees watching the girls do what they know best, from explaining techniques and answering questions inside the salon. The masterclass received some positive and great feedback, which pushed Charlotte more to teach people what she loved.
The Dolls House became something of a sell-out, with the salon constantly full booked and clients turning up praying for a cancellation to be fitted in, the decision to expand was needed. The idea for The Dolls House 2 was an idea that progressed into a reality in just over 6 months. Living in Kirkby Charlotte knew it was lacking a salon that provided everything under one roof, which made it the ideal location to open the next salon. Amy who was a work colleague at The Dolls House was looking at running her own salon at the same time as the idea for business 2, which she asked if Charlotte would be interested in being business partners, which was a no-brainer as Amy was hardworking and full of great ideas.
The doors opened to the 2nd salon in Kirkby town centre on 5th December 2017. What seemed as the scariest move in her career, has proved to be her best move yet. With 5 Dolls working at The Dolls House Maghull salon, and 9 in the new Kirkby salon, the girls offer a variety of treatments, including makeup, hair, nails, tans, facials, lip fillers, eyelash extensions, intimate waxing, and a lot more. The new facility now has the space to offer makeup courses and masterclasses, with different types of courses running over the coming months. For further information about upcoming courses, book appointments, head to the website www.thedollshousebeauty.co.uk.
Also available online is a makeup tutorial to purchase for £3.50, which consists of a 1 hour 17 minutes filled with tips and step by step guide on how to create a certain look. Future upcoming tutorials will see Charlotte create a Spring/Summer look helping viewers achieve fresh effortless makeup, which seems to be very popular now that the sun is trying to make an appearance.
With two busy, popular businesses under her belt, there really is no stopping this passionate businesswoman on her path to success and encourages others to do what they love best.
Charlotte says “Following suit is sometimes easy, but if you don’t enjoy your job you will never be happy. We work for 80% of our lives, make it enjoyable, then it won’t feel like work.”
We wish Charlotte the best of luck for the future and look forward to what’s yet to come.
