What does it really take to turn a passion into a business that lasts?

In this episode of the Built By Her Podcast, Georgie sits down with Maria Young, owner of The Serenity Suite in the Forest of Dean, to talk about building a beauty business from the ground up and why real success in the industry goes far beyond treatments.

Maria shares how she started out straight from college with a mobile beauty kit, built a loyal client base, worked with premium brands like Clarins, and eventually grew her business into a thriving salon with a team, training courses, and a clear reputation for client care.

This episode is such an honest conversation about passion, resilience, confidence, and creating an experience people genuinely want to come back to.

From the importance of ambience and consultation, to growing a team, overcoming self-doubt, and building a business around making people feel good, there is so much in this one for anyone interested in beauty, business, or backing themselves.

In this episode, we talk about:

✨ How Maria started her beauty career straight from college
✨ Building a loyal client base through mobile treatments and word of mouth
✨ Working for Clarins and how that shaped her confidence and standards
✨ Why skincare matters just as much as makeup
✨ Treatments like microneedling, facials and bridal beauty prep
✨ The importance of ambience and creating a client experience
✨ Why the beauty industry needs more support between qualification and real salon work
✨ Growing a salon team and creating consistency in service
✨ How passion and care create returning clients
✨ The stigma around beauty as a career and why it deserves more respect
✨ How difficult experiences can shape your drive and resilience
✨ Why understanding your “why” matters when starting a business

About Maria:

Maria Young is the owner of The Serenity Suite, based at Bells Hotel in Coleford, Forest of Dean.

With over a decade of experience in beauty, massage, skincare and salon management, Maria has built a business centred around client care, ambience, and helping people feel good in themselves. Alongside running a successful salon and team, she is also developing online beauty courses to help support and elevate others entering the industry.

Listen if:

This episode is for you if you’re building a business, working in beauty, or want to hear a real story about how passion, consistency and care can create long-term success.

It’s also a brilliant listen if you’ve ever underestimated the skill, emotional intelligence and business thinking that goes into

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🎧 Produced by Richard Lannen at Nozzle Media
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