Would you ever consider invasive treatment again?
I would never say ‘never’ to injectables. At the moment, my product is delivering wonderful results for me, but as I get older, should I feel the need for something more, I know there are wonderful practitioners who do great work. Technology has moved on so much, you can now get incredible results without having to go to extremes. I’d never close the door on anything but my philosophy is, ‘Beauty, but not at any cost’. I will not put my health and immune system at risk for the sake of a few wrinkles.
You grew up in Pretoria and Johannesburg – how did your upbringing inform your entrepreneurial spirit?
“My mum is a travel guide and historian, and she would never allow us to fly - we had to drive everywhere and stop to look at a flower or a mountain or the site of a battle. We’d spend hours talking about ideas, which made me very curious. My dad died when I was little and I was an only child, so my mum was my biggest influence.
“As South Africans, we are very entrepreneurial and have an incredible work ethic. At school, I already saw gaps in the market. For example, I saw that the tuckshop lines
were too long and the variety of snacks poor, so I convinced my mum to take me to the wholesale supermarket and I bought big double bags of sweets and sold them in the playground. I made four times’ profit on each bag - I was the cool candy dealer! So, I suppose I was born an entrepreneur.”
When did you move to London?
“I came here just before my 18th birthday with £100 and a dream. I started studying journalism but left after I met Chris Evans. I told him I wanted to be the Ruby Wax of radio – at this point I was doing my Dr Inge Love radio show at Middlesex Hospital - and he said, ‘Come and work for me at Virgin Radio’. After that I worked for Jonathan Ross before anchoring a show for Anglia TV in Norwich and from there I set up my own branding agency.”