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Sandra McLumpha - Founder of Fake Bake I recently had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Entrepreneur Sandra McLumpha the CEO of Fake Bake at the lunch “In the city” in Glasgow, Fake Bake is the self tanning lotion used by many celebrities such as JLo & Madonna.Sandra McLumpha talks modestly about her life and her success as a forward thinking and enterprising business woman who is not afraid of taking a risk. Born and raised in Stirling in Scotland she started worked at just sixteen as an apprentice to Ian Carmichael, who has been Her Majesty's Queen Elizabeth's personal hairdresser for the past ten years. Having successfully created a multi million pound industry as well as single handedly bringing up her two young children, Sandra’s inspirational story is one that can motivate us all. I talked to Sandra about her business and life Q - What gave you the idea? Sandra - “After following a career in hairdressing in London I moved back to Scotland. It was in 1995 that I opened my own salon specialising in beauty, tanning and nails and although there was a growing demand for a healthy bronzed look, there was rising concern about the dangers of using sun beds. Following a family cancer scare I realised that sunless self tanning treatments were fast becoming the alternative to sun beds. However, there was very limited choice of good products on the market”. Q - What led you to Fake Bake? Sandra – “It was through the internet, I was trying to find the best sunless tanning product available. The search was extensive; eventually I was led to America to a virtually unknown brand at the time Fake Bake. Through perseverance I finally made contact and persuaded them to sell the license and distribution rights throughout Europe and the UK. It was a big gamble as I had to sell my salon to buy the license – I was a single with two young children so I knew I had to make it work”. Q – Do you believe you are lucky or it’s down to just hard work ? Sandra – “It is down to a lot of hard work and being determined, you make your own luck, in my case the harder I worked the luckier I got”. Q – What awards has Fake Bake won? Sandra – “ Fake Bake has countless accolades to its name including “ Rolls Royce in self tanning” – GMTV, and was voted salon tan of the year by harpers Bazaar as well as numerous others the most recent was becoming the winner of “ The Best Instant Spray Tan” on This Morning earlier in 2008”. Q - Who in your life has inspired you the most? Sandra – “It has to be my mother, she always told me to work for your own money and don’t be envious of anyone who seems to have more then you, just go make it for yourself. I also admire Jordan and Victoria Beckham – they are strong women who have been determined to succeed”. Q - Do you look back from where you started and contemplate how successful you are Sandra – “I always knew that I was going to make it Fake Bake successful, I started with nothing, working away in my back bedroom. I now employ over eighty staff with a multi-million global turnover but I’ve had a great team around me who’ve helped me get where I am today”. Q – Looking back is there anything that you would have do differently? Sandra – “No I wouldn’t change anything, but I have got to admit it that it was very grueling running a business and bringing up two young children on my own, I would work late into the night, so I could spend some time with my children”. Q – Where do you see Fake Bake going in the future ? Sandra – “I endured six years of personally overseeing every aspect of her company, and I am still very much hands-on, I am focused and passionate about developing the business into the number one tanning brand across the world”. Q - Do you have any gems you can give to other women starting their own business? Sandra – “Don’t give up be persistent, work hard”. Q - What’s your proudest moment? Sandra – “I’m really proud of winning the NatWest’s Everywoman of the Year Award for entrepreneurial success in 2006. This then led to a personal invitation from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, to come to the Palace to celebrate Britain’s most successful women”. Q - What next? Sandra – “We opened the Uk's first tanning franchise "Brown Cow" and this year we acquired the brand’s American parent company so we can contiue to grow the company. Fake Bake is available in thousands of salons around the country and some very prestigious retail stores such as: Harrods, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis, Debenhams and House of Fraser - its a great product - if you haven't tried it definitely worth having a go. For more information go to www.fakebake.co.uk |
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