“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.” – Maya Angelou
For women, succeeding in business in a male-dominated world is not always easy. Starting from the approach to thrive in business to the financial part to compete with their male counterparts, challenges can be far too many for them to overcome. But yet, they do not give up too easily and even prove their worth to inspire several others. One such inspiring individual is Andrea Bari-Grounds, a therapist and beauty-salon owner. The 48-year-old entrepreneur recently beat her competitors from around the United Kingdom to bag gold and silver in the annual National Hair and Beauty Awards.
Bari-Grounds was awarded gold for Best Beauty Training Centre of Excellence in South-East England and silver for Beauty Therapist of the Year in London and the South-East. She also got an overall silver medal as the best Self-Employed Individual Beauty Therapist in the entire UK. The owner of AndiB’s Beauty Therapies and AndiB’s Beauty Training, Bari-Grounds was quoted as saying by the West Sussex County Times: “My salon and training school have been my dream and to be recognised in this way is just amazing.” “My wonderful clients have been so supportive and their messages since I received the awards have meant everything to me. Thanks to all of them and to my family and friends who have been with me on this wonderful journey,” she said, adding: “I can’t wait to be able to open the doors of the salon again but until then my online students know they are going to have a very happy teacher.”
Andrea Bari-Grounds also trains besides doing business
Bari-Grounds set up her residential beauty room in West Sussex’s Broadbridge Heath six years ago. Besides providing tailored manicure, pedicure and other make-up services, the entrepreneur also came up with tailored massage and reflexology treatments. Besides making her venture a success, she also took to extend knowledge about her domain by providing training through AndiB’s Beauty Training. It offers accredited courses in various beauty services. Her training service has also offered the online medium which has seen it doing well in times of the lockdown.
It is not that Bari-Grounds has made the headlines for the first time with these awards. A qualified veteran in the beauty industry since 2005, Bari-Grounds was a finalist of Business Woman of the Year on the Business Woman Excellence Award in 2018. Two years prior to that, she was a Finalist of Beauty Therapist Of The Year and 2 x semi-finalist in the Small Salon Of The Year and New Business Of The Year categories at BABTAC & CIBTAC Awards. She also took part in a prestigious event at the Hurlingham Club, Putney, England. She ended up as the semi-finalist in the New Business of the Year and Small Salon of the Year categories. She thanked her clients for their support while receiving accolades for her certificate. She was also a finalist for Beauty Therapist of the Year 2015 in the Etc West Sussex Hair and Beauty Awards.
Bari-Grounds’ responsibility as a citizen also becomes evident when one sees her fundraising projects to save children. She has helped raise funds for ‘Save the Children’ -- a UK-based humanitarian aid that looks after the well-being of kids. Her concerns towards children and effort towards securing their future show that she has a heart for the betterment of those who are the future of this world.
Lessons to learn from Andrea Bari-Grounds
Successful leaders like Bari-Grounds have a lot of lessons to offer. It is not just that she has won awards and made an identity for herself as a successful woman business leader. She has also made some key statements through her other activities like providing training in her domain or backing humanitarian causes. By offering training, Bari-Grounds has made it clear that just as her profession has given her success and identity, she also pays it back by encouraging and bringing up more people like her who are passionate about beauty services.
It is a field with a lot of potential and people like Baro-Grounds serve to facilitate it through their own training mechanisms. Besides, by taking interest in other humanitarian causes like children’s welfare, Bari-Grounds sends across the message that she has a responsibility to meet towards the bigger society as well. Being a woman and a person of empathy, she sets up a precedent for other aspiring business leaders to follow. Your responsibility doesn’t end with your own achievements but with service towards the less fortunate people of the world.
Bari-Grounds also announces on AndiB’s Beauty Therapies’ website that her products are suitable for vegetarians and not tested on animals. This is also a statement of social responsibility for which Bari-Grounds deserves an accolade.
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