With twenty seven years behind her and many to come, Femi Latif has become one of the leading ladies in business in the Leicestershire area. With no business courses under her belt, Femi has grafted and learned her trade through colleagues, clients, family and friends. Femi is now the owner of Femi Health & Beauty, situated in the centre of Leicester.
Starting out at Lanes School of Beauty in Leicester in 1988, Femi went on to gain her first job specialising in hair removal for The Hair, Scalp & Beauty Institute, where she was then approached by Janelle Beauty Services and worked there for a year, before moving on to Quetzal for another year.
Already having a few years of beauty training under her belt, Femi’s career truly began when she started working as a Senior Beauty Therapist at Remy, which she then eventually managed. When Remy franchised with Toni & Guy and moved premises, there were no plans of incorporating a beauty department.
At this point in Femi’s career, the only way she could progress further was to brave it and go out on her own. Femi initially started out in a small staff room and that is where the Femi Health and Beauty began.
Initially starting out with three rooms in a unit at The Shires Shopping Centre (now known as Highcross), Femi then expanded from four rooms to seven and now has her own premises with a capacity of 12 treatment rooms over four floors on Highcross Street.
The services that Femi now offer include separate male and female changing rooms, a conservatory, double treatment room and a relaxation room. Femi Health & Beauty now have a resident doctor on premises, who offers advanced anti-aging medical treatments and are further expanding.
Now you may be asking yourself, how did she do it? Well we spoke to Femi and asked her what obstacles she faced and what advice she would give about running a business.
“The main obstacles for me included having to learn things as I went along, such as contracts, figures, accounting, managing staff and so forth. Using my heart rather than my head sometimes didn’t work in my favour but that is just me.”
Femi’s top three tips on running a business are:
- Never be afraid of approaching people, if you don’t understand, always ask
- Never be afraid of hard work and be consistent
- Choose your team very carefully and treat them genuinely and with respect
Femi’s story is highly commendable and an inspirational one. Starting out without any qualifications in running a business and fighting adversity and with passion and determination, Femi is certainly a role model for all women who are starting their own business.
You can find out more about Femi’s Health & Beauty via: femi-health-beauty.co.uk.
