From humble beginnings, to bold business ventures, Beauty Team Australia founder Bonnie Irwin shares her story…
Intro
Welcome, everyone! A big shout out from Adelaide, South Australia, to warmly welcome you to the beautiful, Beauty Team Australia online- platform, where you will find the best in hair and beauty across the country!
It delights me to be able to share my story along with upcoming hair and beauty topics with you. Some of these blogs will be written by myself, others by our stunning hair and beauty professional members around Australia, and the rest by our industry associations and special guests.
Firstly, I’m going to guess that you’re reading this, and other BTA blogs because you’re interested to know more about hair and beauty. Possibly you’re after tips, advice or general help with your routine… Whatever the reason, you can trust; that what’s posted in our tip/ educational blogs are coming from a background of education and experience.
My Beauty Beginnings…
It all started when I was about 14yrs old. I grew up with 5 sisters and 2 brothers. Around this time I developed a fascination with fruit extract body exfoliants! YES, that is correct, EXFOLIANTS! They smelt amazing!!! I loved them so much, I created a schedule around them. I decided I’d start having a “scrub night” every Friday after school.… I thought having pamper time in a household full of people was the BEST!!! It made me appreciate my independence and at the same time, celebrate my feminine side. Friday night scrub nights soon became my ‘getaway’ to my love of beauty.
Not long after I started my Friday night “scrub” nights, I followed suit, alongside my mum and sisters in my family and started experimenting with makeup. Even though I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup at my private school, I continued to wear it, day in and day out, pretty much anywhere I’d go, including the family pool!… Yeah, I wasn’t going anywhere without makeup! #teenlife My other influence in beauty around this time was In Style magazine. What an awesome magazine that is. The glamourous advertising was a favorite. Who doesn’t want a perfume or hand bag after the lux model or star has ‘modelled’ with it so luxuriously! hahaha… Ummm, yes please!!!
Fast forward a few years. I finished school, went onto study at TAFE, and became a qualified beauty therapist YAYY!!.. I loved it!!… I adored beauty services and products! Products in particular. Ultimately products were a therapeutic experience, just like a mini-“getaway”…
Products fascinated me. From the formula, to the feel of them, the scents, the ingredients, packaging, brands, level of performance and so forth.
After my qualification, I moved from Wollongong NSW to Adelaide SA and continued my passion, working in major beauty retail outlets, concept stores, and salons, running my own salon business, as well as becoming a new mum in early 2011 to my beautiful now 11 year-old daughter.
Over time, working fueled my mind with a strong passion to pursue beauty and business on a deeper level. I ended a salon position in 2016, the hours were inconsistent and it left me feeling lost… I ABSOLUTELY loved my job! I loved being a makeup artist, and spray tanning my beautiful clients… But, I needed a better hours for stability… I was also thirsty for a career that could make a difference… I wanted MORE!… I knew I had the potential to pursue something more purposeful and the desire to see it through. I had SO MUCH MORE to offer clients/ consumers and the industry, and wasn’t going to let inconsistent hours let me down!
I needed a holiday break to reflect on what I should be doing. So, I went for a holiday to visit my second eldest sister in the A.C.T. She’s a busy mother, wife and business owner….here is where my ideas started developing for Beauty Team Australia. While I was visiting, I thought it would be a nice idea to do her makeup and take some profile photos for her work, along with some much-needed family shots in order to help her out a little while I was visiting… So, I had a chat with her and organised this.
The day and time came. I began by asking her some key questions about her personal makeup style that she wanted, her skin and allergies, etc., then continued by delving into her personal makeup products… As you could imagine I’m sure: here’s a super- busy parent to 4 beautiful kids, a wife to her wonderful husband, plus running her own business…Yeah, caring about her makeup products was not high on her priority list. The brands were not exactly brands I would recommend (lol), nor use, and the condition of them, I’m not sure exactly how long she’d had them for… haha…hmmm.
In short, this experience prompted me to take action in a few different areas. I guess it got my brain juices flowing with many amazing ideas… At the same time, that year I completed my qualification in business. I started researching and reflecting on the needs of hair and beauty consumers and clients in Australia. To build something that addressed those needs. Hence, Beauty Team Australia was born.
Although, it wasn’t a smooth ride with the set backs with tech development (that is a whole other story for another time #dontevenask!) and then covid, it is a wonderful feeling to have it up and running now and into our future.
Take care always, Bonnie Irwin, Founder Beauty Team Australia xx
