Big up the sisterhood

Thea Green - Founder of Nails Inc

I love nothing more than a good nail polish and so my next candidate for Big Up The Sisterhood can do no wrong in my eyes.

Brought up just outside Liverpool and now living in London, Thea Green was married with three children under seven when she had her multi-millionaire idea way back in 1999. Whilst on a business trip in the US, the young entrepreneur realised that, while women in the US could 'pop' into a salon to get their nails done in their lunch break, women in the UK didn't have this luxury. Manicures were lengthy services for ladies that didn't have anywhere else to be. Busy moms and career women, it seemed, had to miss out on a bit of pampering because of their hectic lifestyles and yet they were the women that perhaps needed a bit of 'me time' the most.

After researching into why no-one had set up a fly by mani salon in the UK and coming up with nothing, Thea took a huge gamble and quit her job to tackle the market herself. Working hard to get investors involved, she finally managed to get together around £20,000 and finally opened her first Nails Inc store in London's West End.

The response was overwhelming and now the business turns over something in the region of £13 million a year, while us busy ladies can enjoy the convenience of gorgeous nails in no time.

Thea is the perfect example of how women can multi-task  and, in the words of Beyonce, "bare the children then get back to business." She's proved that risk can pay off and that sometimes you just need to take a deep breath and dive in to unlock your full potential.