“It’s a buzz to know that something you created with a bowl and a whisk can have such a beneficial effect on people’s skin or can help them with their problems.”

Starting a skincare business at her kitchen table on the family farm was a daunting experience for Florencecourt woman Pauline Corrigan. However, it wasn’t as daunting as waiting for three hours in Altnagelvin Hospital to find out if she had cancer. Finding a lump on her breast and being given the all clear was the motivation Pauline needed to make some radical life changes. 
“My cousin and I were in hospital together. She had cancer and had to have her breast removed. I was one of the lucky ones. It was frightening. As I sat in the waiting room I kept thinking of a statement that a lecturer in my Fermanagh College beauty course had made; that hairdressers and beauticians have a higher risk of developing cancer than most other professions due to the excessive amount of chemicals they use,” said Pauline. “This prompted me to make some lifestyle changes. When I went to buy some natural skincare products I soon discovered that they were out of my price range. That spurred me on to make my own products. After four months of using them, people started to compliment me on my skin and ask what I was using. As a result I got a lot of orders!”

Having left St. Aidan’s High School at 16, Pauline worked in an office job before getting married in her twenties and deciding to become a stay-at-home mum. “For 12 years I was a farmer’s wife and raised my sons. Joining Women in Agriculture in 1999 was the best thing I’ve ever done because it boosted my confidence and encouraged me towards education again. When you are so long out of work you are neither employed or unemployed, you are economically inactive, which doesn’t do much for your self-esteem,” Pauline explained.

When her oldest son started school, Pauline plucked up the courage to enrol in a beauty course at Fermanagh College. “Ann Orr (Chair of Women in Agriculture) was a great mentor to me. Through her encouragement and the classes they ran, that got me through the door of education again,” she continued.

Following her cancer scare, Pauline decided “to dump all my products and start afresh.” When the natural brands proved too expensive for a mum-of-three, she took a book out of the library which explained how to make your own skin-care products.
“Once I started selling to my friends I had to go to Fermanagh District Council’s Environmental Health department and they were very helpful in getting me on the road,” said Pauline.

In preparation for developing her business further, Pauline underwent a number of training classes with Aromantic, a business in Scotland which is run by a Sweedish expert in authentic diet and skin care, particularly for cancer patients.

In 2010, Pauline launched her re-vamped and re-named business (she had initially called her venture ‘Beauty From Nature’ store). Pauline’s nephew helped her pick a catchier name; Beenificial (because she uses beeswax in some of her products). He also set up a website and created new branding for her products.
“I felt so proud to see it all coming together,” Pauline reflected. “I left school when I was 16; I was bullied; I had suffered from post-natal depression; I lacked confidence and I had absolutely no business background, but it was a passion and if you have a passion and really believe in something, then you can’t go wrong.”

Apart from one individual in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), who entered Beenificial into an all-island rural business awards, where she finished in the top 12, Pauline’s experience with business agencies has been negative.
“I have absolutely no faith in them,” she stated. “I believe that stress has a big link to ill health and I found that dealing with Invest NI and SWARD was added stress and I was getting nowhere. There were sleepless nights and it wasn’t worth it. I could have invested in fancy machines to make my products had I met all their criteria but, for me, a bowl and whisk works fine. These agencies would put you off with their red tape. I will continue to grow the business, but at my own pace and as my finances allow. I’ve never got myself into debt because that also leads to stress. This is a farm diversification project which supports our suckler farm; it’s an extra income.”

Now operating from a portable building on the farm, Pauline has had feedback from customers across the UK who love her natural products. “I initially set up the online shop for my regular customers but it has attracted customers from across Ireland and the UK, that’s the added benefit of having an online store,” Pauline added.
Baby balm is next on the agenda for the busy entrepreneur, who also freelances for local social enterprise Me Unlimited, and speaks at women’s events. 
Her advice for other small business owners is: “If it’s in your heart and if you believe it will work then go for it and don’t look back once you’ve started.”
Pauline concluded: “Once the fun goes out of it, I will stop. To me, it’s genuinely not about the money.”