Poppy, aka @polishedbypoppy_

Poppy's turning point didn't come from a crisis. It came, as she tells it, from a question she couldn't stop asking herself.

“I kept seeing MSTA’s Instagram posts filled with positive pink quotes, and it made me stop and think: what did I actually want from my business and life? The answer was simple: to be happy. Growing up in Australia, skincare was drilled into me from a young age. I had always been interested in it, and I wanted to help others feel confident in their skin.”

Taking the leap

Despite her passion for skincare, Poppy had major doubts before signing up for the course, and she is refreshingly honest about every one of them.

“I had never spent more than £300 on a course, and I was worried I’d never make my money back. I was 21 years old, had been self-employed for three years, and was barely making a profit. I was also scared I wasn’t good enough. That feeling stuck with me for months after training. I didn’t even start offering facials straight away because I was terrified I’d be rubbish. So many of my nail clients made comments doubting me, saying ‘How can you do facials if you’ve only been a nail tech for years?’ That shook my confidence at first.”

“But now? I wish I could go back and tell myself that I’d make my money back five times over! More importantly, I don’t care what people think of me anymore, because I’m confident in my training, my ethics, and my morals.”

Building Polished by Poppy

Then came the decision that still makes other business owners wince when she describes it: winding down a nail business that was booked six months in advance, to start from zero in a new discipline.

“I was fully booked as a nail technician, with clients booking six months in advance. The idea of closing that diary to open a brand-new clinic felt terrifying. It took me months to build out the clinic space in my cottage, and I kept questioning whether closing the salon was the right move. But I had to trust the process.”

“Life has changed so much. I’ve been able to buy a house, work from a clinic I love, and set my own hours. I once thought I wouldn’t even have one or two clients. And now? I have fully booked days and weeks.”

The moment it all felt real

“The first month was quiet, and I started second-guessing myself. I remember writing down my goals, hoping to just have two to three clients a day, four days a week. Then, everything started to align. Suddenly, I was seeing five to eight clients a day. To go from barely two clients a week to that? I was super happy.”

Her advice

“If I could say one thing, it would be: believe in yourself and take risks. The biggest risks I’ve taken in business have always paid off, and even the ones that didn’t? They taught me lessons that helped me build the brand I have today.”

Her mum's advice has also stuck with her: “You only look forward in life, not back. You can never dream too big.”

Would she recommend the course?

A thousand times over. And her comparison point carries weight, because she has trained the traditional route too.

“I trained in college when I was younger, and I can honestly say I received more depth, help, knowledge, and support in one course with MSTA than I did in two years of college training. With MSTA, it’s personal. They tailor the learning to suit you. I’m super dyslexic and have a bad concentration span, but they adapted the course to fit my way of learning. If you had mentioned an exam to me a few years ago, I would have felt physically ill with anxiety. But when I recently took my Level 3 course, I actually enjoyed the exam, because I knew I had trained with the best knowledge and the best people. That’s the kind of confidence MSTA gives you.”

“You don’t just teach skincare. You show people how to run a safe, successful business and build their dreams.”