The Business of Beauty: Betty Pamper

Do you love your job, waking up fresh and bright every Monday? No? You're not alone. They say every cloud has a silver lining, and whether that grey cloud takes its form as unemployment, impending redundancy or a lack of job satisfaction, it's more than possible to put your own positive spin on the storm.

More and more women are leaving their traditional 9 to 5s behind them, putting their skills and passion to good use in pursuit of self employment success. Be it baking, dressmaking or portrait painting, taking advantage of the things you already love is a good place to start if you fancy setting up your own business.

In this short series of articles, we'll be giving you the lowdown of some inspiring entrepreneurs who decided to take their destiny into their own hands.

Based in Merseyside, Betty Pamper established The Vintage Pamperbox in 2009 and has been providing glamorous, vintage-inspired makeovers to stylish hen parties and birthday girls ever since. After being made redundant shortly after the birth of her daughter, Betty herself says that necessity is the mother of invention. Being without work, with a small child and bills to pay, she was inspired to use her creativity and previous experience to go her own way.

Having worked as a TV director, Betty already had vast experience of working long hours as well some knowledge of how to market a business; in her former life she had regularly filmed adverts worked with many a PR. She knew how to manage budgets and had honed her organisational skills to perfection.

A few years on and Betty is not only the extremely proud owner of The Vintage Pamperbox; she also has plenty of other ventures under her 50s style cinch belt. The first, Betty Bee Photography, specialises in stunning wedding, corporate and pin up style photography. Betty Bee Vintage offers fans of retro styling the chance to purchase vintage homeware and super sassy rock n’ roll inspired t-shirts.

She also runs her own hugely successful blog where she regularly catalogues her own style. As if this wasn’t enough, her first book Handmade Wedding Crafts is available to buy in shops and online.

It’s not all corsets and camera flashes though. Betty says "in the early days the fires of your own enthusiasm may be the only thing keeping you warm” and likens setting up your own business to having children, where “if you over analyse it too much, you would never do it.”

Betty’s advice for anyone considering self employment?

“Be prepared to work hard, with no holiday or sick pay and probably quite a low wage at first, but the emotional payoff of being your own boss is huge. I just love being mistress of my own destiny.”



Gail is a Yorkshire girl who moved to Ireland six years ago. She lives in Co. Cavan with her boyfriend and spends her free time writing, baking cakes and buying dresses. She loves anything vintage and quirky. Gail's a huge fan of Irregular Choice shoes and Morrissey. She considers Minnie Mouse, Ariel and Wonder Woman her style icons.