Diana Jenner: An Expert Professional in the Beauty & Wellbeing Industry

Following her passion for the beauty industry, Diana Jenner founded Orchids Retreat, a Beauty and Wellbeing Clinic. The clinic is located in a quaint courtyard at the top of the high street in the coastal town of Lymington, Hampshire, United Kingdom.

In her clinic, Diana offers a variety of holistic, beauty, aesthetic, and wellbeing treatments to treat the mind, body, and spirit, helping her clients put the best version of themselves forward. Diana’s responsibilities as the Director of the company are everything that includes social media, marketing, team leader, beauty therapist, and being a teacher, mentor, and manager. At the office, she puts policies and procedures in place and is building the team so that she can delegate tasks and work on the areas of business that are growing and developing further.

Below are highlights of the interview conducted between Beyond and Diana Jenner:

Leading a company to success is not an easy task. What inspired you to take the step of faith? What led you to this industry?

I have been interested in the beauty industry since I was 9 years old and wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was 14. In high school, we were given tests about what industry we should work in and what we wanted to be when we grew up. Mine came out as an accountant, but when I initially majored in that subject at university, the professor pulled me aside after class and advised me to find another major because I had too much personality!

My aunt had two successful salons in London and was a great mentor when I approached her about having my own business.

The leap of faith for this particular chapter was inspired by Grant Cardone’s 10x Rule. Growing from one treatment room to six isn’t quite 10x yet, but my goal is to expand and franchise to at least 10 more beauty and wellbeing clinics across the UK and then 10x that to expand internationally.

Challenges make you stronger. What is your take on this? What were the roadblocks that taught you valuable lessons in your professional journey?

I agree 100% that challenges make you stronger! It’s how we overcome them that give us experience, lessons, and resilience. One of the more obvious roadblocks in the past couple of years has been the pandemic. The importance of knowing how to pivot a business, adapting to the situation and having the ability to move forwards

Tell us about your contribution in redefining the industry.

Wow, that’s a big question! My contribution to redefining the industry is about encouraging others, sharing best practices, and continually expanding our knowledge and skill sets to offer the best professional treatments.

I’ve set up Signature D Coaching and Consulting to help other business owners grow and develop from employed to solopreneurs and help others evolve from solopreneurs to entrepreneurs. Signature D has also helped advise the government and local businesses about guidelines during the pandemic and how to maintain COVID-secure environments for their clientele.

I always try to set a good example for others and encourage them in their career paths and endeavours.

What are your views on women empowerment? How do you wish to influence a change in the generation as a woman in lead?

Girl power all the way! I am a strong woman and believe we should all work together to build each other up and fix each other’s crowns. Team spirit and cheerleader are words I often use to inspire our community. With encouraging independence and ownership of our actions, decisions, and goals as women, we develop confidence and pride in our achievements. With my team, we celebrate success—the big and little wins.

Tell us about your life before Orchids Retreat.

When I first moved to the UK from Las Vegas, I wanted to meet people, so I worked and managed a bar and restaurant called The Haven. It was located above a marina, so it attracted a variety of customers and was a fantastic way to build a network and reputation by meeting people from all walks of life.

I was inspired by others in their early 20’s who were taking ‘gap years’ to travel the world. I didn’t really want to backpack, so I got a job as a flight attendant with Virgin Atlantic and spent three years exploring every destination they flew to. I absolutely loved it!

Then a salon came up for sale and my home treatment room, called Orchids Hideaway, became a proper salon on the High Street, located on the top floor of No11 Hair Salon. After three successful years, I sold that and went into teaching beauty, but missed having a business, so I set up Orchids Retreat.

Tell us what marked the beginning of your career? What has been the best recognition that you received thus far?

The beginning of my career in beauty commenced in a spa at the Luxor Hotel in 2000 whilst studying at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The beginning of my entrepreneurial career was training in beauty and holistic treatments after moving to the UK and setting up Orchids Hideaway in 2004.

The best recognition I’ve received so far was winning the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (BABTAC) and Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (CIBTAC) Gold Awards, for which I was nominated as the winner’s winner and chosen for my contribution to the beauty industry.

Winning Gold inspired Aurum D, my artisan bodycare product range, as Aurum means Gold. I wanted to mark this incredible accolade, and a friend helped me come up with the name. Then it was up to me to formulate and create the products. Five years later, they’re on the shelves, and this year I’m hoping to take Aurum D to the next level.

What are your responsibilities as the Director of Orchids Retreat? Walk us through your regular day at work. Also, define yourself in one word.

My responsibilities as the director of a small company are everything. Social media, marketing, team leader, beauty therapist, teacher, mentor, manager, and boss. The list goes on and life is very busy. We are putting policies and procedures in place and I’m building the team so that I can delegate tasks and work on the areas of business that are growing and developing further.

While the rest of the household and society are still sleeping, I get up at 5 a.m. and post on social media, answer emails, and so on.At 6.30, I go to the crossfit gym for a class to ensure my fitness is maintained. If I show up, the instructor will do the rest. Then I prepare our meals for the day-rainbow fruit smoothie, salad for lunch, and dinner prep. That way, I know that my body will have the fuel it needs to get through the day and to stay healthy.

We have two lovely boys whom I take to school and pick up 3/5 days of the week to have a work and family balance. I like to arrive at work 30-60 minutes early to check over the clinic, set up the treatment rooms, check messages, and so on.

Then the day begins and is a flurry of activity with performing facials on my regular and loyal client base, coaching the team, delegating tasks to our manager, answering client messages and interviews with the press, along with anything else that happens during the day. I work until 7.00 pm twice a week and until 3.00 pm on school pick up days to be with my family.

After finishing at the clinic, there’s always an hour or so of emails, queries, and messages to answer, but after that, my phone is switched off, so my time with the family is quality time. I’m in bed by 9.00 to read my book and get 7-8 hours of sleep.

I define myself in one word-BRIGHT. Because of the colours I wear, my commitment to education, and my outgoing personality.

How do you maintain a balance in your personal and professional life? How do you keep yourself and your employees motivated?

I’m a Libra, so balance is a priority for me. I am very organised and set aside time for everyone and everything. We meal plan and I have a scheduled grocery delivery so that everyone eats a healthy diet. My partner and I have a weekly date night and a monthly date weekend. My work hours are scheduled so that I can do school drop off and pick up three days a week so that I can be a part of their after school activities. We have family meals together and family time, both relaxing and doing activities. The year is mapped out so that we have family holidays and events to look forward to. It also means that if we have to work more hours, we have a reward to look forward to and some down time to enjoy together.

Thankfully, I’m a self-motivated person, but maintaining the motivation momentum is kept up with weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual goals. At the beginning of the year I map out each quarter, then each month I sit down and write three goals in each area – physical, mental, family, relationship, business and home. Each week, I reassess the goals and break them down into daily tasks.

With my team, I do something similar. We have quarterly catch-ups, monthly meetings, and daily check-ins. Each team member knows their monthly stats, and we put together a goal for the next month. I’m there to help them achieve and celebrate their success, whether it’s retail targets, treatment rebooking, or education status.

Tell us about your plans for the future of Orchids Retreat. What is your message to aspiring businesswomen?

Orchids Retreat’s future plans are to franchise the business model across the UK so that I can help coach and consult for each clinic to help them achieve award-winning teams, financial prosperity, and annual growth.

My message to aspiring businesswomen is to keep moving forward. There is no overnight success; it’s the baby steps taken daily that add up to the opportunities and achievements long term. You’ve got this!

For more information, please refer to the contact details below:

Orchids Retreat

4 Roundhouse Court

Lymington, Hampshire, SO41 9LY

T: 01590 678300

www.orchidsretreat.co.uk

Instagram @orchidsretreat, Twitter @orchidsretreat, Facebook @orchidsretreat