Starting a business alongside one’s full-time job could reap huge financial rewards, and 25-year-old mum of two Keely Parsons is a glowing example. Keely took Sassy Shop Wax from her kitchen table and turned it into a multi-million-pound business.

“That meant at one point I was doing 12-hour days at work, commuting two hours and then working on the wax melts when I got home.

“It wasn’t easy and colleagues at work would often ask me why I even bothered, but I knew there was potential for this to work.”

Finding the right marketing strategy took time, but Keely struck gold after coming across Facebook groups which had an instant audience of wax melts customers.

Demand grew quickly from there, and whilst on maternity leave with her first child Luca, Keely saw sales increase substantially.

SassyShopWax.com is now heading for a turnover of £2.5m, with a loyal following, an ever-growing social media reach and items stocked in Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing and I Saw It First.

Keely’s partner Theo left his job in 2019 and joined the Sassy Shop Wax team as Operations Director, so that the pair could grow the company together.

As of 2021, less than a year after registering as a limited company, Sassy Shop Wax has grown from a kitchen start-up to now having a 5,000 square foot commercial space in Bristol.

The company now employs 20 members of staff, having turned over £2m.