MEET THE SIDE HUSTLERS

These women have turned their passion into a profitable business, alongside their full-time jobs

- FRANCESCA WOODSTOCK

‘My dog is the boss’

Nicola Wordsworth, 54, lives in Kent with Tibetan terrier Bertie, two. She has a daughter, Emily, 27. Breathing in the sea air, I watched my pup running along the beach. During the lockdown in 2020, I had fallen in love with daily walks on the seashore with my five-month-old pooch, Bertie. But after a roll in the seaweed, he was rather stinky.

I tried all kinds of dog shampoo but Bertie’s skin would get dry and flaky, and each time I purchased a new product it felt like a waste of money.

And I didn’t have money to waste. While I earned a good salary as a graphic designer, the pandemic put a stop to one big project.

After paying my home and energy bills, buying petrol, food, and pet insurance, there was nothing left.

As a single woman, I didn’t have anyone else to lean on, and throwing money away on bottles of dog shampoo seemed so wasteful.

‘Why don’t we try making our own?’ I suggested to my daughter, Emily, a trained veterinary nurse.

As she was in my support bubble at the time, she came to stay with me and we researched the best ingredients to leave Bertie’s fur moisturized and sleek.

We spoke to breeders and pet owners and devised a shampoo bar with no plastic packaging, formulating an all-natural, environmentally friendly product that actually worked.

I used shampoo bars on my own hair, so I knew I wanted to make something similar for dogs

. I sourced ingredients online, including African black soap and shea butter, which I used as a base, and added various essential oils to combat different things, like eucalyptus to repel fleas and cedarwood to support healthy skin.