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The three P’s.
Passion, perseverance, persistence.
Hellen Ohwofasa’s recipe for business success.
And what a success.
From the most difficult of backgrounds – her mother left her at the age of two weeks – to now.
Happily married, proud mother of three and the owner of a successful beauty business.
In fact, you could write a book about her life to date.
Oh, did we forget to mention that Hellen, 34, has also written and published two books?
She said: “I do feel proud at what I’ve achieved.
“Sometimes I ask myself: ‘How did I do that?
“But, apart from the three P’s, I’ve had the most amazing support from my husband, Efe.
“I really couldn’t have done it without him.”
Hellen, who was born in Zimbabwe, was brought up by her grandparents and aunties.
They taught her how to fight her battles, use her hands and work hard to fulfil her desires.
But, she said: “Because l grew up without my biological parents l always felt l was an outcast.
“A rejected, unloved child.
“My grandparents and aunties loved me so much but that can’t be compared to motherly love, can it?
“Growing up, I always admired my older sister and my other siblings who lived with my biological mother, wishing l could be loved as much as they were.
“I really respect my grandparents for raising me the way they did.
“They were, and still are, a strong and hardworking couple.”
In 2005 – and at the age of 18 – she emigrated to the UK to live with her biological mother.
From her teens Hellen had developed a passion for the beauty industry but was persuaded by her mother to enrol in college for an access to nursing course.
By day she studied, by night she worked in a care home.
Hellen successfully finished the course but, she said: “l realised this was all wrong.
“I had wasted my year doing something l totally hated.
“l left the nursing path but continued working as a carer in care homes, working long shifts and long hours in a job I hated.”
And then, at the age of 21, she met her future husband, Efe, – they married in 2009 – and her life changed forever.
Hellen said: “He is a professional life coach, a motivational speaker who, with his coaching skills, asked me some thought-provoking questions.
“I can still remember it, as if it was yesterday, when he asked me: ‘What would you really love to do?’
“With a big smile on my face, I said I’ve always liked beauty and would like to start and build a career in the beauty industry.
“Efe encouraged me to make some enquires about studying beauty in the college.
“I ended up enrolling to study beauty at Bournemouth and Poole College that same year.
“A new life and a greater adventure began.”
The studying, though, proved somewhat eventful.
Hellen started the first term 20 weeks pregnant with her first son but chose not to tell her tutor.
