I set up my first company when I was still at school but nobody took me seriously – now I’m 23 and run two businesses
- Ella Deakin, from Merseyside, set up a sleepover business at the age of 17
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A 23-year-old who set up her first business when she was still a sixth form student now has two successful companies.
Ella Deakin, from Melling in Merseyside, runs a glamorous sleepover business and a pamper parlour for young girls who want to be treated on special occasions.
The young entrepreneur was inspired by a trip to Australia when she attended a teepee party, and decided to set up a similar enterprise in the UK after realising there was a gap in the market.
Despite the fact that she felt people didn’t take [her] seriously at first, she is now the proud owner of two Merseyside-based businesses – her original venture Teepee Sleepee and Ella Bella’s.
Six years on from first opening her business, Ella now has the two companies to her name and claims she is ‘regularly fully booked’.
Ella Deakin (pictured) opened Ella Bella’s in 2020 following the roaring success of her first business, Teepee Sleepee, which offers themed sleepovers for young girls. Ella pictured inside the Ella Bella’s pamper parlour
Ella began Teepee Sleepee in 2017 when she returned home from a trip down under and had seen a ‘glamping’-style sleepover where the girls enjoyed sleeping in teepees.
At the time, she was studying for her A Levels and working part-time as a waitress, but she realised her area didn’t offer anything similar and saw an opportunity, the Liverpool Echo reports.
From there, she bought four teepees and began offering different sleepover packages for children’s parties.
Within months, her business expanded until she had 30 teepees as demand continued to grow. With more resources, she was able to offer 12 different themed sleepover parties with Teepee Sleepee.
Ella (pictured inside her pamper parlour) first got the idea for Teepee Sleepee when she was just 17 years old
Ella set up a site for Ella Bella’s in March 2020 (pictured inside), although her official launch was put on ice due to the pandemic
Ella, pictured outside her pamper parlour which offers children’s parties, claimed she wasn’t taken seriously when she first opened her businesses
The young entrepreneur revealed she was inspired by seeing themed sleepover parties when she went to Australia on holiday
Ella has now expanded to offer even adult pampering at Ella Bella’s, after the success of her children’s parties
Three years later after the success of Teepee Sleepee, she opened Ella Bella’s, a pamper party company – and was still just 20 years old.
She said the decision ‘felt right’ after she realised her interest in hair and beauty began to cross over into Teepee Sleepee parties.
Ella would end up staying at the parties until 9pm doing the girls’ hair and make up, and had a light-bulb moment to set up a site where she could offer this full-time.
‘I feel like people don’t take you seriously at that age and you come across obstacles you don’t think you’d come across,’ she said.
‘Not many people my age can relate, so I struggled in that sense but obviously it’s a huge accomplishment and sometimes I forget how young I was when I first started.
As she prepared to open Ella Bella’s, Ella had a site ready to launch in Warbreck Moor, Aintree, in March 2020, but the pandemic and lockdown put her plans on ice, as parties were banned.
Determined not to let the time go to waste, Ella spent lockdown learning more about business ownership and advertising her packages.
By the time the pamper parlour was open again, she says bookings began to fly in.
Now offering mini spa days, pamper parties and also treatments for adults, Ella is a fully-fledged owner of two businesses at just 23 years old.
She said: ‘When I opened I never thought it would be as big as it is, we’re regularly fully booked.’
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