Four years ago, Isobel Pearl was living with friends in London and thriving. She was working for a large accountancy firm and had a busy social life.

Then the pandemic came and he lost his job. At the age of 25, he had to move back to Watford with his parents.

Despite knowing nothing about the industry, she decided to start a skincare brand. It was a huge success until a bad business decision left her with trichotillomania – a hair-pulling disorder that meant she couldn’t resist the urge to pluck out her eyelashes.

Here, in her own words, Isobel explains how she managed to overcome the disorder and get her business back on track.

When I lost my job, I wasn’t even eligible for any extra pay. It was a really difficult time for me and it weakened my confidence.

I thought about my own skincare brand PERL Cosmetics a few years ago, but I didn’t have the time, money or knowledge to launch it.

After losing my job, I decided to throw myself into it. For the first year and a half of the business, I was running around like a headless chicken. I didn’t have any business plan. I didn’t know who my target audience was. I didn’t know anything. I created a website and worked on it day by day.

Many people doubted me. I look back now and am proud that I had the ability to ignore them. I was very excited by this idea. But at the same time I knew I needed a steady income. I started a job as a project manager in the Ministry of Defense and I thought my business would just be a side job.

Then in January 2021, when I started posting on TikTok, things took a turn for the worse and I quit my new full-time job. In the first few months, I went from zero to 50,000 followers and I made £10,000 in sales, which was double the sales I’d made in the previous six months.

People started following me while traveling, I don’t just share good things. I think it’s refreshing to see someone admit they’ve struggled.

Everything was going well until last spring. I started a business in a pandemic and I never knew what it was like to run a business outside of it. Everyone was on their phones and people had more disposable income but then life went back to normal. It was almost like a perfect storm for e-commerce businesses. But then sales really plateaued.

So I decided to spend the remaining £8,000 of the company’s cash on advertising, but I got no returns from it. I had to re-invest my savings into the business because I had nothing but I still had people to pay and bills coming in.

It was a really hard time, and it inspired me trichotillomaniaWhich is an uncontrolled desire to pluck out body hair. I’ve had it since I was 14 but I thought it was gone.

For me it’s the feeling that there is an eyelid that needs to be plucked out and the relief when you do. I couldn’t stop doing it. But then you feel guilt and shame and it’s a never ending cycle.

I decided that maybe it was time to leave my business, I was so discouraged and I felt like it had ruined my whole life. I posted this on TikTok explaining my situation and it got two million views.

Everyone came behind me and supported me, sales went up and it was my best month ever in terms of revenue.

I started sharing about my trichotillomania on social media and I received messages from many people who suffer from it. I realized I wasn’t the only person who did this.

I was using eyelash serum to try to grow my eyelashes back but my eyes were hurting a lot and they were red. I realized that some serums available in the market contain synthetic growth hormone. So I created a lash oil made from natural plant seed oils and people started commenting asking if they could buy it.

By the time I launched it, I had 5,000 people on my waiting list. Lash Oil is now my best-selling product, and accounts for about 80% of my sales, having sold out six or seven times since I launched it last summer and generating £400,000 in sales.

Now I’ve got a team of eight part-time employees. We make the products by hand in a laboratory near our home and pack them in small batches.

I really want to create a brand where I can try to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health. I have always suffered from anxiety and depression but when I take care of myself I feel much better.

I strongly believe that there is a connection between taking care of your skin and taking proper care of yourself to get relief from depression and anxiety. Additionally, most people who struggle with skin problems find their mental health and well-being affected as a result, so the two things are definitely related.

One day I would love to stock stores. I’m also now working as a business coach and consultant and I love helping other young people who are starting out, because when I started I had no idea what I was doing. I tell them everything I wish I had known in the beginning. I love helping people, it’s a really good feeling.

Looking back there are many things I would have done differently but I have no regrets. However, I would love to go back and tell myself that I should have been more self-confident.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. If my trichotillomania hadn’t gotten really bad after wasting a lot of money I never would have created the lash oil that is keeping my business afloat.

With the money it is generating I am working to expand the product range and develop better packaging and invest in more marketing, so it is definitely my savior.

I always tell people who want to start a business to never give up because you don’t know what’s going to happen for you.

As told to Charlie Jones

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