Sarah Brown

Whilst looking for a solution to a prolonged skin allergy, she noticed the lack of truly natural products on the market. This inspired her to create her own range of hand-made, chemical-free creams.

After completing a history degree at Nottingham University, Sarah found herself working in PR for seven years. She says that the combination of doing a non-vocational degree and the lack of visible alternatives to conventional career paths left her without any clear idea of what she wanted to do.

As the idea for Pai started to take shape, Sarah realised that she would have to completely retrain. She undertook a series of courses in skincare manufacturing and spent the next 18 months researching ingredients and exhaustively trialling her recipes on willing friends. At the end of 2006, she was finally ready to launch an initial range of six products.

Sarah was fortunate to have supportive family and friends who encouraged her to go for it, but she still had to finance the whole venture herself. Her background and contacts in PR provided her not only with part-time freelance work, but also a wealth of experience in building a brand.

Getting Pai up and running has been an all-consuming process and Sarah can only imagine putting that amount of work and effort into something she is truly passionate about. She is a firm believer that if you’ve got a good idea you should have the courage of your convictions and go for it.

Sarah takes her inspiration from other small business owners; to her their success seems more tangible - and attainable - than that of the famous entrepreneurs. She is convinced there are lots of great role models out there, it’s just that they need to be more visible. She is always looking to make contacts and learn from others and to this end she has joined a corporate social responsibility network called CSR Chicks.

With a dedicated client base already in place, Sarah has high hopes for the future. She plans to look for investment to enable Pai to grow and her next major landmark is to gain Soil Association organic accreditation. She is also looking to create both men’s and mother & baby ranges. Her long-term ambition is to make Pai the most respected organic and ethical skincare product on the market, whilst keeping the company privately-owned and true to its founding principles.