- What is your name and what is the name of your business?
My name is Dawn Forshaw and my company at Freshmill is Finishing Touches Group.
- What does the business do and who are your customers?
My business is very niche. We specialise in putting colour back into people’s skin through medical micropigmentation, which is also known as medical tattooing. For example, if someone has undergone breast reconstruction surgery, we can provide the finishing touches – excuse the pun – by recreating a natural-looking areola. We also help people camouflage scars following surgery, injury or trauma, helping them regain confidence in their appearance.
The other side of the business focuses on hair loss. We carry out scalp micropigmentation, often working alongside hair restoration surgeons. For people who don’t have enough hair for a transplant, we can create the appearance of greater density, making the hair look fuller. We also help women experiencing thinning hair by creating the illusion of increased hair density through what we call follicular enhancement.
Essentially, we add colour wherever colour is missing, whether that’s on the scalp, face or body.
- What’s the history of the business & what’s your role within the business?
The company has been going for more than 25 years now. It actually started when I owned a wig and hairpiece business, so even then we were helping people get their confidence back by giving them their hair back. In many ways, that’s still what we do today.
It all began because one of my clients asked if I could help her with her eyebrows. I went away and trained in eyebrow tattooing, and that naturally became another service we offered. But I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and I wasn’t happy with the equipment that was available at the time, so I designed my own. Then I wasn’t happy with the pigments either, so I ended up manufacturing those as well.
Initially the business was much more focused on cosmetic treatments, but over time it evolved into something much more meaningful. My real passion became medical micropigmentation – helping people after breast reconstruction, disguising traumatic scars and supporting people experiencing hair loss. As that side of the business grew, I started knocking on the doors of hospitals, and eventually we became an NHS supplier.
Today we offer both cosmetic and medical micropigmentation, as well as professional training from our studio just over the road. I’m incredibly lucky to have Gemma, my right-hand woman, who has been with me for 15 years. She probably knows more about the business than I do! I’m very much the ideas person, while Gemma is brilliant at turning those ideas into reality, so we make a great team.
Alongside that, I have a network of independent trainers who come to Haywards Heath to deliver our courses, as well as satellite training centres across the UK.
Four times a year we also run a camouflage cream course for Polly Miller’s Charity – she herself was a survivor of the Bali nightclub bombing in 2002. We run a pro bono course to train the NHS nurses how to apply camouflage makeup onto scars which is waterproof and sweat proof, as well as how to look after skin that has been damaged.
One of the things I’m most proud of is the amount of work we do on a pro bono basis. We’ve worked with torture survivors, burn victims and people who have been through cancer treatment, helping them feel more like themselves again. Seeing the difference that can make to someone’s confidence and quality of life is incredibly rewarding.
- How long have you had an office/dedicated desk/flexi pass here at Freshmill and why were you looking for a space like this?
We have had an office here for about 6 months. Originally, I owned the building over the road with four units but they have been taken on by a furniture company who needed the space and so I just have a small studio over the road now where I can do treatments and train practitioners. Freshmill was a better fit for us because I didn’t like leaving Gemma alone in an office while I was away travelling.
- Why does Freshmill work well for you and your business?
The community here is fantastic. If one of us is in the office on our own for the day, we’re never really on our own because there’s always someone to chat to. It’s nice to have those little interactions throughout the day rather than sitting in complete isolation.
From a practical point of view, it’s also really helpful because we’re constantly sending and receiving parcels. We don’t have to worry about being in the office every time a delivery arrives because there’s always someone here during office hours to accept them.
I also love the breakout spaces. They’re really well designed and create such a pleasant environment to work in. It just makes coming into work much more enjoyable.
- What is the most important lesson you have gained from your career so far?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is never to give up. There is almost always a solution to a problem – it’s just a case of being determined enough to find it.
A good example was during lockdown. We were the first industries to close and the last to reopen, and it was an incredibly difficult and stressful time. Many of my competitors decided they couldn’t carry on. Finding a way through was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but we kept looking for opportunities. We found new markets, adapted the business and started developing new products.
One of those new ventures is through my second company, Biocosmetical. We’ve developed a fantastic skin-safe spray using hypochlorous acid that protects from infection, killing all infection in 30 seconds. It’s incredibly versatile. Whether you’ve cut yourself on the beach, you’re a sportsperson who picks up the odd scrape, or you’re working in the military, it’s a product with so many practical applications. I genuinely think it’s the sort of SOS spray that should be in every household’s first aid kit.
I worked alongside an army medic and a doctor to develop it, so it’s been a real collaboration, and I’m incredibly proud of the end result. I can’t wait to bring it to market. At the moment, though, my priority is getting our office move finished, and then I’ll be able to give this exciting new product the attention it deserves.
- Where do you hope to be in 5 years’ time?
Retired… well, sort of! I don’t think I’ll ever completely stop working because I genuinely enjoy what I do. But in five years’ time, I’d like to be in a position where I can choose the projects I work on rather than working a traditional Monday-to-Friday schedule.
My husband and I have a house in Cyprus, and we’ve recently gained residency there, so I’d love to spend much more time enjoying that lifestyle. I also have ideas for setting up a supplies business there. For me, it’s about having the freedom to work because I want to, not because I have to.
- What advice would you give your younger self just starting out?
I have four granddaughters and I tell them to do something you want to do, that you are passionate about, but do it at 110%. Because 95% of people are lukewarm, and you have to have that edge to stand out. It only comes from within and it only works if you enjoy what you are doing, so when work becomes a passion it is easier. Oh, and you need some luck too, that helps as well!
- What is your favourite quote/mantra?
This is an easy one. ‘We put colour back into the skin, to help put colour back into people’s lives’. Doing what we do, we can make people cry with joy and that is a real privilege. Many people who find us have been through trauma of some kind, be it cancer or injury, and helping to improve their lives is brilliant.
- If you could, who would you switch places with for the day, and why?
I would switch with a hair restoration/medical surgeon called Felix Popescu, who is based in Romania. He is amazing. He treated every patient from a night club fire in Bucharest for free. He drives a Harley Davidson and looks like a biker. He is really unusual, he does not look like he belongs in the surgical world but his care for people is amazing. And his work is extraordinarily good. In Bucharest, they do not have the money for speciality equipment that some other countries have so they need to be really good with their hands, which he is. His empathy, his look, his approach….He is my idol.
