Seventy-two-year-old Eve Taylor broke the mould when she launched her own business during the 1960s.
Eve Taylor Aromatherapy was the brainchild of the entrepreneurial mother-of-five who was determined to bring a little femininity into her male-dominated world more than 36 years ago.
She started the business in 1968 to satisfy the demand for quality aromatherapy products, within what was then a niche market. In fact, her first salon in London was opened by long-standing Coronation Street actor Johnny Briggs, alias Mike Baldwin.
Eve Taylor Aromatherapy oils are now used all over the world to relax, stimulate, detox, soothe sensitive skin and sore muscles and for bubble baths, freshening up and many other uses.
Today the company has grown to become the leader of the aromatherapy market, while Eve has become the doyenne of the profession.
She is so committed to impeccable quality that the standards of her products have practically become industry standard benchmarks.
Originally based in South London, Eve also owned and ran hair and beauty salons together with a health food store. As interest in aromatherapy and natural products grew, many saw Eve as the forerunner, and as the company expanded, it eventually outgrew its premises and relocated to Werrington, Peterborough, in the early '90s.
The company now employs 10 people from the Peterborough area, and enjoys an annual turnover of between £600,000 and £800,000.
It was Eve's concern for standards of training and knowledge of aromatherapy professionals together with her reputation as a teacher of aromatherapy which led her to establish the Institute of Clinical Aromatherapy in 1981, which is registered with the Aromatherapy Organisations Council.
Not only does Eve devote time to the Institute of Clinical Aromatherapy, but she has been co-chief examiner for the City & Guilds of
London Institute for Beauty Therapy, the first Secretary of Education for the Confederation of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (BABTAC) and the chairman of BABTAC.
She has also written a book on Face, Figure and Fashion, all about skincare for school leavers, and spent years lecturing about healthy skin.
Even now, more than three decades on, Eve remains as dynamic and impassioned as ever, travelling the world training and teaching others.
Her dedication has earned her a Lifetime Achievement Award this year from Dermalogica and the International Dermal Institute, for her contribution to the beauty industry.
And Eve had words of encouragement for women in Peterborough who want to embark on the challenge of a lifetime.
She said: "Go for it. Be prepared to study
"I'm still studying now. And be prepared to put yourself out and to work hard.
"I work seven days most weeks, but I love my work and I love my life.
"Unfortunately, there are now so many new rules,
regulations and directives coming from Brussels. It all means a lot of red tape for people setting up a business.
"But setting up my business was one of the best things I've done in my life. Running a business can be a straight road at times, and at others times the road may criss-cross. But you have to take the good with the bad. It's certainly worth it."