How past beauty student has created successful business in the heart of Cardigan

Zoe Garbett is the founder and owner of Cardigan based beauty salon, The Retreat. Her salon is a sanctuary for beauty and relaxation with Zoe and her team specialising in treatments such as massage, manicure, pedicure, laser hair removal and much more.

She began her journey in the industry back in 2016, when she studied a Level 3 Diploma in Beauty Therapy Massage Route at Coleg Ceredigion at their Cardigan campus. Zoe initially achieved her level one and two of the course from when she studied at Coleg Sir Gâr.

Zoe says she loved her time studying at college and met new people including her current employee Lucy Jenkins who specialises in waxing and nails at the busy salon.

Zoe said: “When me and Lucy were in college we were in a small group so the lessons were very intimate and we got on really well with the lecturers, they were so friendly which was really nice.

“We got to work with clients, so it was great to have clients come in because that’s a big part of our industry and it builds confidence. My confidence grew so much between my first client in college to my last and it was really nice for the lecturers to be there as we were always asking questions. It gave me really good practice for the outside world.”

After leaving college, Zoe opened her own business which she ran from her home,  then after the coronavirus pandemic she opened the doors to her own salon in Cardigan that brought beauty and relaxation under one roof.

Zoe says although there are many courses available that you can do in a day, she believes it’s really important to attend college.

She said: “There are so many courses available that you can do training on but I think it’s really important that people still go to college as there’s that depth in learning and there’s a good support network while you’re studying what you love. My advice would be to find what your passion is and what you really like to do and try to stick to what you love doing.”

The Retreat salon is based in unit 8, Canolfan Teifi in Cardigan town.