In a 40-year career working for some of the biggest names in cosmetics, beauty and fashion, Jacqui Gale admits she has made her fair share of mistakes.

However, Jacqui - chief executive of Wax Lyrical, in Ulverston, and 2020’s in-Cumbria Businessperson of the Year - says the key has been to learn from her mistakes rather than regret them.

“You have to be brave and you will make mistakes, but it’s about how you handle those and what you do about them,” she says.

“I think I’ve always just been taught to take each day as it comes. We obviously have to fix what’s wrong but I’ve also learned to focus on what’s right more than what’s wrong.”

Born to hard working parents who ran small businesses such as mobile shops in Edinburgh, Jacqui’s family emigrated to Canada when she was two before she returned to the UK and studied Applied Chemistry at Napier College (now Napier University,) a decision driven by her desire to form her own cosmetics company.

To get a taste of the industry, Jacqui went to work for Estee Lauder, first in Scotland and then as its area sales manager in London, a period which she says opened her eyes to how to innovate in business.

Today incentive programmes for customers are commonplace, but the Estee Lauder group was one of the first brands to introduce them during Jacqui’s time there.

“It was just a matter of looking at things differently and how they were presented,” she says.

“What was important to say about the product to make sure the consumer got it right. It seems like really simple things, but it was quite innovative at that time.”

After joining its management training programme she became its sales and training manager, working for the company for nearly 10 years until 1991.

She then joined beauty brand Revlon as national training manager and then national account controller before taking on another similar role at Pretty Polly in 1996.

“All of those three companies were different,” says Jacqui.

SG made £18m in its first year, with Jacqui becoming chief executive of Falk&Ross now owned by a private equity company.

During the two years she was chief executive, Falk&Ross nearly tripled its business with Jacqui travelling to work in Germany every week.

“I loved working in a German company, very clear as far as process, there’s always an end goal, there’s always a path and you know exactly where you stand,” she says.

She says the company also increasingly adopted technology as part of its growth strategy, including introducing online ordering and dynamic pricing - particularly relevant with the price of raw materials such as cotton constantly shifting after the Great Crash of 2008.

“We were innovative and did things that were a little different and a little risky but it really paid off,” she says.

Although the product focus may have changed over the years, Jacqui says the fundamentals of running a successful business remain the same.

“In business it’s not so much what you sell but the principles that go behind it,” she says.

“It was understanding the business and what you needed to do to drive it, not necessarily knowing or having experience of the product. If you’re going to sell a T-shirt where is that going to be? Is it in the best location? It’s the same basic principles applied to a different product.

“It helps if you love the product you sell and I’ve never worked with anything I don’t love.”

In 2013 she then took on another chief executive role at online bath and body care retailer and global brand Crabtree&Evelyn, swapping her commute to Germany for one to London, plus a large amount of international travel.

A move to another chief executive position at Arran Aromatics, based on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland allowed Jacqui to return home in 2015 before she left and launched her own company JG International.

A one-woman company (the JG stands for Jacqui Gale) acted as a consultancy for national and global businesses, with clients including international brands, retail chains and private equity firms.

The business had begun to reach the point where she was considering taking on more support when the opportunity arose to become chief executive of Wax Lyrical, in Ulverston, which employs 154 people and was purchased by Portmeirion, based in Stoke, for £17.5m in 2016.

“Wax Lyrical is a sleeping giant of Cumbria,” says Jacqui, who joined in July 2018.

“For the first couple of years it has been about repositioning and telling the story. We have an incredible story, Wax Lyrical has been around for 40 years and done really well despite some tough times.

“A lot of people who work there have been there many years because they love it and it’s a great place to be. I would love my legacy for Wax Lyrical to be better than when I joined.”

Things are definitely on-track for her wish to come true at present, with a £1.5m expansion of the factory being unveiled this month. (June)

Wax Lyrical, already known for producing scented candles and diffusers, is also launching a whole new category of personal care products.

This new part of the business grew out of its work to produce hand sanitiser during the coronavirus pandemic, an operation which the business undertook in a matter of days and which brought home to it the potential for diversifying into personal goods.

“I am so proud of the team for making this work,” says Jacqui.

“Doing all this when there have been so many restrictions, they have worked phenomenally hard. It is future-proofing the factory and hopefully the people as well.”

Simultaneously, Jacqui has also taken on the role of chief commercial officer for Portmeirion all at the same time as studying for and gaining an MBA focused on leading innovation and change.

Jacqui now lives in Cumbria during the week, returning to Edinburgh - her home with her husband and two children (now 17 and 20 years old) at the weekends.

She is a keen advocate for business and was made a GlobalScot by the Scottish Government in 2016, a role which involves work to network and help other businesses become involved in international trade.

She also mentors three business owners and was named Mentor of the Year 2018 in the Scottish Business Awards.

This has all taken place alongside work as a key speaker for the Edinburgh University business school and work as a trustee and non-executive director of With Kids - which supports disadvantaged children and their families in Edinburgh and Glasgow - and cancer care charity Maggie’s.

“I think ‘Would I ever want to stop?’ and the answer is no,” she says.

“I think my boss would have to tell me to stop.

“Particularly with something like Wax Lyrical and Portmeirion the potential is just phenomenal. It would be great to be able to take Wax Lyrical and really show the world what we can do.”

The factory already generates power using its own wind turbine, as well as recycling all its water and is planning to remove plastics from its products.

“You can still make a really great product by doing the right things,” says Jacqui.

“People will buy locally a lot more going forward or from a trusted source, sustainability is important for us in terms of how we can do things differently. It’s all about giving people trust in what we’re doing.

“We are very much taking a global approach and so we will be looking to enhance our global presence and a lot of that will be through the fact we’re made in the UK and we’re a sustainable business.”