Kelly Rafique

In 2009 I qualified as an adult nurse at Southampton University. From early in my career, I have been committed to continuous professional development and patient safety. I moved back to Wiltshire and within a few years of qualifying I was promoted to junior sister, and then a few years later I was promoted to senior sister running a respiratory ward with an additional bay that had a high care respiratory capacity. In 2011 I moved to Oxford with my now husband and started my career journey in cancer and oncology. I was promoted and given the opportunity to complete a Master's in Advanced Clinical Practice with Oxford Brookes University. During this time I completed my V300 non-medical prescribing qualification and my History Taking and Physical Assessment modules. It was also during this time that we had our first child, a boy. I worked in cancer diagnostics, performing biopsies and scoping investigations on a daily basis.

In 2023 my husband and I relocated to Wales with our then two-year-old son, with a view to a lifestyle change involving village life, walks by the sea, and a smaller community of people. The move to Wales was honestly the best thing we ever could have done for our family, and we are grateful every day for the community we live in and the people we have met. Now, when we're not working, our days consist of long beach walks and continuing to explore the local area. There is always something beautiful to see, and despite living here over two years, we still find somewhere new every month. I continue to work part-time in the NHS in cancer and oncology, in a Lead Nurse role.

In January 2025 my daughter was born, and it was this major life event that started my journey into medical aesthetics. After the birth of my daughter I weighed over 20 stone, and I looked significantly older and even more exhausted than I actually felt. At the time I had no idea how much my feelings about my appearance were affecting my mental health and well-being. It is only in hindsight that I can see how much the way I looked was affecting me, and how much it was stopping me from doing things with my children. I started investing in myself and having treatments with a medically qualified practitioner who I really trusted with my face. I trusted her to make the right decisions and give me advice based on what I actually needed, rather than what would make her the most profit. It was through her recommendation, and knowing my qualifications and experience, that she suggested I take a beginner's Botox training course. After one course I was completely invested, and I realised how much I adored working in aesthetics, having recognised the way small tweaks can empower women and men to feel positive about themselves on a day-to-day basis and promote mental well-being. Over time I began to realise that aesthetics is not about beauty or looking young — it is about energy, self-confidence, and how we feel when we look at ourselves in the mirror. As with everything I do in my life, I applied myself completely to this specialty, and it came very naturally to me, given how comfortable I already was with a needle in my hand from my previous NHS role in diagnostics doing biopsies. My desire to perfect my techniques, advance my skills, and deliver incredible results for my clients has driven me nonstop over the last couple of years, and I am so incredibly grateful that my business is thriving. It's why I'm always saying I'm a terrible saleswoman but a great nurse — I'd always rather tell a client the truth about what they actually need than what would make me the most money.