Women of Vision is a series of interviews with business women we admire. Visionary women are accessible and inspirational to others in daily life as mentors, friends, advisers, and role models. As part of our Women of vision series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women working here in Ireland. This doesn’t require a certain business title, specific wardrobe, or special permission. Women in Ireland have a strong entrepreneurial spirit: the rate of female early stage entrepreneurs in Ireland is the 5th highest in Europe. The agility and resilience of women in business in recent times has been a testament to their strength and courage.
Award-winning journalist, beauty editor and business owner, Liz Dwyer has reported on beauty and aesthetics for over 20 years, predominately at IMAGE magazine, The Irish Times and at TV3. She set up Beauty bootcamp in the noughties and PR + Brand Lab in 2015. In 2019, she joined forces with my sister Nikki Dwyer, a corporate lawyer to set up and run our business Future Beauty Show.
Tell us about your business? Future beauty Show is the world’s first live event dedicated to educating the public all about aesthetic medicine, tweakments, cosmetic dentistry and plastic surgery.
Who to go to, what to have done, and what’s really worth the investment? Think of it as a Web Summit for the medical beauty world. It’s hosted in Dublin’s RDS annually and next year will launch in the UK too. It attracts up to 6000 visitors, 80 exhibitors and 70 leading medical experts who discuss and demonstrate all the latest in aesthetic medicine, technology and medical beauty on the various stages. Having all of Ireland’s best aesthetic doctors, dermatologists, plastic surgeons, dentists and nurses in one place, is unprecedented, and the best spot to meet them all in one swoop and try new tweakments.
Who is your target customer?
Regular women, just like Nikki and I, who want to find solutions for helping with issues that irritate them – from broken veins to post-partum bodies, wrinkles to wobbly bits, hair loss to chipped teeth. We are not about chasing some Love Island false beauty ideal, rather just helping women (30-65 years old) make safe and effective aesthetic choices. Choices that will deliver the results they desire and most importantly find trustworthy practitioners, as the industry is riddled with cowboys in white coats masquerading as experts. The world is changing rapidly and many of the treatments we are seeing women want can be done in their lunch hour.
Have you always been entrepreneurial?
Yes – I was selling scrunchies in school at 7, was working part time since 12 and had a pretty profitable fake ID racket going for most of secondary school!!
I set up my first official business, Beauty Bootcamp at 27 but kept working full time in media too until 2019 as I was too afraid to put all my eggs in one basket. Then just when I finally got the nerve and decided to put all my energy into Future Beauty in 2019, Covid came and smashed my shell!
Where did the idea for your business come from?
From constantly answering DM,’s emails and queries from strangers and friends about what is the best treatment to have to solve X concern and who is the best doctor or clinic to go to have it done. I realised the appetite for aesthetics was massive, yet the information and advice surrounding it scant and biased.
Who has been your biggest inspiration in growing your business?
I remember interviewing Francois Nars about 15 years ago in France, and he had just sold his make -up range, NARS, to Shiseido for a few million and had bought a private island in French Polynesia with the pay-out. I was like, “right, I want a private exotic island someday too, how do I get there?” I’m still working towards the island dream, and everyone scoffs when I say it… but just look at Richard Branson – people scoffed at him too!
What do you love most about having your own business?
Meeting scientists and doctors breaking new ground with stem cell, fat cell, PRP laser, ultrasound and radio frequency technology. I totally geek out on that stuff. And I could listen to surgeons and dermatologists talk all day about skin biopsies and their plastic cases. I’m fascinated by it all. I think that is why Future beauty is successful. I have a natural interest and a strong passion.
If any, what challenges have you experienced as a woman in business during your overall career?
None – possibly because my world is run predominantly by females for females. I’d say it’s more challenging for males in my industry. Empowered women empower women.
What are the most important things to progressing as the owner of a business?
Expanding your network. Even if I’m exhausted and floored with work, I force myself to go to launches, conferences or events. You always meet someone or pick up some information or a business card that can help you on your business journey. I find initially, it might not even be an obvious connection but six months later I often get these “ah ha I’m glad I went to that as now I know what to do/ who to call” moments. Face to face networking is even more important now after the past few years of us all living behind screens. Women are incredible at face to face networking especially in informal environments.
What has been the most significant thing you have done to grow your business?
PR, PR, PR. We joke we’re worse than politicians on election week, as we’re on the media circuit as much as them but it’s the most cost-effective way to get word out there and also communicate your brand message directly, so nothing gets lost in translation. It is important to be as engaged as you can with the public, but in a structured way.
What have been some make or break moments in your career? Important client meetings, presentations, procurement pitches etc
I think my first appearance on TV, on RTE’s Off the Rails, back in 2007 was pretty pivotal. From there on in, I spent years contributing to TV3 and RTE across loads of TV and radio shows and became synonymous with beauty and aesthetics on a national level, which I used as a springboard to build my other businesses upon. It was a natural progression fuelled by immeasurable passion
What is your number 1 tip for anyone struggling to overcome entrepreneurial overwhelm and keep going?
Stop. Drink some wine, possibly lots of it. Seriously though, take some time, do something that brings you joy then start again tomorrow, next week, or whenever you feel ready to hit the ground running again. I do this a lot. It’s rarely a continuous trajectory.
To find out more https://futurebeautyshow.com/