After being kicked out at 15, Georgina Tang wanted to change her narrative and bagged herself a well-paid job – but further struggles arose when she was 40 and gave birth to her son
A mum who was kicked out of home at 15 with just £1 to her name has revealed how a free bath bomb course changed her life – and led to her building a six-figure business ‘by accident.’
Georgina Tang, 62, was forced to leave her family home in 1979 after suffering years of abuse. With only enough for a bus fare, she started working as a live-in ‘mother’s help’ – desperate to avoid being placed in care.
More than four decades later, she runs a vegan, cruelty-free skincare brand turning over six figures – and it all began with her mission to help her seriously ill son.
“This was never the plan. I was just a mum who wanted to do anything I could to stop my son suffering,” she said. “Chemotherapy can be devastating for people’s skin and hair. My son was so young, I would have done anything I could to help him.”
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Her son Alessio, now 21, was born with complex medical and educational needs and developed painful psoriasis and hair loss while undergoing chemotherapy for an autoimmune condition. His skin would crack, bleed and become infected.
“I would kiss him goodnight and tuck him into bed every night, and I found clumps of hair on the pillow. I broke down in tears,” Georgina said. “It was heart-breaking to see my own child go through that.”
Determined to help him, she completed a free soap-making course and used the knowledge she gained to start creating skin-kind products at her kitchen table. What began as homemade creams and oils soon became life-changing – for not only both her and her son, but for others.
“Within a month of using my cream his skin was clear. It was life changing for him,” Georgina explained. “We had tried so many different products that when this one worked it really felt like a miracle.”
After others noticed the difference, they asked her what she was using and she began sharing it with others going through cancer treatments. “I hadn’t ever considered bottling it and selling it, I just wanted to help people,” she said
In 2015, she took voluntary redundancy from her job and took the step to launch YNNY – a beauty brand now stocked with more than 50 handmade products, including the famous Elixir serum, known to fans as “botox in a bottle.”
“I knew I had to take a leap of faith. I thought, ‘If not now, then when?’” she said. “So I quit my secured well paid management job with occupational pension to develop my natural, vegan skin and hair care business at the age of 52.”
But Georgina’s journey to success was far from smooth. Born in Hong Kong, she moved to London aged 13 to join her parents and siblings. However, she had a volatile relationship with her mother and was regularly beaten. At 15, her abusive mother gave her an ultimatum – forcing her to leave the family home, with only £1 to her name.
“I was only a child myself. I would ask myself, ‘Why me? Why do I have to suffer?’ Over the course of that very difficult period, I tried to end my life on multiple occasions but never succeeded,” she recalled.
“I took that as a sign that I had to live on and succeed. I knew that I couldn’t let what happened destroy me,” she added.
Determined to break the cycle, Georgina worked tirelessly – studying A-levels at night while washing dishes, then earning degrees in psychology, sociology and housing. By 39, she was deputy chief executive at a housing trust, and eventually saved enough to buy her own home and six more properties, as well as investing in the stock market.
“I remember thinking, I’m not giving up. That’s not my character,” she said. “I became a workaholic because I had no money when I was young so I was always working and saving money.”
She later met her husband, Andrea, while working nights in a Chinese restaurant, and gave birth to Alessio in 2003, when she was 40. He weighed 11lb 3oz, and the delivery was traumatic, leaving them both critically ill – she became semi-conscious due to a massive loss of blood, and Alessio stopped breathing.
“If I have my last breath, I would give it to Alessio so that he lives,” she said. “By prioritising Alessio and devoting my life to him, he is thriving and achieving the impossible.”
Doctors were unable to fully diagnose Alessio, but as more symptoms appeared, his consultant coined it, “Alessio syndrome”. He suffered from five types of seizures and needed round-the-clock care.
“He needed 24/7 nursing care as he stopped breathing without any warnings… I devoted my whole life to my son, I worked 7 days a week and about 18 – 20 hours a day for years,” she said. “I taught Alessio after work and at the weekends to help him to catch up with his peers.”
When the chemotherapy triggered painful skin issues, Georgina stepped in. The body butters she made reduced his psoriasis so much he was discharged from dermatology, and her shampoo stopped his hair loss. Soon, everyone she knew was asking for her handmade creations. She started selling at school fetes and eventually launched YNNY officially, with a mission to help more people.
The brand now offers white-label services, meaning world-renowned brands and celebrities buy her award-winning formulas under their own branding. That side of the business has become the most profitable.
“Now, I have gone on to win numerous awards, I have developed white label products for famous celebrities and influencers,” Georgina said. “I’m so proud that something I created has gone on to be loved by, and that has helped, so many people.”
At the 2025 National Beauty Awards, she scooped Best Hair Product, Best Skincare Product and Best Beauty Entrepreneur, and was shortlisted for CEO of the Year, Best Wellness Business and Best Beauty product.
Today, she runs YNNY HQ in Liverpool with a small team of three members and is driven by one mission: to leave a legacy for Alessio. She said, “This business provides for our family and l want to leave a legacy for Alessio when both my husband and I are no longer here.
“This is all thanks to my son for inspiring me to create hair products to stimulate hair growth and shea butter balm to cure his psoriasis.” And against all the odds of consultants saying he wouldn’t live past the age of one – Alessio is now 21 years old.
Georgina says the key to her success is “never looking back” and “always remember when you hit rock bottom the only way is up.”
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Source: Mirror
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