While most parents are perfectly happy when their teenage children do well at school and earn a little extra money at weekends, Mr and Mrs Thomson have one more reason to be proud of their daughter, Ellen. A model student, now aged 18, she has been running her own beauty shop for the last eighteen months.‘I used to think I’d have the same career as my parents,’ says Ellen whose mum and dad are both lawyers. ‘Two years ago, I did a make-up and beauty course during the summer, mainly for fun, and because some of my school friends went on it, too. But after the first class, I got really interested. Even before the course was over, I asked my parents to help me turn a small part of our basement into a make-up studio so that I could practise my new skills.’At the beginning, Ellen did the work for free. ‘I spent all my free time learning more about make-up and hairdressing and practised on my friends before parties. They had to bring their own cosmetics.’ This changed a few months later when her friends’ mothers heard about Ellen’s new skills and started coming to her mini-studio. ‘I was so happy I told them I could do the job for free, but they paid me anyway.’Now, just two months before she finishes school, Ellen says it has been difficult to work and study at the same time. ‘I’ve been determined to keep doing well at school even though I know my parents would understand if my grades were a little lower. It’s been really hard but so far my schoolwork hasn’t got worse at all.’ Ellen also admits that for the last few weeks she has been spending less time in her studio to revise for the final exams. ‘Although I’m absolutely convinced that I’ll go on running the beauty shop, I also want to keep my options open for the future, so I’ll do my best to get good exam results. In a longer-term perspective, I might try to get a place at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where I could train to become a professional make-up artist and work for the film industry.’3 Ellen started to earn money ...