You might have seen some hype surrounding our new Beauty Breakthrough competition – a year long paid internship split between PZ Cussons, House PR and of course with us on the ELLE beauty desk. So here on EBT we’re celebrating all things entrepreneurial; hence we asked Krista Madden (owner of beautyandthedirt.com, The Beauty Lounge and Handpicked Media) the secrets to her success.

What’s the best part about being your own boss?

Being able to drive forward my ideas. Seeing your ideas come to life is a good feeling.

What sort of characteristics do you need in order to become a success in business?

You have to be very determined, responsible and patient. Businesses don’t appear overnight.

What advice would you give someone who is starting out in their career?

Pick one direction to begin with and focus all of your attention on it. My career seems to have happened rather organically, leading to what I do now, but not all paths are straightforward.

What’s the best advice you were given?

To network and be nice to people – it may sound cliché but it’s true and it paid off, I am still working with some of the same people I dealt with 20 years ago.

Click here for Beauty and the Dirt, here for The Beauty Lounge and here for Hand Picked Media