What Can I Train In On Maternity Leave? A Self Employment Beauty / Permanent Makeup Option | Kandor Co.
What Can You Train In On Maternity Leave As A Beginner?
Wanting something specific, skilled, and self employed — where you control the hours and the earnings aren't capped by a salary?
I'm writing this on maternity leave with a five month old! I also have 2 other children.
Why so many of us reconsider work after a baby
It's not a small group. Roughly 58% of mums have considered starting their own business, and around 60% change jobs after maternity leave because their priorities have shifted.
It isn't usually about ambition disappearing. It's the arithmetic:
Childcare costs a significant chunk of a salary
Full time hours stop being physically possible, or stop being something you want
Flexible working requests get declined
The commute now costs you the only two hours of the day you'd see your child awake
And going back to something that no longer fits, because it's the option in front of you, is how a lot of people end up stuck for years.
Searching this topic, usually you'll get career coaching, mindset work and long lists of qualifications to browse.
None of it answers the actual questions:
What specifically can I do?
What does it actually pay?
What does it cost to start?
Can I genuinely do it with a baby, or is that a nice idea?
Let me answer those for one trade — mine.
The trade: paramedical skin camouflage - or any other beauty, permanent makeup treatment in all honesty.
Paramedical camouflage means using a tattoo machine to implant pigment into skin, reducing the visible contrast of scars, stretch marks and vitiligo.
Who the clients are: people who've had a tummy tuck, a C-section, breast surgery, an accident, burns. People with stretch marks they've covered up for fifteen years. People with vitiligo. People at the end of a long medical process who've been told nothing more can be done.
What the work is actually like: consultation, then treatment, usually across two to four sessions. Quiet, careful, one to one. It's the most rewarding work I've ever done and I'm not being sentimental about it.
Why it suits self-employment: appointments are booked as and when you choose. There's no salon rota and no employer's schedule. The clients fit in around you. You can even work from home!
The honest numbers
What you charge: UK sessions typically run £150–£400, with most clients needing 2-3 or more on complex cases.
What it costs to start:
Training £1,800–£3,000
Insurance~£15 month (with us - insane price!)
Local authority registration£100–£200, varies by council
Kit and machine - often included in training
Consumables to start - £100–£200
Realistic total: around £2,000–£3,500 to be fully trained, insured and legally able to take paying clients.
How long to earn it back: most practitioners cover the cost within their first eight to ten clients.
What a week looks like: Say you work one day a week, been established a good 6-12 months.. Four to five clients in that day, at £150–£400 each, is £600–£2,000 from one day.
I'm not going to pretend that happens immediately. Building a client base takes six to twelve months of consistent work. Anyone showing you a first year six figure screenshot is selling you something.
Can you actually do this with a baby?
This is the real question, so here's the real answer.
The learning part: yes, genuinely. Training is hybrid — online modules at your own pace, then one full day in person. You do the online side in the gaps: nap times, evenings, that hour where they're content on a mat. It takes most people one to two weeks, spread however it spreads. There's no deadline.
The in person day: it needs childcare for one day. One day. That's the honest constraint and I'd rather say it than dress it up.
Taking clients afterwards: entirely on your terms. One day a week. Two afternoons. Evenings. Your appointments, your diary.
What's genuinely hard: you will be tired. Some weeks nothing gets done. Progress isn't linear and that's normal rather than failure.
I built the hybrid format because I needed it myself. It isn't a compromise version of in person training — it's what makes it so much easier based on feedback from previous students.
Before you do anything: check how this affects your maternity pay
Training is not the same as trading, and studying usually sits differently from earning — but don't take my word for it.
GOV.UK for the current rules on maternity pay and working
Citizens Advice, free and impartial
Your employer's HR if you're employed
An accountant before you take your first payment
Is this right for you?
It probably is if:
You want to learn a new skill
You're comfortable with the idea of needles and skin — clinically, not squeamishly
You're patient. Results build across sessions and so does a client base
You want to control your hours
You like the idea of work that matters to the person in the chair
It probably isn't if:
You want income immediately. Six to twelve months is realistic
You want something entirely passive
You're not comfortable with clinical responsibility — you'll be treating people with medical histories, and turning some of them away
You have no way to cover childcare for one training day
What I'd do differently
I'd have charged properly from the start. I undercharged early, got busy, and then had to raise prices on existing clients — much harder than setting them correctly.
I'd have spent less on ads and more on answering questions. I started with £3 a week on Facebook ads and built my first clients from that. Then I was banned from Meta ads and had to rebuild everything on Google. The free things — answering what people actually search for, getting reviews, building referral relationships — outperformed the paid things consistently.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need any qualifications first? No. Existing tattooing or permanent makeup experience helps but isn't required. I teach from first principles.
How long does training take? One to two weeks of online modules at your own pace, then one full day in person.
Can I do the online part while on maternity leave? Yes
What if I'm not ready for the in person day? There's no deadline. Some people do it three weeks later, some six months later. But preferably within 12 months.
Do I need premises? No. Many practitioners rent a room by the day or work from a treatment room at home, subject to local authority registration. I can help advise on those.
Is there ongoing support after training? Yes, and it doesn't expire. Message me about a case any time.
Can I train if I'm pregnant? Yes
What if it's not for me? Tell me before you book. A conversation costs nothing and I'd rather redirect you than take a booking that won't serve you.
If you want to talk it through
Keira Walcott founded Kandor Co. and developed the Kandor Protocol. She has lived with vitiligo since she was 11 started the business with almost no money, and currently runs it a few days a week on maternity leave.