I was 16 & pregnant when I first moved into a council flat – people find it hard to believe as I’m so successful now
A MUM who first moved into a council flat at the age of 16 has revealed how she has turned her life around and now wants to encourage others.
Stacey had her first baby at the age of 17 and explained that she didn’t have any GCSEs at the time.
But since then, the mum is now self-employed with a successful beauty business and training academy and owns her own home.
She took to her TikTok page @speakingwithstacey to share her story, and one of her videos has since gone viral attracting over 1.1 million views.
Stacey shared pictures of her housing journey, which first started off by showing her council flat she lived in at the age of 16.
She then went on to explain that she moved into two more council houses, and “settled for any job from the age of 18.”
But when Stacey was 27, she decided to focus on studying beauty before working as a beautician.
However, it wasn’t so easy for her as “child care was a struggle” so she decided to go self employed and create her own beauty business.
By the time she was 30, Stacey bought a house and built a salon on the side of it.
She says: “I got told when I left my apprenticeship at 16, I had ruined my life.
“I went from no GCSEs, to doing childcare at 24 [and] hating it, to finding a career I loved at 27.”
Stacey continues: “I set goals, visualise it happening and worked all hours to make it happen.
And despite having “a few setbacks,” Stacey was determined to not let anything stop her from succeeding.
Now, Stacey is 33 and owns her own beauty business, home and a car that is hers.”
She also has a training academy and a podcast.
Stacey says: “Nothing is impossible, it’s never too late to start.
Here’s me wondering if I should resit my GCSEs at 26 and feeling too old for it but you’ve inspired me to sort my life out! Needed to see this
TikTok user
“You can get what you want if you believe.”
The video attracted lots of attention with over 900 people rushing to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “You should be speaking in schools.
“Such an inspiration.”
To which Stacey replied: “I get told this a lot.
Another added: “I’m there also, didn’t know what I wanted, had a baby, left my relationship and now onto creating my holistic therapies business, it happens.”
A third said: “Well done now safeguard your hard work, put it all into trust so no man takes your hard work we never know our future but safeguarding.
“Your hard work always pays off.”
Someone else added: “Yessss girl.
“Here’s me wondering if I should resit my GCSEs at 26 and feeling too old for it but you’ve inspired me to sort my life out! Needed to see this.”
What It's Really Like Growing Up On A Council Estate
Fabulous reporter, Leanne Hall, recalls what it's like growing up in social housing.
As someone who grew up in a block of flats on a council estate, there are many wild stories I could tell.
From seeing a neighbour throw dog poo at the caretaker for asking them to mow their lawn (best believe they ended up on the Jeremy Kyle show later in life) to blazing rows over packages going missing, I’ve seen it all.
While there were many times things kicked off, I really do believe most of the time it’s because families living on council estates get to know each other so well, they forget they’re neighbours and not family.
Yes, things can go from zero to 100 quickly, but you know no matter what you can rely on your neighbour to borrow some milk or watch all of the kids playing outside.
And if you ask me, it’s much nicer being in a tight community where boundaries can get crossed than never even knowing your neighbour’s name while living on a fancy street.