I was a counsellor to young offenders making £100 a day – now I’m a celeb facialist Rochelle Humes & Abbey Clancy love

IT’S not every day someone goes from counselling young offenders to an A-list facialist, but that’s Shane Cooper’s story.

The 33-year-old, from Weston-super-Mare, trained as a custody officer at Medway Secure Training centre after leaving school.

CollectsShane Cooper, 33, worked as a custody officer in Weston-super-Mare before completely retraining in the beauty industry[/caption]

InstagramHe’s now a celeb facialist to the likes of Rochelle Humes[/caption]

At 19, he was working with teens who had committed serious crimes and been given sentences, ranging in age from 12 to 18.

He then moved into the youth offending services team, doing one-on-one intervention work with teens who needed help with substance abuse and mental health issues.

Shane tells Fabulous: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time but my auntie worked in the secure training centre and would always tell me about how inspiring it is helping young people.

“I found the job extremely enjoyable. Being able to help young people manage their moods, explore their emotions and have a positive impact on their lives was very rewarding.

“Sometimes it could be quite challenging and high risk, especially when the young people didn’t want to engage but needed to as part of their sentence.

“That would happen on occasion and sometimes you would experience a lot of anger and aggression.”

In total, Shane worked in the prison service for five years and in the community for two, with an initial salary of £26,000.

But then he had a complete change of heart, after his mum had her first non-surgical facial and “fell in love with it”.

Shane says: “She decided she wanted to have a machine at home. As it was a clinical machine, myself, my mum and my sister had to go away to do a two-week training.

“We all passed and I started doing treatments on my mum, her friends and my aunties.

“I started to realise that doing the face treatments was like doing therapy, while making people feel more confident in their own skin.

“Though word of mouth and posting images on Facebook, my work got noticed and I began getting booked up.

“I used to do home visits by putting the machine in the back of my car and going to clients’ hotels and homes.

“As that business grew, I went part-time in my other job and then eventually full-time in facials.”

InstagramShane’s also worked with Line of Duty star Vicky McClure[/caption]

CollectsHe says he learned transferable skills by working with young offenders[/caption]

Shane opened a clinic in Essex, travelling to London when he worked with celebs.

He says: “It got to the point where my waiting list was over three months and I felt like I was working 24/7.

“It took a good five to six years of consistent work to have what we needed to set up a private clinic in Kensington and we’ve been here for three years – it’s fantastic.”

His celeb clients now include Nicola Roberts, Rochelle Humes, Lily Allen, Emily Atack, Rita Ora, Laura Whitmore, Maya Jama, Abbey Clancy, Emma Bunton, Emma Willis, Demi Rose, Hannah Waddinham, Jessie J, Niall Horan, Phoebe Dynevor, Sienna Miller and Vicky McClure.

He charges up to £1,600 for his “VIP bespoke head to toe treatment” and £900 for a bespoke face treatment.

Shane says: “I’ve looked after people in the public eye from very early on in my career. Word of mouth is a huge part of that.

“I have around 22 different medical machines and completely tailor a treatment to the individual.

“The skills and development I learned within my first job is, I believe, a huge part of why I am where I am today.

“It’s understanding human beings on a different level and adapting those skills that I didn’t get taught in the beauty industry.

“But when I switched careers, I felt more appreciated and it was fun. Working for yourself is very empowering.

“I’ve also been able to travel to lots of different places and met some of the closest people in my life through this industry.”

InstagramMaya Jama is also a fan of Shane’s work[/caption]