Stephanie Kelsey says running her own business is ’fun’ as she takes the rough with the smooth with her one-woman enterprise.

The determined Manxwoman has invented a product, registered in the name Beach Powder, which removes sand from people’s feet.

She describes it as an ’all-natural, talc-free sand-removing powder made from a mixture of plant and mineral powders’ and the ’perfect lifestyle product for parents who want their beach days to go smoothly’.

Ms Kelsey, aged 47, already has stockists in dozens of independent shops in the Isle of Man, across the British Isles, USA, Europe and even outlets in Kenya, Switzerland and the Bahamas.

Her products are called Beach Powder and Beach Powder Shimmer.

Business News caught up with the Douglas entrepreneur on the beach at Port Erin where she has sponsored the Foraging Vintners’ ’beach bar’ outside the Cosy Nook.

The business is a new departure for Ms Kelsey who used to run her own French tuition business.

She said she was inspired to do something after taking her two daughters Graihagh and Breesha down to the beach.

She said: ’I went to the beach with my children and I used to think: ’’wouldn’t you think somebody could come up with something that makes it easier to get rid of sand from the skin. It’s always the worst bit particularly when you have got kids. Because it hurts, it’s like sandpaper on their feet when you’re trying to get the sand off.

’And nobody wants to bring the sand home in the car and then the next minute it’s on the kitchen floor and in the bathroom.’

Ms Kelsey said she started doing some research and it took her six to nine months to come up with the formula for the product she now produces herself from her workshop in the capital.

She said: ’I realised I had a product that really works and then registered an Isle of Man company. I dealt with the branding myself with the help of some local friends including an artist and an interior designer.’

She registered the company, set up the website and began selling the product in April last year.

She said it had been ’frustrating’ this year because she had plans for a ’full run at it’. She had planned to talk to retailers at the end of the winter when they start doing their ordering ’but then Covid happened’. She added: ’My business model has always been to concentrate on retail rather than direct sales so since I’ve started I’ve got the product into about 100 independent shops.

’Running your own business is such fun isn’t it,’ said Ms Kelsey in between showing some beach-goers how to use Beach Powder which says on the packet, ’’leaving the beach doesn’t have to be rough’’.

She was grateful for a grant and some mentoring from the Department for Enterprise’s scheme for business start-ups ’which has been very helpful’.

Ms Kelsey said: ’I’m really proud to be Manx and I often say that Beach Powder was inspired by the beautiful beaches of the Isle of Man which is absolutely true.

’Often people are surprised when people realise we have beautiful beaches, and then I mention the UNESCO biosphere and that’s why I’m determined the products are eco-friendly.

’So I publicise the Isle of Man as much as I can when people ask where I’m from.’

She revealed that when she has visited trade shows in the UK she has often borrowed a small sample of sand from her favourite beach at Peel to use as part of her demonstration of her invention, remembering to return it afterwards.

At one show she bumped into Leigh-Anne from the girl group Little Mix, and she sang the praises of the product. Ms Kelsey is hoping the trade shows can once again get back on track as she works towards her dream of clinching a deal with a retail chain in the future.

She might well have the formula for success.