01/09/2026
Oh Dear.
Boy have I procrastinated in true Ellie style writing this post. I am still in denial , but I don’t want to hold back on giving space for excitement where it is due, even though it comes with great sadness to tell you our beautiful Ness is leaving!
Ness has been on the Lumi journey on and off since it really first began. She was one of my very first tanning clients. Back then it was all about who could wear the tiniest bikini and have the darkest tan, complete with a shimmer shot from the Annand St ghetto salon and a lil walk over to The Glad Hotel for comp time of which many I judged!
Somehow, all these years later, Ness became one of the biggest parts of Lumi and one of the most important people in my life. When I think about what we have actually done together, it honestly makes me a little emotional. We have done SO much. Huge weddings, travelling overseas for work, creating things I never imagined Lumi would be doing and figuring it all out along the way. There have been so many moments where I have looked around and thought, “how the f**k did we get here?” and Ness has been standing beside me through so many of them.
Individually we are very different people and I’m sure we have absolutely annoyed the s**t out of each other over the years, but somehow it has just worked. She has balanced me, grounded me and challenged me.
Although I will never forgive her for making me go on that giant death-defying swing in New Zealand by myself because she flat out refused to go with me after me buying her a ticket!
But honestly, I think that’s what I’ll remember most. Not just what we achieved, but all the little moments in between. The laughs, the tears, the chaos, the ridiculous conversations, the clients who became friends and all the memories that happened in between the big things.
Ness came back into my life at a time when I really needed her. She reached out prior to me going on mat leave and it honestly felt like divine timing. What I didn’t expect was what then happened and for my life to go in to a complete spiral! The last couple of years have been really tough, and I’ll never forget the way Ness held me through some of the darkest parts of it. She would always say “everything is work-out-able” and “we’ve got this”. Look, I didn’t always feel like I had this but having her beside me made a lot of things feel a little more possible.
She has nurtured Lumi’s clients like they were her own, cared about the team, kept me accountable and somehow managed to keep things moving when I was dropping balls left, right and centre.
And that is why this one hurts.
Because when someone has been such an integral part of your business and your life, it is scary to imagine what it looks like without them. Of course I’ve had all the usual thoughts… will every client leave? Will she share all my deepest darkest secrets? Will she still love me outside of Lumi? Will she tell everyone how really weird I am? Will she still tell me to take my million Tupperware containers home?
But underneath all of that, I am just so f**king proud of her.
I am so excited to watch Ness step into something completely new and make it her own. She is moving into another passion of hers with content creation whilst of course still creating those beautiful bridal hair looks we all know and love, and I genuinely cannot wait to see where this next chapter takes her.
And maybe, in a weird way, this change is exactly what both of us needed.
The last few years have forced me to really look at myself and at Lumi. I’m over 40 now and I feel like I’m finally finding my voice, and whilst I absolutely do not have everything figured out, I know I don’t want to spend the next chapter trying to make Lumi into something it isn’t. I don’t want to chase every trend or worry about what everyone else is doing. I want Lumi to feel like Lumi. A little moodier, a little more elevated, viby music playing, beautiful energy and an experience that feels different from anywhere else. I want it to be somewhere people actually want to come. Somewhere you feel lucky to get an appointment, and you’re already thinking about your next visit before you’ve even left.
I want to create the kind of place that feels a little bit like the best secret you’ve discovered and definitely want to keep to yourself… although obviously I still need you to tell all of your friends.
Lumi has always been more than just a beauty business, and I think this is my moment to take the reins back, trust my gut and really pave the way for what I know it can become.
So yes, I am scared. I am sad. I am going to miss my girl like f**king crazy.
But I am also excited.
Excited for Ness. Excited for Lumi. Excited for me.
And mostly just incredibly grateful that I got to do so much of this chapter with her.
Ness, I hope you know how much you have meant to me, to our team and to this little business. I hope you know how proud I am of you and how excited I am to watch you absolutely f**king kill it.
I love you.
To anyone who has a booking with Ness through Lumi, please rest assured your booking is still secure. Ness will complete all of her final bookings with Lumi into 2027 but with her official final day as an employee being 26/09/26.
Please join me in wishing our beautiful Ness every success in this next chapter. And to all of Ness’s Lumi clients, myself and the team would love nothing more than for you to trust us to continue looking after you the Lumi way.
And as for Lumi… well, I think you’re going to like what comes next.
Ellie xx
