Determined mum Georgina Tang founded a beauty empire at the age of 52 after creating kind products to ease her child’s painful symptoms from chemotherapy
While caring for her seriously ill child, Georgina Tang came up with an idea that would change the course of her family’s life. In 2013, her 10-year-old son Alessio was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis ( JIA), a painful autoimmune disorder that attacks the joints. He needed chemotherapy to ease his symptoms but the treatment caused heartbreaking side-effects including hair loss and psoriasis, a chronic skin condition in which red, itchy patches develop on the body.
“I tucked him into bed and kissed him good night and found clumps of hair on the pillow. I broke down in tears,” says Georgina, 62. “It was heartbreaking to see my own child go through that. He was very tired as well, and just didn’t want to get out of bed because of the chemotherapy.” But Georgina saw a way to help him.
In 2011 she had taken a free soap and bath bomb workshop and enjoyed it so much she had gone on to take more courses to learn about natural skin and hair products. She created a shampoo and conditioner that helped his hair loss, and body butters and massage oil that were so effective they made his psoriasis disappear, that Alessio was discharged from the dermatology department.
It sparked an idea that led to launching a vegan, cruelty-free beauty business now called YNNY, which has won multiple awards, is loved by influencers, and turns over six figures. “This was never the plan,” Georgina says. “I was just a mum who wanted to do anything I could to stop my son suffering. Chemotherapy can be devastating for people’s skin and hair. “I realised I had the knowledge of how to make the products and I just needed to try it. Within a month of using my cream, his skin was clear. It was life-changing for him.
“We had tried so many different products that when this one worked it felt like a miracle. When people saw his skin and how good it looked they started asking me what I was using so I started sharing it with people undergoing cancer treatments.” After seeing the impact of her products on Alessio’s hair and skin, Georgina began making body butters, face creams, toners and oils for neighbours and friends, and even sold them at Alessio’s school fetes.
Then in 2015, at the age of 52, she took voluntary redundancy at her well-paid job at a housing association to focus on YNNY. “I knew I had to take a leap of faith,” she says. “I thought, ‘If not now, then when?’ If I didn’t, I knew my side hustle would just stay a hobby for ever.”
It wasn’t the first time Georgina has taken a huge risk. She moved to the UK from Hong Kong when she was 13 in search of an education, joining her family in Enfield, North London. She then left home at 15 with just enough money in her pocket to pay for the bus fare to her job as a live-in “mother’s help”. She juggled working with studying for her A-levels at evening college when she was 20, gaining a place at Liverpool John Moores University to study a degree in psychology and sociology, followed by foundation and post-grad degrees in housing management.
Georgina met her Italian husband, Andrea, in a Chinese restaurant where she worked in the evenings and the pair married in 1994. She became deputy chief executive for a housing trust at 39 and found out she was pregnant a year later. A difficult pregnancy was followed by a terrifying labour in 2003.
“We both had a very challenging birth experience as I was critically ill when I carried him,” she says. “When he was delivered by C-section, he stopped breathing and I became semi-conscious due to massive loss of blood. He was given the diagnosis of severe generalised seizures but it didn’t explain why he kept stopping breathing. One of the consultants said he wouldn’t live past the age of one due to not being able to diagnose his complex symptoms, hence he was given the ‘undiagnosed syndrome’ by his endocrinologist. He needed 24/7 nursing care as he stopped breathing without any warning.”
He was diagnosed with five forms of seizures, with the most dangerous happening while he slept. “As he grew, more health symptoms appeared which no one could explain. His consultant decided to call it ‘Alessio syndrome’ as it’s unique to him,” she says. With his complex needs, Georgina’s beauty business is driven by her desire to provide for her son, who is now 22.
“I worked seven days a week, 18 to 20 hours a day, for years. I taught Alessio after work and at weekends to help him to catch up with his peers. “If I have my last breath, I’d give it to Alessio so he lives. By prioritising him and devoting my life to him, he is thriving and achieving the impossible, like reading and speaking and most of all, enjoying life to the fullest.”
Today, she runs YNNY HQ with three members of staff, selling more than 50 products, including its Elixir anti-ageing serum, which are handmade near her Liverpool home. At the 2025 National Beauty Awards, Georgina won three Best Hair Product, Best Skincare Product, and Best Beauty Entrepreneur. She was also shortlisted for CEO of the Year, Best Wellness Business and Best Beauty Product.
“This is all thanks to my son for inspiring me to create products to stimulate hair growth and shea butter balm to help his psoriasis. This business provides for our family and I want to leave a legacy for Alessio when my husband and I are no longer here.”
