JIONEE MWANAMKE MJASILIAMALI ALIE FANIKIWA KUTOKA AUSTRALIA..

Anna Ross had secured what she thought would be her dream job, but the reality was more of a nightmare.

In her early 20s at the time, the fashion degree graduate from New Zealand was working as a design assistant for a major clothing brand based in Melbourne, Australia.
She found herself having to work gruelling 90 hours weeks for little money.
"I just couldn't do it anymore," says Ms Ross, now 28. "I decided I hated working in fashion."
It was a huge realisation for someone who had spent 60,000 Australian dollars ($42,000; £31,000) on her degree.
"I was gutted," she adds.
Thankfully for Ms Ross, to take her mind off the slog of the day job and to maintain her creativity she also ran her own business in her limited free time.

Image copyright Kester Black

Image caption Kester Black's nail polish does not include any animal sourced ingredients

She had started out making clothes while studying at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin on New Zealand's southern island, but after moving to Melbourne she switched to designing and producing jewellery in 2009. This she sold under the brand name Kester Black.
With sales helping her to pay the bills, Ms Ross then started to experiment with making her own nail polish to complement the jewellery.
She spent a year researching the complicated chemistry of nail polish production, and hired a chemist to help her make six colours.
Selling via her website and to independent shops in Melbourne the nail polish was an "immediate" hit.
So much so that Ms Ross was able to quit her day job to focus solely on her start-up business. She also decided in 2012 to stop making jewellery so she could give all her attention to the nail polish.

Image copyright Kester Black

Image caption The business now also sells hand and body creams

"Within three months we tripled our turnover from the previous year, just making nail polish," she says.
Now four years later, Kester Black is one of Australia's most recognised independent cosmetic brands, and is also sold in the US, Malaysia and Japan.
Not bad for a business that Ms Ross still runs with the help of just one permanent employee.

'Social media savvy'

Ms Ross says her nail polish stands out in a crowded field because it is vegan accredited, not tested on animals, made in Australia, and free of the unpleasant chemicals that can be found in other brands.
"The concept of Kester Black is that you never have to look into where it's made because you now it's made here, and that the ingredients are safe," she says.