A woman has revealed how she’s turned her life around after living on the streets to now owning a successful business – all in just five years.
Lisa Bennett recently announced the opening of a second dessert shop, following sale of her first one.
But just five years ago, the 45-year-old was struggling with heavy drug addiction while living in a tent on the streets.
During her lowest moments, she lived above an abandoned mineshaft in Cornwall.
But now, Lisa has been the owner of two successful businesses, with the most recent opening just a stone’s throw away from where she spent her toughest years.
“I’ve gone full circle in Cornwall, not far from the streets and where I spent those hectic years,” Lisa told Absolutely Business.
“Now I’m a business owner with two dessert shops.
“This new venture was started entirely by myself.
“I managed to harness a ridiculously addictive personality into something truly positive.”
Lisa was bullied because of her weight as a child, which caused her to develop an unhealthy relationship with her body.
In her 20s, she began dabbling in party drugs and painkillers.
Lisa said: “These pills gave me that warm hug inside, which made me feel good, but also helped me lose weight.
“I thought I’d found this miracle cure for weight loss.
“I didn’t think at this point I had a problem.
“It became harder and harder to get prescriptions, so I had to rely on buying pills off the internet, and that quickly turned to street drugs.
“By this stage I was a full blown opiate addict – juggling work, home life and keeping up the pretence of a ‘normal life’.
“But that juggling act can only go on for so long and when it came crashing down, it did so in a big way.”
As the addiction took over, Lisa’s life began to fall apart.
She lost her job and her home and began spending her days taking any drug she could get her hands on.
During the pandemic, Lisa had no choice but to live above a Cornish mineshaft.
But then, she began to see things clearly and decided to turn her life around.
She said: “I moved to Plymouth and went back to hairdressing, got clean and actually began to sort my life out.
“I met a new guy on Tinder and we both came up with an idea to open a milkshake bar.
“With £500 each we tried the idea in Plymouth city market.
“It took off and within three months we’d outgrown a tiny stall, so found a bigger unit with a seating area.
“Pretty much a year to the day, we opened our first dessert shop on the high street.
“I think I’d always been the kind of person who chased the buzz – and drugs had filled that void for such a long time.
“Now with a purpose, all my energy was focused on creating wacky desserts.”
Lisa’s first shop opened in Plymouth in 2022 and the second location hit Truro earlier this year.
And Mega Shakes, The Alternative Dessert Shop, has been a huge success.
She’s sharing her harrowing journey to inspire others and spread the message that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Lisa added: “It was always my end goal to be back in Cornwall, as I knew I had a lot to prove.
“I also wanted to find some kind of peace from my negative past.
“I’ve put my heart and soul into this new dessert shop and it’s only because of the success in Plymouth that I had the fund to get back to Truro.
“It really does show that if you believe in yourself and work hard, you can get out of a terrible situation.
“I’ve accepted that the mistakes of my past shouldn’t define my future.
“No matter how dark life gets, there is a way out of that vicious cycle.”
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