My first million: Emma Barnett of Essential Escapes

Having spotted a gap in the market for a luxury tour operator dealing specifically with spas, Emma Barnett started out with just £60,000 and help from her family.

Emma Barnett's guide to the world's spas hadn't been out long before she realised something was missing and her readers were upset about it. She had written the guide while working for a specialist publishing company, and soon found herself handling disgruntled calls from people saying "I've got the directory, I like the look of the canyon spa in America, how do I go about booking it?" She realised that even though there were many luxury tour operators, no one was dealing specifically with spas.

At 27, and with no capital, Barnett felt she lacked the business experience to bring the idea to fruition, but kept mulling it over until a year later, she got chatting at a party to private-equity entrepreneur Jonathan Brod, a "very talented and intelligent guy". He agreed to come on board. So did Emma's sister, Deborah, and they started "putting together a brand concept. We didn't just want to be another travel company, we were creating a whole new niche."

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.