 It probably goes without saying that the decision to launch your own business can be a life-changing one. The reliance on cosy corporate structure has come to an end and so has the security of a regular cheque at the end of the month - and, from the first moment, every move has to be justified and analysed. Some people take to it eagerly whereas others may not be so sure - no two companies are the same. Take one small business owner who has been trading for more than ten years, for instance - not only is Lesley Middlemiss-Lister running two very successful operationss, she has also experienced a shift in her personal outlook that can only be described as "a life-defining moment". There was no crisis and no panic, she simply came to a crossroads. And then, what a powerful decision she took. Lesley launched Tyne Tees Models from her home in Seghill, Northumberland, because she had just had a baby and wanted some sort of work that would allow her to combine infant duties with looking after her three other children who were at different stages at school. "I was a qualified nursery nurse but had done some modelling," says Lesley. "The modelling scene was quite big then with regular launches and brand promotions for drinks and cigarettes. "I got known for being able to get groups of six or ten girls together for this sort of work - and for never letting anyone down. It's not in my nature to let people down and I got a lot of repeat work through that. "I thought, 'I could do this as a business', so I started Tyne Tees Models and put an advert in the Evening Chronicle asking for models of every type - from new-born babies to grandparents, for all kinds of work - even though the advice I was given was 'never advertise'. "It went crazy. We had to put the phone on silent so as not to disturb the baby - it rang non-stop. I got a database of 1,000 models and promotions staff easily and business went so well we had to move into our first office. That has continued and we've had to move to bigger premises every other year." Tyne Tees Models is now based in Whitley Bay (via various addresses in Newcastle city centre, a converted farmhouse and a refurbished building in Heaton). With that business successfully tucked under their belts, Lesley and her partner, Paul, bought their first licensed premises four years ago - Pukka in South Shields, a typical, small circuit bar. A second one followed in Ashington, the beginnings of "a little Pukka empire". Paul had always sworn he's never go into the licensed trade, but as Lesley says: "He got round to quite fancying the idea". Lesley worked at the model agency during the day and in the bar at night building up the business, but they have now sold them and bought the former Downton Hotel in Whitley Bay. "That was a big challenge," says Lesley. "It's now a 23-roomed Venture Inn with a bar called The Eyes." It features leather settees, timber fittings and exposed brickwork, all with a progressively traditional feel. It is stylish without being ostentatious - and the locals love it. "Business has gone through the ceiling from what the previous bar was doing," she says. "We're always being offered other premises by the the brewery, but I just want some kind of life now, I need to stop rushing around and stop spreading myself too thin. "And, it's a constant learning curve; every day there's something new. I'm making mistakes all the time and learning all the time. Sometimes I look back and think I wished I'd known all this stuff when I first set out. "You need to have the right people behind you when you're running these sort of businesses - the success isn't all down to me. The staff love Tyne Tees Models and the hotel like I do. "We've got girls from the agency in Japan this month and I'm taking all the staff to New York in November, partly as a reward but to get representation there as well. We also want to look at the bagels business which we quite fancy getting into here. "There's a lot happening on the agency side and we've got an idea in development. About 20 years ago, I was in a beauty contest on the Tuxedo Princess and a photo from then was published recently in one of the newspapers - a 'do you remember these girls' sort of thing. Contests like that don't happen any more and we thought it would be nice if it did. We want to host a Miss Newcastle event next year which will lead on to Miss UK." With promotions and modelling work, a successful introduction to the leisure industry, plus new ventures in mind - there seems to be more than enough to occupy a normal person's mind, but Lesley felt twinges of unfulfilment. She had reached that crossroads. "Last year I became a born-again Christian," she says. "I found Jesus. I'm a Happy Clappy. "They all laugh at me, but I'm now a different person with a different perspective. I realise I don't need to kill myself with work any more - it's all about you and not just about business. I'm more contented, still business orientated, but much happier. "We've just come back from holiday in Florida - we realised with the oldest of our kids being 17 and 18 it was going to be the last one with all the family together. On the first day, we had $2,000 stolen. After the initial shock, it got me thinking that perhaps we weren't meant to have the money anyway. And we weren't killed in the hurricanes..." Embracing religion wasn't an overnight decision; Lesley had been impressed for some time by people she knew who had something else to occupy their thoughts and give direction to their actions. She says: "One of our photographers, who we call Sunshine Sue, was born again and she was always talking about it and I got interested in the idea. "Then, when I was in a hairdressers' in Lanzarote, I found out the two ladies there were born again and we got talking. I realised something had made me go in there in the first place. "I don't think I would have got through lots of bad things over the past year without religion. It gives me confidence and makes me a nicer person - not that I was a bad person before. Have I changed? Have things changed? There's more to life than work every week. "Paul is is all for it and very happy for me. Our teenagers are a bit sceptical, but the youngest prays with me at night. I read my little book every night in bed - it has advice to follow for every day - and I'm always reading the Bible. "Loyalty is very important in any business and that's the way I was brought up. There are a lot of bad people in the world and I was always wary and said I was never going to be like that." Despite her promise of slowing down, Lesley continues to push and promote her businesses, but her new-found faith allows her to think differently. "Forgive and forgive and forgive and you'll be rewarded," she says. Visit www.tyneteesmodels.co.uk | 
