A mum-of-two is the proud owner of company worth £10million in just three years by making an age-defying soup with boiled chicken feet.
Maxine Laceby from Wolverhampton, came up with the concoction as she approached 50 and decided to look into ways to fend off the ageing process.
She researched ways to look and feel younger and started brewing up her own broth made with chicken feet and pig trotters, both rich in collagen.
The millionaire, who gave up working at the age of 25 to bring up her two daughters, simmered the offcuts on her hob in for an hour and drank the 'gelatinous stock' in the hope it gave her skin a boost.
Pals started noticing the change in Maxine in 2017 - telling her that her skin was 'glowing' and her hair was 'brighter and shinier' - and asked her to reveal her secret.
She told a select bunch of friends and started making the stock in bulk, and then hit on the idea of flogging it across the world.
Maxine telephoned the Food Standards Agency and told them she was onto a great product but didn’t know where to start.
The person she spoke to was both helpful and excited about her product and advised her on the governing bodies she needed to talk to.
Maxine found a ‘blender’ to help her to make sachets she could distribute that were palatable and not too gloopy to drink - and her company Absolute Collagen was founded.
She said: “He told me I could add less collagen and make more money but it was never about money, I wanted results. It was about finding a product that I knew worked and to bring it to as many people as possible.
“People told me I was selling it too cheap but I don’t think beauty should be pocket deep.
"So I knew I couldn’t afford a retail store or a distributor and that I’d have to do it myself from home. I spoke to competitors and they told me I was a little fish in a big lake and that I’d get eaten alive.
“But I could see there were faults in all of the products out there. I think mums are very solution-focused, we will always find a way.”
In the Caribbean chicken feet is a popular ingredient in a soup served with carrots, potatoes and dumplings.
Chicken feet are also eaten in China for its collagen while in South Korea it is covered in a spicy sauce and eaten on its own.
Maxine, now 53, said her company - which she runs with daughters Darcy, 22, and Margot, 19 - now has 15,000 customers and has a turnover of £10m a year.
She said she went from 'boiling chicken feet and pig's trotters' in her kitchen to becoming the boss of a successful company in just three years.
Speaking about the moment she realised her 'bone broth' had given her skin a boost, she said: "I realised the collagen in the bone broth that was having an effect so I began making massive vats of it at home, like some kind of white witch.
"I'd have friends banging on my door for my booty!"
She said that the broth had an 'incredible impact on her skin, hair and nails' and that she soon became known as the 'local collagen dealer' - before deciding the launch her business on a grander scale.
Rather the using pig's trotters and chicken's feet - both rich in collagen - the firm now uses liquid marine collagen, from cold water fish - normally using scales and skin to created the collagen-rich supplement.
The supplement, which users can mix into hot drink or simply drink as it is, fights signs of ageing, ironing out wrinkles and improving the quality of the skin, hair and nails.
Maxine said that anyone could start a business - even at the age of 50 - adding: "So many people feel they have nowhere to go once their children have flown the nest, but 50 is young nowadays."
