Trends & Insights

The Clinic Newport Trusts: How Tricia Jordan built Maldiva Aesthetics from dream to reality

Discover how Newport entrepreneur Tricia Jordan built Maldiva Aesthetics through trust, community and customer care, growing a loyal client base while using Sage to simplify administration and support future growth.

Published 20 July, 20264 min read

Amelia Dunn

For many people, starting a business stays a dream, pushed aside by life, family and financial security.

But not for Tricia Jordan. The founder of Maldiva Aesthetics has built a clinic with more than 1,300 loyal clients and close ties to Newport County AFC, a business shaped as much by community and football as by hard work.

We sat down with Tricia to hear how she did it, and how Sage has helped her get her evenings back, as follows:

Taking the leap
Built on trust, not marketing budgets
A clinic rooted in Newport
Getting time back with Sage

Taking the leap

Watch the full conversation above—then read on for her story.

Tricia spent years working in dentistry while raising her children, training in aesthetics on evenings and weekends until she was ready to go it alone.

The hardest part wasn’t learning the skills. It was the risk.

“Life’s too short to live with what ifs,” she says. “I always had something to go back to, but luckily, it’s just gone from strength to strength.”

That determination paid off.

Today, she can’t imagine going back to working for someone else.

“It’s not like having a job,” she says. “It’s like going to meet friends. It never feels like I’m in work.”.

Built on trust, not marketing budgets

Newport’s aesthetics market was already well established when Tricia started, so rather than compete on marketing, she leaned on relationships.

Friends, family and neighbouring businesses brought her first clients, and word of mouth did the rest.

That trust comes from putting clients first, even when it costs her business.

“If someone isn’t suitable for a treatment, I’ll tell them,”, she says. “I’m ethical, and one thing that’d be good for one person wouldn’t be good for someone else.”.

That honesty has built real loyalty over time.

Lauren, a long-term client, says trust is the main reason she keeps coming back, having tried a number of other practitioners before settling on Maldiva Aesthetics.

“She’s always absolutely smashed the objective,” Lauren says. “I’ve never had that with anyone else.”.

A clinic rooted in Newport

Ask Tricia what makes Newport special and she won’t mention landmarks.

She’ll talk about the community.

“There’s a great community spirit here,” she says. “My shop, there’s a hair salon next door, a dog-groomer next door to that—we’re always in and out of each other’s shops!”

That spirit runs through Maldiva Aesthetics’ ties to Newport County AFC. It started small: her children joined the club’s Soccer Tots programme as toddlers, and then followed years of matchdays, away days—plus, her sons’ experiences as club mascots turned into a family passion.

“It’s more like a family,” she says. “Everyone knows everyone.”

Those years pitch side also led Tricia to befriend several players—friendships that grew into Maldiva’s sister service, Oxy House, and its hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, now used by local footballers to support recovery and wellbeing.

The clinic also supports the Smile Council, a Newport County-connected charity, and has backed a fundraiser for former player Jason Bowen, who has motor neurone disease.

“It’s good to get recognition for doing charitable work, but it’s not the reason why we do it,” Tricia says. “It’s like a warm feeling, isn’t it; being able to help people.”

Getting time back with Sage

Growing the business brought its own challenges.

As Maldiva expanded, Tricia had to move from sole trader to limited company, get to grips with VAT, and keep on top of her books, all while running a full client diary.

“I had an accountant who wasn’t very forthcoming, and I’m not great at admin,” she says.

“If I’d had the Sage accounting system from the start, I wouldn’t have ended up in the mess I was in.”

Late nights spent entering receipts and updating spreadsheets were eating into the time she’d rather spend with clients.

With Sage now capturing and organising her business information automatically, that admin time has dropped and her financial picture is clearer.

“Sage is helping me get more time back,” she says. “I’ve got more time to spend with my family and actually have days off.”

Final thoughts: Looking ahead

Since launching Maldiva Aesthetics in 2019, Tricia has built a clinic with more than 1,300 loyal clients, and with Sage handling the numbers, she’s now preparing to take on her first employee and look at larger premises.

But ask her what she’s proudest of, and it isn’t the clinic itself—it’s the community she’s built around it.

As one client puts it: “I just keep coming back because of Tricia.”

That’s the kind of trust every business hopes to build.