I was a divorced mom to college kids in my 40s. Now I run my $34-million supplement company.

• Maxine Laceby was a stay-at-home mom for 25 years, until a moment of clarity sparked a major change. 
• Her company, Absolute Collagen, is now the UK's leading liquid collagen supplement.
• She shares what it was like becoming a first-time entrepreneur in her forties. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maxine Laceby, founder of Absolute Collagen. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up in a single-parent household, with an alcoholic mother. We had nothing. I left school at 16 and after working in a factory and a clothes shop, and eventually ended up doing sales and marketing for a small hotel just outside Bath in England.