Maria Kempinska

Biography:

Maria was just 28 years old when she made the leap from English and drama teacher to entrepreneur in 1983. She says that her experience in teaching and staging performances had gone some way to prepare her for life in business, as had support from friends in the world of marketing and advertising.

She persevered and, almost 30 years on, Maria and her company have seen plenty of highs — and a few lows. For highs, look no further than the fact that Jongleurs helped launch the careers of Fry & Laurie, Graham Norton and Frank Skinner.