Penny Avis and Joanna Berry

Penny Avis and Joanna Berry are co-authors of Never Mind the Botox. They met in the early days of their careers and have been friends ever since.

Penny Avis trained as an accountant and until 2009 was a high flying corporate finance partner at Deloitte, specialising in consumer products and hostile takeovers. She led deals in everything from pregnancy testing kits to incontinence products, having previously survived the collapse of Arthur Andersen during the Enron crisis. After years of juggling a diary from hell with bringing up two young children – regularly resulting in her running the mums' race in a trouser suit and her nanny’s trainers - she took a career break and started writing. She is married and lives in London.

Joanna Berry graduated in Law with first class honours from Oxford University. She qualified as a solicitor in the City and became a partner at Eversheds in 1999, specialising in media and intellectual property law. After having her third child she donned a hard hat, renovated a house and then took a job with Children in Need (highlights included sharing a stage with Pudsey bear and presenting to Sir Terry Wogan). Once the house was finished and her son was out of nappies, she started writing Never Mind the Botox with Penny. She is married and lives in Cheshire.