Laois mechanic turned hair stylist shares her journey to the job

Rathdowney hairdresser Mary Kearns is known across Leinster for her talent, with people travelling far and wide for her services.

Be it for a wedding, the debs or the races, there is a steady stream of people in and out of Mary’s Hair Studio. Having trained under the former head of the Peter Mark Academy, Lorraine Keating, Mary’s bookings are taken three to four months in advance.

Surprisingly, this was not a direction in life that Mary thought she would take, having originally trained as a mechanic.

“As a child, all I ever wanted was to work with cars and engines,” Mary laughed.

“I didn’t know exactly what it would be, but definitely something manual. I’ve always loved taking things apart and fixing them, I was always fixing things for Mammy growing up,” she explained.

One of three children, Mary found her love for cars came from her father and her brother Eamon.

“When I was young, Dad was into vintage cars, he often bought them to do them up. I got into them through his interest. He’d get tired of it quickly and I would take the job on,” Mary laughed.

“My brother Eamon is very technically minded, both he and Daddy definitely influenced me into loving all things engine related, I got it from them,” she said.

For her transition year work experience, Mary worked in a hairdressers for a week.

“I absolutely hated it, I came out crying each evening. Salons became an environment I hated, there was a lot of nastiness. I came out of it deciding that I would never work as a hairdresser,” Mary explained.

Upon leaving school, Mary’s mother Marie encouraged her to enroll in a mechanic apprenticeship. Mary praised her family for their support.

“Mammy was a great support, she saw that my brother and sister got to live the college life, and wanted that for me too,” she explained.

“My sister Eibhlín has always been my biggest supporter too, pushing me to take good but scary opportunities. She brought me into class on my first day of college, and helped to take the fear out of it for me as the only girl in there,” Mary admitted.

“Being the only girl was grand, except I could never get away with skipping a day like the lads could, they’d notice straight away,” she laughed.

“The lads always looked after me and we had great craic. There were parts of the apprenticeship I loved, like the days we were in the garage working on lorries and cars. The course was mechanical management and technology, so we also had to study business theory and sales. There was a lot of maths to it that I hated,” the Rathdowney woman said.

While on placement in college, Mary worked in a DOE garage in Birr.

“It was the best summer of my life,” Mary laughed.

“I was down in the thick of it, covered in oil and in overalls. I loved every bit of it,” she said.

Mary chose to leave the apprenticeship after two years, feeling she was unsuited to the business theory and sales aspect of the apprenticeship.

“I regret that I didn’t do a mechanic apprenticeship on its own, rather than the one I did,” she admitted.

“I worked sales for a garage, and I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t like the cars I was selling, and I didn’t have the confidence for it. I wanted to be one of the background characters working on a car.

“While I was in college I still loved doing hair, I practiced a lot on my sister. After I had my daughter Isabel, I went to Nenagh and got a job in a salon. I found I liked the work, so I went and trained in Dublin under Lorraine Keating,” Mary said.

Mary has been doing hair for over 16 years, and opened her own salon after two years. Though she is not one to boast, Mary quickly became one of the most popular hair stylists in the county.

“I couldn’t have done it without the support of my husband JJ. He was there every step of the way, looking after the kids so that I could work long hours at the start.”

Mary worked long hours each week to generate business.

“I didn’t necessarily worry about getting clients, I didn’t find it hard to build up. I worked every hour, four nights and five days a week, that was the hardest part,” Mary reflected.

When she isn’t working from the salon, Mary travels to do hair for bridal parties the morning of their weddings.

“I love doing weddings, you imagine them to be so stressful and chaotic but they’re so calm and fun, everyone is in great form and delighted for the bride and groom,” Mary said.

“It’s so different from your daily work, you meet so many different people and it’s always such a lovely morning.

“I love being a part of that, and chatting away with them. It’s lovely to be involved in such nice days for people,” she said.

Along with working with her hands, Mary loves the social aspect of her job, meeting new people and catching up with loyal clients. With the salon being in close proximity to her home, she loves receiving the odd pop-in from her adorable children Isabel, Róise and Iarlaith.

“I love the salon, we have such great craic. When a conversation is being had, everyone in the salon is involved in it. Most of the time you’re either laughing or crying, it’s a very social place and there’s a lot of bonding there. It feels like a group of friends. That’s definitely my favourite part of the job,” Mary finished.

Mary’s Hair Studio in Rathdowney, Laois is always happy to welcome new clients.

For more information, see their Instagram page

@marykearnshair