Hey everyone for those who doesn’t yet know me, I’m Katy and I’m 29 years old. Most people know me as ‘Katy Mac’, which is shortened down from my actual surname which is McCormick.

So where did it all start, you ask? Well, like most little girly girls, every chance I had, I’d offer to ‘do peoples hair’, paint their nails, put lipstick on them, do home facials over the back of the sofa with my mums shop bought products etc.

I liked to accompany my mum on her monthly salon appointments to see what really goes down in there and I loved the experience it gave.

When the time came to arrange our school ‘work experience’ week it seemed the obvious option was to go to my mums favourite salon and spend the week with the therapist I’d grown to know and love. Following up from this she offered me a Saturday job, where I’d help out with answering the phone, arranging appointments, sitting in and observing on treatments.

Once I left school it was straight onto Carlisle college, which at the time offered a much higher standard in teaching and training and job opportunities than Lakes college, for two years to study level 2 and 3 beauty therapy. Part of the requirements during the course was to get a weekly placement to aid towards salon experience, so I spent two days a week rather than one at my Saturday job. Soon after, we came to an agreement that my part time job wasn’t enough anymore and I needed something bigger and more challenging.

One night, on my way home from college, passing through Maryport I seen a sign in a salon window stating ‘beauty therapist wanted’. I contacted the boss, dropped my CV in and arranged an interview almost immediately, which was a success and I was offered the job, and started working in their brand new beauty room at what was known as Hairport at the time, located on Curzon St.

I worked here for the salon owner from the April until the August, when a bombshell was dropped. ‘this isn’t working, it isn’t taking off. You have two options; either go find another job elsewhere or you can rent the products, equipment and the room from me’. Obviously this was devastating news at the time, but as a 17 year old with no real responsibility, other than my car, it seemed the best option was to stay put, and rent the workspace as it was already set up and ready to go. My mum and dad told me not to, ‘you need to make a living and this won’t work, but the decision is yours’ . I stayed here until the following January when unfortunately a fire broke out in the salon and destroyed the hairdressing stations and equipment. Most of my equipment was salvaged and I only had to replace the products. I left on good terms with the salon owner and the five staff, and we are still friends to this day – I actually done the salon owners makeup two years ago for her vow renewal and had a fab time catching up . After the fire I worked at home for a short time in my mums spare room until I figured out a plan. Living in the outskirts of Seaton meant most clients either struggled to find us or just didn’t have the transport to get to me.

A month later I discovered a salon down the road to the original one had a spare beauty room to let. I got in touch with the salon owner at Amici, and went to view the room. It was almost twice the size of my old room, more luxurious and had a wider range of clientele in the salon. This would be the answer to my problem. I stayed here for five years working self employed, and again made life long friends with the six staff members who worked here. I had no plans to leave, until two or three other members made the decisions to leave and move on to working elsewhere. Finally the salon owner decided she no longer wanted the responsibility of running a salon, and was leaving to go rent a chair somewhere else with less stress and a fresh start. I was given the option to stay put, and be safe guarded by the owner of the building, but how would I know who’d be coming in next? What if we didn’t get along, or what if they brought their own beauty therapist? This would create too much competition and set me back. I was also given the option to lease this salon. As tempting as it was, this is a big building and had six chairs to be filled by hair stylists, and three treatment rooms. A lot to take on to make ends meet for someone who was just starting out.

While I took my time weighing up the options, and looking out for any other beauty rooms going spare, I arranged a viewing of a beauty room in another hair salon. The room itself was lovely, but was based on the first floor, which meant a flight of stairs to climb and no access for clients with disabilities or prams. In the mean time my mum suggested ‘why not look for an empty shop premises of your own, I think it’s time’.

I wasn’t even sure myself if I was ready, but thought ‘what’s the worst that could go wrong, I might potentially fail, and simply go find a job somewhere else’, so then started the searching for empty shops. The first one I viewed was a real eye opener. The floor was on a slant, the toilet was based downstairs in the cellar and the fire exit had been blocked off!

I finally found ‘the one’ which would start me off on my journey as a salon owner. It had one wide room at the front, a small cloak room, a loo and a kitchen area. My clever dad built a partitioning wall to split the room into a reception area and a treatment room. We decorated it to give it my own stamp, I signed the lease, and stayed here for just over two years, along with two nail technicians who alternated their days, and rented space from me to be able to offer acrylic nail extensions in my shop.
I had no intentions to leave this place, until I bumped into a friend in the street who said ‘Hot Mess is closing, you should go have a look and think about moving in there’. I considered the idea, but really didn’t want to after having the work done at my first shop, as well as the signage outside and the flooring laid inside. All things you can’t take with you, so it seemed a waste.

Something told me ‘what have you got to lose by going to view the premises?’ so of course I contacted the property owner and arranged a viewing. My dad came along with me and we both agreed immediately it’d be a stupid decision not to move. This salon had a much bigger reception area, three treatment rooms rather than just the one, and multiple makeup stations.

Two weeks later I picked up the keys and the renovations started. The premises was left as just a shell with very loud decor. I had the whole of the inside decorated to mimic the old salon, with the same colours and similar style. My dad installed the front worktop counter in reception, with mirrors and Hollywood lighting to create three makeup stations, and then went on to install a kitchen sink and cupboards in the staff room before we opened.
Over time I began thinking ‘what else could we do with the extra space rather than waste it?’ The pedicure area outside my treatment room slotted nicely into a corner, so to occupy this space my dad then added an extra two makeup stations in the back, identical to the front ones. This then made the two nail desks look lost in the space they were in. I wanted a nail bar . A few weeks later this was installed, again built and fitted by my dad, which now accommodates three nail stations.

We have now been in the bigger salon over two years, it’ll be three in August and I wouldn’t ever look back . We have two makeup artists, two nail technicians, an aesthetics nurse, and myself. Overall we have been open for four years, and the salons fifth anniversary will be on 17th May. . Every single person who has ever been in to my shop is appreciated, because it all aids in helping my dream to work, as well as my mum and dad who are my biggest cheerleaders.

So thats my story and thank you for taking the time to read.