Cathyanne Kelleher is an award-winning bridal and event hair stylist, who is making a name for herself as an educator and event organiser.
While she is passionate about her job, Cathyanne’s most important job is being a mum to her “beautiful son” Shay, who is 16 this year and in third year of secondary school. “He is my driving force behind everything,” she says. “I was a young mum as I was 20 when I had him and we‘re so close. We’ve really grown up together. I finished my training after I was pregnant and I couldn’t have done it without the huge support of my family.”
From Carrigaline, Cathyanne thinks she was destined to end up doing hair as she grew up watching her hairdresser mum in action. She began working in a salon when she was in fifth year of secondary school, and has been a hairdresser for the past 18 years.
Cathyanne was a single mum when she decided to go out on her own as a self-employed bridal and event hair stylist nine years ago, which was quite a big leap for her. She had huge support from other women in the bridal and makeup community, so she took the plunge and went for it.
“I worked hard and made the business into what it is now, which I’m so proud of,” she says. “Shay is my little bestie and my buddy and he’s my biggest motivator. I wanted to show him what hard work looks like and teach him that if you want something, you have to dream big and set your goals. I always wanted to be a guide for him, to show him that he can do what he wants to do. And even now, he can’t wait to go to work. He wants to go into a trade as well and is so excited to go out and get his training going.”
When it comes to doing bridal hair, Cathyanne loves that she gets to work with women on such a special day in their lives. “It’s not all about hair, it’s how I make someone feel,” she says, adding that the job is “part therapy, part artistry”.
“I love being a part of a bride’s special morning, and I like to make sure that my brides are cool, calm and collected. I’m really lucky that people are never in bad form when I go to work. It’s always a beautiful morning full of gorgeous energy, and I just love being part of it. When the brides look in the mirror and see themselves and feel amazing – that’s just everything to me.”
Cathyanne is always upskilling as she is a firm believer in education and goes on a lot of courses, because she believes everyone has to evolve and grow. She loves learning from other stylists, and aims to share any information and knowledge that she acquires that might help others in the industry.
She was previously involved in education for Kevin Murphy. Her friends encouraged her to get back into education this year as she is so passionate about it.
“I’m loving it,” she says. “I’m back teaching in salons and running my own events, so that’s very exciting.”
She has also started hosting events, and brought women together for an event earlier this year co-hosted by Audrey Cashman from UpStyle Junkie. The participants included bridal stylists, makeup artists, skincare, business and nutrition experts.
“Audrey was very good to me when I first went out into the bridal industry and we became really good friends,” says Cathyanne. “I said to her at the end of last year that I wanted to bring a bit of fun into work, and the event we held was just incredible, full of women supporting women together.
“We brought so many beautiful people together in one room, and it was full of amazing energy, with people learning from myself and Audrey.”
Among Cathyanne’s plans for this year are opening her own studio in Carrigaline for events and bridal styling, and she is very excited to see her dreams unfolding.
“It’s been such a great year so far as everything is aligning,” she says. “I love to give back to people and to bring people with me, because I just really love my job.”
Follow Cathyanne on Instagram on https://www.instagram.com/cathyanne.hairstylist/
