Keep it in the Family – Katie McGlade

We caught up with the brilliant beauty entrepreneur Katie McGlade, who having been inspired by a father with a passion for business, started Therapie Clinic with her brother.

Katie has just been nominated for IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year 2014. Here’she speaks to Image Daily about keeping business in the familly, why clients are everything and how the beauty industry ‘feels like home’.

Personal description:

I’m a 27 year old woman who works to live and lives to work. It’s a fine balance and one that defines me. I co-run Therapie’s 13 clinics across the country with my brother, Phillip. I would describe myself as someone who strives to be a better woman every day and who strives to make other women look and feel better about themselves.

Describe your average working day

I’m usually at my desk by 7.30. I’ll check the previous day’s figures at all 13 clinics, look at the bookings and schedule telephone calls with each of the managers at the various clinics to discuss any concerns or ideas they might have. I also like to pencil in visits to the clinics so that I can meet with clients and be assured that we are not just meeting their expectations, but exceeding them. We are nothing without our clients.

How did you wind up in this career?

Business is in my DNA. My dad has always been in business and I grew up listening to him talking about the challenges and strong sense of satisfaction associated with running a successful business. Choosing to become involved in a business with my brother, who not only shares my DNA but also my passion for business, was really a no brainer.

What advice would you have for someone else interested in the same type of career?

If you’re prepared to work hard, put in the long hours and have a targeted customer focus, it’s one of the most rewarding areas in which to work. People can dismiss the beauty industry as flaky but believe me, it’s a privilege to see how treatments can transform the lives of women by making them feel more confident, both on the outside and on the inside.

What personality traits do you think are essential for a career like yours?

I think passion is essential for any successful career. You also need to be a good listener, be able to keep an open mind, and to understand that life is a learning curve. You need to believe in yourself, be prepared to stay the course but always be willing to adapt to change. I guess it goes back to my belief that the only certainty in life – and business – is change. We are always evolving.

You do so much, how do you juggle it all and stay sane?

I thrive on pressure, always have. I think my zest for life and business carries me through the busyness of my days – but that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy a drink with friends at the end of a hard week.

What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever been given?

My dad always advised me to never look back in regret – the past cannot be rescued. But we can rise to the challenges of today and tomorrow and that’s very exciting to me. Every day is full of promise. I think I inherited my dad’s hugely positive approach to life, his insistence that every cloud has a silver lining. I never take my life for granted but like to believe that I nurture it, one challenge at a time.

What is your number one inspiration?

I think I’m greatly inspired by my mother who has been a rock in not just my life but in the lives of my three brothers. She made us understand what it means to belong to a tight-knit family.

Have you got a life philosophy?

Well to borrow the line of Forrest Gump; ?life is like a box of chocolates?. The key to contentment – in my humble opinion – is embracing life for both its challenges and its opportunities. If you fall or fail, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start over.

Have you got a quote to live by?

‘This too will pass’. A marvellous motto when the going gets really tough.

Favourite beauty brand:

Favorite beauty product would have to be Eve Lom’s cleanser. It’s a 3 in 1 product that tones, exfoliates and cleanses my skin. It makes my skin feel like it’s been born again.

What’s your guilty pleasure:

Having a shampoo and blow dry at the Therapie hair salon twice a week.

If you weren’t in this career, where would you be?

I think all roads would lead to this industry for me. It just feels like home.

Hannah Popham @HannahPopham

Check out the other brilliant women who have been short listed, and get your tickets to the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Awards?here.