Ballybane woman follows her passion in radical career change

At 51, most people are slowing the pace or counting down the years to retirement, but not Kay Vahey, who is bravely changing careers entirely and following her passion into selling children’s footwear.

The mum of three remarks how situations seem to work themselves out – three years ago she was planning to take a year’s leave of absence to care for her sick father, Mick Donelon from Dunmore. But, he had passed away before she left her job at Bons Secours Hospital, after 25 years as a general assistant and supervisor.

So, she proceeded to take the time off anyway, in part to help her mother, Miriam, during a difficult transition, and be at home with husband, Karl, and children Kevin, Melissa, and Avril.

“But when it was over I said: ‘I don’t want to go back,’” Kay recalls.

“I’d spent a lot of time up and down to Mam. Dad had spoiled her, he brought her everywhere, but now she can get up and go.”

Three years after leaving her job, she was itching for a change, and had always wanted to run her own business.

“I always thought I’d like to open up a B&B – it was just the fact of opening my own business, and I’d always envisioned a restaurant or coffee shop, I’d never thought of shoes.

“My sister and I used to talk about it, opening a shop, and how I’d love to have my own.”

Kay began to help a friend out in a children’s shoe shop last year, and it was there that the Ballybane woman found her passion.

“I had been thinking about a shop for a long time, I knew I could do it, so I decided to do a business start-up course with the Local Enterprise Office.

“After two mentoring sessions with Ita Kelly (the tutor) last November, I thought to myself: ‘I can do this’ and I started looking and planning.

“I went looking for property for the price I wanted, but it was so expensive. I’ve viewed other places, but just before Christmas I said I wanted this one [on Upper Abbeygate Street]. It’s a busy little street, with lots of passing trade.”

Now, a month into business, she is finding the experience scary, but exciting, and is loving the challenge.

“It is very different from what I did before, but I like to be creative, hands-on doing things, and I love to put all my ideas into action in my own way,” Kay adds.

“I love meeting people – the busier the shop is the better, I hate being idle!”

Parents needing more affordable options for their children’s footwear will take delight in Hopscotch Kids on Upper Abbeygate Street in Galway City.

Kay says that her mid-range styles will cater for mums and dads on a budget, not to mention their fashion-conscious children.

“The children these days are into fashion and image, even the young ones – I know a four-year-old who tells his mother what he wants to wear,” she says.

“They are watching TV and watching older kids, and they just want to be like their big brothers and sisters.”

She has taken a very personal approach to sourcing products from four main suppliers in the UK and Spain, but the task was not as straight-forward as Kay had expected.

“When I went looking for stock, I found it hard to get suitable footwear for our weather – the suppliers had sold their summer stock already and were promoting Autumn/Winter 2015,” she says.

“So I found it hard to source the shoes suitable for our weather now, getting stock to keep us going until we had some fine weather. You can’t stock sandals now, with this weather, but when it improves, we will.”

Kay knows her stock very well. “Every child and shoe is individual – every child needs to be looked at individually – and not every shoe will be suitable for every child,” she adds.

“Children’s feet need at least half an inch of extra space in the toe of the shoe to be able to move unrestricted. New shoes can have up to three-quarters of an inch extra ‘wriggle room’. This way, they should fit quite well for a few months.”

Catering for those between the ages of 0-12 years, and carrying the Chipmunks, Chatterbox, and Gioseppo brands, Hopscotch Kids also has a selection of character footwear.