Lifestyle
Busy mum finds oasis of calm for fledgling business
It is not many mums that can get the work/life balance just right – plenty of time with your children in those important early stages, and then relatively-guilt free hours to work on your own career.
It has been a long road to get to this place, though, for mum of two, Ionela Pápai. But, by being available to clients at evenings and weekends only, she has created a little niche for herself in the local beauty therapy market.
By day, she is a busy wife and mother, but when her husband, Feri, comes home, she goes upstairs to a converted bedroom in their home in Roscam, and becomes the therapist everyone dreams of; the soothing music casts away any thoughts that there are actually children in the house.
“The first years in any baby’s life are really important for them – I feel she needs me, and I need her as much,” she says of her one-year-old, Gabriella.
“Just to be there, for every step, for any new milestone she goes through. It’s not easy, but it is rewarding.”
Ionela’s strong-held belief in being present for those early years reflects the importance placed on motherhood by the government in her native Romania where, up to recently, mothers received social welfare payments to stay home for the first two years of their child’s life.
“Career wise, I don’t think I would have found a job as a junior beauty therapist that would have paid enough to put them into a crèche, and also to be happy as a mum, and for them to be happy,” she says.
Born near Bucharest, it used to take Ionela four hours to get to and from work every day in a clothes shop, due to the infrastructure being so poor.
“I remember during the winter, I was saving a whole month’s wages to get a pair of boots – the wages were, and still are, low. My brother is just above the minimum wage as a physiotherapist, and my sister is finding it hard to get a job,” she says.
She had an uncle living in Galway who arranged a working visa for her, and she first arrived here in April 2002.
“For me, I was lucky, I got the chance to get out of the country and to do something,” she recalls.
“I thought I would go back home after a year with lots of money – life is hard away from your parents, your country, and your friends. I did Salsa here when I came, and got to know people, but it’s not the same… I was very lonely, and found it really hard.”
In fact, the loneliness was so bad that she had booked her ticket to return home when her life took a very fateful turn and she was introduced to Ferenc ‘Feri’, who works as a software engineer for Fotonation, a company in Parkmore.
A Hungarian-Romanian from Transylvania, five hours away from Bucharest, he was friends with a fellow Salsa dancer.
“He used to come to watch, and one day I had back problems, and I rang our mutual friend asking him to pick me up and bring me to hospital, but he wasn’t available and sent Feri instead,” Ionela says.
“He stayed with me, took care of me, and brought me food – that was three months before I came home!”
She faced a very different type of loneliness when she returned to Romania though, leaving her future husband behind. And, she was unable to come back to Ireland for another six months, November 2004, until she had secured a study visa.
She trained as an interior designer – her flair is reflected in her gorgeous home – but was unable to secure work in that area as Romania was not in the EU at the time, and it was difficult to obtain a working visa. So, she got jobs in fast-food outlets until their first daughter was born in 2009, a year after Ionela and Feri were married.
“When I had Izabella, my husband and I decided that I wouldn’t go back to work for two years, so that I could care for her.
“The job was not paying that much, and it would have been cheaper to mind her than send her to a crèche.”
The couple then decided to have another baby, so that their children would be about two years apart, but things did not go to plan. Ionela suffered miscarriages, for which extensive tests could give no medical reason.
“I knew how my life would be – I’d have another baby – but it was not happening as I wanted it to… I got into a ‘place’, and I was quite disappointed.
Balancing motherhood with her career as a home-based beauty therapist is a full-time job for Ionela Pápai, pictured with her husband, Feri, and daughters, Izabella and Gabriella.
“Then, I decided to forget about it. I started to think that I should do something about my life, because I was not that happy about how it was going. I needed something else, and I was trying to figure out what I liked, and looking at courses.
“It was not a nice place to be at my age, to not know what I was going to do with my life. And, in terms of Izabella, I felt I should offer her more.
“All my life, I’d had problems with my skin, it was quite debilitating. I used to avoid socialising because of it, and never ever left the house without make-up. The lack of confidence made it hard to form relationships and I would blame my skin issues, even when not being able to secure a job.
“I’ve always tried to take care of my skin, and go for treatments, and one day I went for a ‘microdermabrasion’ and with the face mask on, I was looking at the ceiling and it came to me – this is what I’d like to do, to help other people to resolve their skin issues.”
Ionela studied at Georgina Price College of Beauty Therapy, during which she and Feri got a most unexpected surprise.
“I got pregnant at the beginning of 2013 – I didn’t think I would again, or be able to keep the baby, so for most of the pregnancy I was worrying, and I didn’t know if would make it to the end.”
Baby Gabriella came along in 2013, the same year Ionela became a citizen of Ireland. She was determined to establish a business that would fit around her life, and give her some self-satisfaction as well.
She named the business Ella Bella Beauty after her two daughters, opened last May – and she couldn’t be happier.
“I want to be able to help people look and feel their very best – everyone deserves that!”
Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara
A native of Ballinasloe has expanded his baby clothing business and created a range of unique tableware and cutlery – all made from bamboo. Entrepreneur Enda Barton, who set up BambooBaby during the lockdown when he lost his job, has recently taken the huge leap of leaving his job in a computer company to work full-time in the business.
While there are some companies that sell baby tableware made from bamboo, this is the first Irish company to produce tableware themselves.
“I started BambooBaby with clothing, and the idea of having a tableware range made from 100% bamboo came to me when I was thinking about what our customers would want,” explains Enda.
“This makes it particular attractive for those who are gifting because now they can order a bundle of clothes, and add a beautiful sustainable feeding set to go in with the clothes which makes a really unique gift.”
Each item has smooth edges that are gentle on little gums and easy for babies to hold, facilitating their seamless transition from liquids to solids. The plates are divided into sections to encouraging them to eat varied foods and develop healthy eating habits from an early age.
An FDA approved silicone suction base is attached to secure the tableware in place, minimising spills and messes. Though silicone is a synthetic material, it outshines its plastic counterparts in terms of durability, temperature tolerance, and environmental impact. Unlike plastic, silicone does not degrade into harmful microplastics, which means it’s better for the environment.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Positivity, empowerment, encouragement and hope will be the focus in schools this Thursday, when children will get to celebrate National Confidence Day in classrooms right across the country.
A host of Irish celebrities have come together to participate in an inspirational and motivational half hour show, produced by STARCAMP with Gala Retail for the children of Ireland, with contributions from An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Alisha Weir (Matilda in the movie by the same name), Rory’s Stories and Cillian O’ Connor, an Irish favourite in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent. “If children watch only one thing this year, let it be this”, stated Principal Sean Cummins.
Earlier this week, ahead of National Confidence Day on Thursday, STARCAMP with Gala Retail carried out a national survey about confidence and children’s well-being in children. Just under 2,000 parents from all 26 counties across Ireland with primary school aged children took part. The research uncovered that:
- 66% of parents said that they would like their children to be more confident.
- 97% believe that it is very important that life skills such as handshakes, resilience and the importance of losing be taught to children.
- When asked if parents would like the school environment to be changed in any way, (they were allowed to choose up to 2 options), only 6% believe that the it is fine as is. 64% believing more life skills should be taught in school. 52% would like to see more creativity, 32% would like to see more emphasis on their holistic development, 10% would like to see more sport.
- 75% of those whose children use devices believe that it has a negative effect on their confidence.
- 42% of parents admit that they problem solve for their children too much.
- Out of 7 traits that were listed that parents would wish for their child going forward, including academic excellence, sociability, creativity, confidence, resilience, sporting ability and street smartness, 40% chose resilience, 35% chose confidence, 13% chose being sociable, 5% chose street smart, 3% rated creativity as the most important trait, 2% chose academic excellence and 1% chose being sporty.
- Further analysis from the survey showed a concern that the majority of parents share for their children. When asked about their children’s anxieties and worries, a concerning 13% of parents said that their primary school child suffered from anxiety. A further 38% said that their child worries too much, with less than half, 46%, stating that their child had normal worries in life and a further 2% that don’t seem to worry about anything.
- 43% would like if their child’s social skills were better.
- 85% believe that group activities (such as performance and sport) are extremely important in their child’s development, a further 14% find it important. Less than 1% state that it is of no importance.
Commenting on the findings, Aideen O’Grady, Founder of Starcamp says:
“Research clearly shows that parents across all 32 counties of Ireland desire a more holistic lifestyle for their children. An overwhelming 97% would like to see more emphasis on life skills, with a strong desire for more balance in the classroom and not for the main emphasis to be on academia. As always, excessive technology is playing a negative role in our children’s lives and sadly, the majority of parents feel that their child is not confident enough. The fact that the majority are genuinely concerned with their children’s anxiety and stress levels is quite disturbing, particularly with a group of children so young and innocent. I always appreciate these findings, whatever the outcome, because it gives us the opportunity to make changes.”
STARCAMP recently decided to take baby steps towards encouraging positivity, confidence and growth in children outside of their camp environment. This Thursday, for National Confidence Day, they have produced a special half hour show which will be available to watch in all classrooms and homes across Ireland. Over 300,000 are expected to tune in on Thursday. Over 270 STARCAMP with Gala Retail camps will take place this summer across Ireland, with almost 30,000 children attending. The theme is resilience and there is a new section on life skills. “From small acorns grow mighty oaks. If we can start with a positive little seedling like this show in the classroom or home, and build on it little by little, focus on the positive and laugh, dance and rejoice more – just imagine how our children could feel about themselves. And then, just imagine what they could achieve!”
The “I BELIEVE IN ME” Confidence Show for Children will be available for all to watch and can be streamed on Thursday, May 25th, from the Starcamp website www.starcamp.ie for a limited time.
Country Living with Francis Farragher
Sometimes, I’m taken aback a bit, by some of the younger acquaintances that I enjoy a few scoops with. They’re kind of surprised that I’m not a fan of Donald Trump; that I’ve no problem with gay rights; and that I have sympathy for the plight of the Ukrainians who have come to Ireland to avoid being slaughtered by the Russians.
There is, I feel, some lingering gene from famine times which clicks in with me – and a lot of other Irish people too – where a little alarm bell of the mind rings and transports me back to a time of only a few generations back when the Great Hunger ravished our land, killing around one million people with at least as many more, taking the emigrant boats, mainly to America, to try and survive.
At times, it’s worthwhile to have a little historical reflection, on the greatest catastrophe to have ever hit our island when we were a colony of the United Kingdom following the 1801 Act of Union. We were a largely tenant population – the poorest of the poor – relying almost exclusively on the potato crop to feed the general masses.
Although the penal laws had largely been repealed during the Daniel O’Connell era, there were only two classes of people in Ireland during those days of the 1800s: the English and Anglo-Irish families and landlords who owned practically all of the land and then at the other end of the ladder, the far greater majority of the population, the native Irish, who had to pay rent and eke out a living from two or three acres of often poor quality land.
As bad as things were up until 1845, at least the potato crop managed to keep the people fed. Potatoes ironically had been introduced by the landed gentry about a century before that as a garden crop, with one main variety grown, known as the Irish Lumper. Disaster though was to strike through 1845 in the form of potato disease with the name of Phytophrthora infestans, which in simple wordage translated into a word that’s now part of the Irish psyche – the blight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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