An Edinburgh mum has told how she became a multi-award winning beauty salon owner in a short period of time following a brave career change.
After quitting her job working for British Airways at Edinburgh Airport in 2003, Leanne Reilly started off as a nail technician and has since trained as a hairdresser, picking up several prestigious industry awards over the last six years.
The mum-of-one, from Leith, runs Leanne Reilly Hair & Beauty on Brunswick Street and has spoken about her career path and how glad she is to have made the switch, although navigating through the Covid pandemic was an incredibly tough challenge.
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Leanne told Edinburgh Live: When I opened the salon, I started just doing nails and I won a 'Best Nail Salon' award in 2019 and fell in love with my job. I then trained to become a hairdresser and went from strength to strength.
"My ten-year-old daughter, Mayci, came with me to one of the finals of the award ceremonies which was good for her as it taught her early on that you have to work hard to achieve yours goals in life. Obviously I have a passion for my work and a lot of my repeat business is due to that, along with my service and work ethic.
"I'm currently doing more training for hair extensions and will be training staff in a salon in Glasgow. I work on my own as the whole situation after Covid has been tough. I had staff leave due to illness or phoning in sick all the time so I just done what was right for me."
Leanne added that her salon was amongst 800 potential winners in Scotland, with a mystery shopper coming in to judge the business on various different attributes.
When asked about what Leanne thinks separates her from the rest of the competition, the 39-year-old said: "I think it's because I treat every individual how I'd expect to be treated myself. Always offering memorable service and going that extra mile is important to me.
She said: "At the end of the day, it's more than coming in to get your hair cut or nails done, you spend a lot of time with clients and get to know them on a personal level. It's all about taking time and talking one-to-one with customers and delivering the results you would expect.
"I have clients that even travel from Dundee and Perth over the bridge, I've got them all. I'm not just their hairdresser, I'm the one they come to see every week and over time you build a good connection."
Leanne added that while working at Edinburgh Airport, she would have to start at 3am in the morning, not long after her baby girl was born, making it incredibly tough and eventually deciding to opt for a change of career.
Although she admitted loving her previous job, Leanne also said she missed out a lot on her daughter's childhood and events. While being self-employed, there is more freedom to choose her own hours, as well as working long days in between time off.
While Leanne has picked up awards for several years now, she believes winning 'Best Salon in Scotland' is one of her proudest, if not her proudest achievements, as it indicated natural progression and a reward for hard work.
Leanne continued: "As I'm technically a small business, I probably wouldn't be able to open up another salon, but I plan to offer more services and conduct more training just to keep up with the ever-changing industry and keep my skillset going."
So far in 2022 alone, Leanne has racked up three industry awards, including South East Region's Five-Star Hair Salon Award, Stylist of The Year and Hair Salon of The Year.
Services that Leanne offers and more information can be found on her website and Facebook page.
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