A New Life:When the daily routine got too much, Gráinne O'Dwyer created a career around her life. Brian O'Connellreports
Were it not for traffic congestion, Gráinne O'Dwyer might never have realised one of her life goals.
For much of her early professional life, O'Dwyer worked quite happily in Dublin city centre, yet when she moved to the suburbs and began raising a family, the daily commute turned into a daily catastrophe. It was time for a change.
Years earlier, the seeds for O'Dwyer's initial career had begun in secondary school and a particularly inspiring home economics teacher. Coupled with this, a part-time job in Bewleys on Westmoreland Street gave O'Dwyer a taste for the catering trade, eventually leading to a course in hotel management at the Portrush College of Catering.
It was O'Dwyer's first time away from home, and the experience lived up to her expectations.
"I had a great time in college. Moving away from home was an experience in itself, and I loved the course - it went through all aspects of hotel management, and I guess I was just happy to be doing what I had wanted to do."
After completing the course more than a decade ago, O'Dwyer learned her trade in the Shelbourne Hotel, starting at the bottom rung and working her way up through the ranks.
"I worked there for about three years, starting off in making sandwiches, tea and coffee. It was very busy and really hard work, with heavy split shifts, which are not uncommon in the catering industry.
"A new restaurant was opening at the Shelbourne, called Restaurant 27, and I moved there as a waitress. It was there I really learned how a restaurant operates, and went on to be made supervisor."
The hours were long and the workload was heavy, but O'Dwyer found herself suited to the pressures of the industry, aided by an active social life among the hotel's workers.
In 2000, an advertisement in her local paper signalled a major shift in O'Dwyer's career. "The advertisement was for a new restaurant, Shanahans on the Green, to be opened six months later. I went in for an interview and met Mr Shanahan.
"We had a good chat and I was hired as maitre 'd. It was the best place to work up to that point. [ I started] six months before it opened and being involved from the start-up was exciting.
"Thankfully, we hit the ground running, and the restaurant became very popular."
A typical working day as maitre 'd began for O'Dwyer at 3.30pm, with initial checks, from seating arrangements to ensuring fresh flowers were placed on tables. The restaurant had many repeat customers, and O'Dwyer's role was also to ensure that all bookings were accounted for before individually welcoming guests.
Yet it wasn't just simply a matter of knowing the inner workings of the building.
"As maitre 'd, you need to know much more than just how a restaurant works. You need to know about Dublin society, things such as what's on in theatres or the easiest ways around town. It was the perfect position for a Dublin girl like myself.
"You need to be very outgoing, with an ability to remember faces. You almost have to have a database in your head of who your customers are and what their preferences are."
With upwards of 200 covers a night, the work environment was challenging, and five years on O'Dwyer decided to move to days and more administrative work.
"When I moved to days I mainly looked after reservations and moved into the office upstairs. My daughter had been born a little time earlier, and I needed to be home in the evenings, so I was looking for more of a nine to five routine. I was happy doing it, it was a lovely job for a long time, but after a while it became clear that it was unmanageable."
The commute from Lucan to St Stephen's Green was beginning to take its toll. Quite often, O'Dwyer spent four hours in the car; time that she felt could have been spent with her young daughter. With her SSIA money due to mature, O'Dwyer started investigating the possibilities of opening her own café or deli closer to home, and put her years in the catering trade into practice.
Yet the capital required was proving too steep, and there was no guarantee that her workload would lighten with her own business.
Just as it looked as if O'Dwyer's lifestyle was set to remain unchanged, an opportunity presented itself that would change her professional career dramatically.
"I was looking at various franchises, as I figured it would be easier than starting a business on my own.
"When I was younger I had a massive interest in gymnastics, and felt I was still in pretty good shape for my age. An opportunity suddenly presented itself to combine that interest with my working life, through a company called Fitkids, who basically provide fitness programmes for kids."
O'Dwyer attended an information evening and decided to invest her SSIA money in a licence for the Fitkids franchise in her local area.
Last January she handed in her notice at Shanahans after seven years with the company, and began planning her new life as a children's fitness instructor,
"I did a training course before Christmas which really prepared me for the work side of things.
"Basically what we provide is health and fitness programmes for children aged two-eight years. It's gymnastics based but it's also lots of games and music. We travel to schools, local venues, summer camps and birthday parties."
Individual sessions last upwards of an hour and she claims the business has been rapidly developing.
" I'm looking to build it all the time," says O'Dwyer, "but it's important I get the balance right so I have more time with my little one. I'm basically on the same money as I was on before, but with fewer hours.
"The sessions themselves are lots of fun and generally begin with basic warm-up exercises. All the kids gather in a circle and the aim is to keep them busy."
Nowadays, O'Dwyer has the luxury of choosing her own hours and working her timetable to suit her needs. For the first time in years she is in a position to collect her daughter from school, and has been able to keep both her work and family life within the same locale.
"The career change has meant a huge change to my life. As well as being able to do the school run, I can also enrol my daughter in extra activities and be able to transport her to and from these events.
"Before that, it wasn't possible. As well as the actual physical work, there is also work to be done on the laptop trying to get more business. Lucan didn't have anything like this before but so far I have to say it's going well.
"The best part of the day is seeing parents collect their kids with big red faces after a session, and knowing they've been active for the hour previous.
"That gives them and me great satisfaction."