A New Life:Working as a make-up artist has given a former lab technician the freedom and individuality she craved. Claire O'Connellreports
A wedding day is the start of a new chapter in a relationship. And for Emma Pyne, her big day was also the turning point in her career.
At the time, the Corkwoman had what looked like her perfect job at a big pharmaceutical company. But while she was preparing for her wedding she realised that her talent as a make-up artist could give her the freedom and individuality she craved.
Doing people's make-up had been a hobby in her teens, but back then her career sights were firmly set on becoming a scientist. "I had no questions at all about that," recalls Pyne. "I think it's because I had a really good science teacher in school. I liked it and I found the exams easy."
Her exam success meant she could study bioanalytical science at Cork Institute of Technology. "It's chemistry-based with a more biological slant," explains Pyne. "The course was really geared toward the big pharmaceutical companies."
After college Pyne worked for a small, local company that produces wastewater treatment chemicals, but already she had an inkling she would like to do something different, and she took on a master's degree in health promotion.
"I did it just to see whether it would be something that I'd be interested in pursuing," she says. "But it turned out to be something completely opposite to what I thought it was going to be.
"There was a lot about bullying in the workplace and stress, and the two years were extremely interesting but did nothing for my career, to be honest."
So Pyne stuck with the science and applied to work with Pfizer, which she says was the "Holy Grail" for pharmaceutical workers in the Cork area.
She landed a job as a lab technician there, and at first she thrived on the demands of the work, analysing the drug formulations just before they went to market.
"It was very different from working in a small company and I really liked some aspects. The work was interesting and quite challenging and there's a lot of pressure, which I actually liked at the time," she recalls.
"It was exactly what I trained to do. We were using all the high-tech equipment and doing something important."
But after a few years, being a small cog in a big machine started to grate. "On the downside, you are a minnow in huge company," she says. "There must have been 50 lab techs there and it's very hard to stand out or make your mark. Particularly in very big companies, it's like you have to put in a certain number of years before you progress, and because everyone is at a similar level with the same training it's very political.
"You feel when you are working there why am I bothered making that extra effort or putting in extra hours. I was eager to push on and I felt that unless I was going to go into the paperwork side of things that I was at a dead end in there."
But inspiration struck on her wedding day in 2005, and she realised that her long-standing love of cosmetics could pave a way out of the career rut.
She had worked on the make-up counters in Cash's department store back when she was in college. "I liked the glamorous side of things," says Pyne. "I spent every spare penny I had on cosmetics, and I would have done friends and family if they were going out."
One of her colleagues at Cash's had set up as a freelance make-up artist and helped Pyne to get ready on the morning of the wedding.
"She had a small child and it seemed like such an attractive thing to be doing," says Pyne. "She had complete freedom and was her own boss, but she was quite busy, so she had an outlet other than the baby."
So after many chats with her new husband, Finbarr, Pyne left big pharma, trained as a make-up artist and nail technician and set up as a freelance.
She admits it took some courage to make that leap. "The pay [ in Pfizer] is fantastic and the conditions are brilliant, and it's very hard to make the decision to change your career completely," she says, adding that Finbarr was "100 per cent supportive".
But now that she is established she enjoys working for herself, and the flexibility of the hours means she can combine her newfound career path with motherhood.
Daughter Abbey arrived earlier this year and as well as Finbarr there is no shortage of willing babysitters to help out when she goes off to work. "My mum is only too happy to take her, you literally have to wrestle Abbey back off her," laughs Pyne.
And although she misses the social side of working in a large company, she still gets a buzz from helping people prepare for a big event, like a wedding.
"I love it. The morning of when someone is getting married there's such excitement.
"By the time you have done the make-up and the mother and the bridesmaids you feel like part of the family. I'm a real people person so I love doing it," she says.