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'I was getting work calls the week after giving birth to my son - I just couldn't take maternity leave'

After moving to Australia during the recession, Niamh Murdock returned home to open a cosmetic clinic.

WHEN THE RECESSION hit, I had just got my first job out of college.

This was around 2007 when I was working in finance, in trading and derivatives. Like a lot of people in the country at that time, I got made redundant.

It wasn’t that difficult to take. I was only out of the masters, it was my first job and my plan was to go travel and work abroad all along. So when we were told they were going to start having to let people go, I put my hand up.

A lot of the guys on my team had mortgages and families, I had nothing like that, so it suited me perfectly and off I went to Australia. I ended up working in an ice-cream shop on Bondi, but I only lasted one day at that.

I got bored of sitting on the beach waiting for another opportunity in Sydney, so when I saw this derivative trading job at a big multinational in Melbourne I just packed up and went.

I moved down there on my own when all my friends were in Sydney, started work, loved it and stayed for three years.

The finance industry was a stark difference to back home. Ireland was letting people go and Australia was thriving – I think Australia having its own commodities made a big difference.

The work I did down there was great for the insight it gave me into big business and the procedures that goes with it. Then after three years, I came home to Ireland in 2011.

Niamh Murdock, The Avoca Clinic Niamh Murdock Avoca Clinic Avoca Clinic

Working with mum

At first when I came back, I interviewed for roles similar to what I was doing in Australia, but I felt like I was going back to the same old slog.

Timing is everything, and while I was away my mum saw the opportunity for setting up a cosmetic practice and so started up the Avoca Clinic.

The business was growing steadily and I felt we could work really well together bringing what I’d learnt from being in big companies. I know it sounds cheesy, but it was about thinking and acting globally.

Because I had been part of a really big business, I saw what it was like to be a cog in a wheel. Then I came back and was part of a small business but always treated it like a big one.

It has stood to us having those big things in place, even at the very start when we really didn’t need them. But it has really benefitted us in the long run.

Working with a parent isn’t all sunshine and roses though, that would be a lie. But there is a real segregation in work – she’s mum at home, and Ailish in work. That is the key thing.

I think what makes it work is we come from very different perspectives. I’m all about the work systems, and she loves hearing the patients’ stories and journeys. We find our balance that way.

I am quite conservative with the business, whereas Ailish wants to look after everyone that comes in. By clashing with each other, we find a great balance.

Tricky industry

I think a terrible part of the cosmetic surgery industry in Ireland is the lack of regulation. The challenge for us was getting the right surgeons – licensed plastic surgeons – on board.

Myself and Ailish don’t come from a medical background, so we knew that having the very best consultant plastic surgeons in their fields of expertise was instrumental to differentiating us from the rest of the industry.

It took a long time to get these consultants, because they are working in the big hospitals and it was about getting them to see outside the box to an extent and come and work with us.

Screen Shot 2018-03-02 at 13.23.32 YouTube YouTube

We run the business side and they lead the medical side, so everything is done by people who understand their roles completely.

Since they are elite surgeons, they have very high standards that we need to match and as a business we have to provide what they want.

But, in this industry, you need to strive for top, top standards. In an unregulated industry you have general doctors commanding low fees and patients aren’t always aware of the difference between a plastic surgeon and a general surgeon.

That presents challenges for us on the business side, because we need to balance top consultants and top implants with a competitive price. It’s probably the biggest challenge we face.

Highs and lows

Personally, my best day in the business so far was when we opened our Limerick clinic – I found the premises and it was like my pet project.

It was a huge milestone for us as a business to show we were opening a second clinic. And we’re now building towards our third in Dublin, which we’re in the process of finalising.

Our aim inside here is to have a clinic in each province and be able to look after everyone. We have a lot of clients travelling to us and we want to be able to bring the clinics to them.

Those are the positives, but the flip side of those is that personally the thing I struggle with the most as a business woman is being a new mum with a one-year-old child.

Last year, I found it really hard when I had my son that I couldn’t really take maternity leave. The week I was in Holles Street having just had my son, I was getting work calls. Not from the clinic, but from people I would deal with outside the business.

That is hard to manage as a new mother. I’m sure there are incredible women who find it no problem at all to balance their home life and work life, but it was all very new to me and it took me some time to get to grips.

But that is when the benefits of working with my mother really shone through because I had the support network. That really helped me find the balance between work and home life.

Screen Shot 2018-03-02 at 13.23.11 YouTube YouTube

Lessons learned

One thing I wish I knew when we were starting out with this business was to know we can say “no”. It is ethics over aesthetics at our business.

I’m sure if you’re used to working in a shop, saying “no” to a customer must feel wrong, but in our business it’s important to prioritise the safety of the patients.

Sometimes it’s not the right time for people to get cosmetic work done and you need to carefully manage patients’ expectations. People don’t want to hear “no” but this isn’t like getting your hair done, surgery is a big deal and it needs to be thought out.

Niamh Murdock is the co-owner of Avoca ClinicThis piece was written in conversation with Killian Woods as part of a series on unlikely entrepreneurs.

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