Belfast Media Girls - Interview Special!

So, it's been a minute since my last blog post, so to make up for it I'm coming back with a triple whammy, interviews from 3 Fabulous (non-TV, just to spice things up a bit) women all from different aspects of the Belfast media scene!

 

The lovely Cate Conway is a radio & events presenter who I feel like I've known for a long time even though we've only actually met once! My mum is a makeup artist who Cate has booked in with a few times so I feel like we've had lots of chats / conversations through her and we've been mutual followers for a while! She's a lovely lady with a fantastic career so I was delighted when she kindly agreed to be interviewed for my blog!

 

Lauren Leckey is a gorgeous model and influencer that I've looked up to for a while, she's a former Miss Northern Ireland and we met through my experience taking part in the competition! Lauren's Instagram tells all about her favourite workouts, healthy recipes & snacks, home decor of her gorgeous new home and of course her adorable puppy Bruno! If you like lifestyle, workout and meal prep inspo, she is the girl you should be following!

 

And last (but certainly not least!) is the fabulous Managing Editor at Local Women Magazine, Kim Kelly! I also met Kim through the Miss Northern Ireland competition as she's a judge! We often bump into each other at bloggers events around town, Kim is always the life of the party and brings the craic every single time!

 

Cate Conway

How did you get to be where you are today - how did you get into radio?

It’s a very long story! The short version is - I studied business at university and was working in marketing at Belfast Met. It was my job to visit schools and talk about courses students could do there when they left school at 16 or 18. I absolutely hated public speaking, it scared the life out of me but I had to get on with it and to my surprise I started to really enjoy it. 

 

In 2007 I auditioned for a TV quiz show with my friend Elaine and got on the show. One of the producers told me I was really natural on camera and that I should be a TV presenter. I thought ‘you know what, you’re right! That’s what I’m going to do’ and about a year later went part time in the college and then took a career break. 

 

Everyone said I was bonkers to leave a well-paid ‘secure’ job to pursue a career I had no experience or qualifications in. (Bear in mind I was mid 30s!) But I did it and I haven’t looked back. I spent a lot of time knocking doors and trying to get TV work. I spent about 18 months as a guest expert at QVC selling kettles and Sodastreams on TV because I knew it would give me loads of great experience. 

 

I hadn’t really thought of radio, it was always TV but then one day I got a call asking me if I wanted to record a demo as they were looking for someone to work with Stephen Clements on the breakfast show on Citybeat. It was surreal after chasing TV for a few years. Things just fell into place then. I worked with him for 4 and half years then moved to U105. I’m now working between there and BBC Radio Ulster.

 

Can you please tell me a little bit about the fantastic work you do with the Stephen Clements Foundation?

The Stephen Clements Foundation - I’m not sure where to start with that. I have mixed feelings about it. Stephen was so good, he was an ambassador for a few charities and a very vocal about helping others, I love that we are able to carry on that spirit in his name. 

 

However, I’m overwhelmingly sad that we have to. We aim to help causes he cared about and also to speak out about mental health issues.

 

We are only getting started with it. Lockdown put the brakes on a lot of activity we had planned so watch this space.

If you weren’t a presenter, what other career path would you have pursued?

I have had a few careers before presenting. I changed career totally in my mid 30s but before that I worked in recruitment, student finance and marketing. It was always my dream to get paid for talking so presenting is perfect for me! 

 

I have a business as well actually, called Quirky Weddings. My business partner, Saima, and I run the wedding fair at the Waterfront Hall (twice a year before Covid, hopefully we are back to full power again now.) I love it! 

 

We started in 2010 when weddings were much more traditional and people were just starting to feel comfortable with asking for something different. Our first fair was in the Black Box with just 34 companies and within about 18 months we grew to 138 companies in the Waterfront Hall. 

 

There was a huge appetite for alternative options. Remember at that time social media was in its infancy so people’s ability to research and find unusual wedding suppliers was really limited. If I wasn’t a presenter, I’d be doing that but I’ve always fancied being a wedding celebrant so who knows I might merge my 2 passions.

 

What radio show/presenter inspired you the most as a new entrant?

Stephen Clements, all day long. He was an absolute genius on radio. Stephen had a real skill for making people feel like he was talking directly to them, not to a huge audience of people, just to them. 

 

People felt like they really knew him personally. That’s really hard to do on radio because you’re in this studio on your own or with one other person but he was able to make people feel like he was sitting next to them having a private conversation. He was also incredibly quick witted and loved to push boundaries. 

 

I’m not sure how he got away with a lot of the innuendo and jokes. It’s weird now because I feel like a new entrant all over again. Losing him has changed how I feel on radio and I feel like I’m taking what he taught me but reinventing it. 

 

I listen to Sheila Fogarty on LBC every day and really admire her interview skills. She’s really assertive but also so empathetic when she deals with difficult stories.

 

 

How are you able to keep your energy up and stay ‘on’ when you’re on air?

I have no idea. It’s something that happens in the moment when you’re in the seat, headphones on and music playing. The best way I can explain it is - you know the feeling you get when you have something really exciting or funny to tell your best mate - that buzz? I try to channel that, by finding stuff I really want to talk about and share. 

 

There are rare days when I need to have a word with myself before or during the show to re-energise. My job is to keep people company and tell them wee funny or interesting things so I can’t let my own mood impact that. To be fair, I think it’s the best job in the world so those days are pretty rare.

 

Follow Cate on Insta at @radio.cate

  

Lauren Leckey

I love how you’ve established health, fitness & lifestyle as your brand, how long have you been interested in fitness / cooking?

What can I say, I am a complete foodie! From a very young age all I wanted was to watch cookery shows and for Christmas as I child I used to ask for cook books and baking equipment. I guess I got my love of cooking from my mum, in her younger years she was a cake decorator-and an amazing one too. 

 

I left school at the age of 16- just after doing my GSCE's. I just wasn’t interested in the idea of going to university or school. After leaving I was going to go into the family construction business however, I thought I would take 2 years out for me and do something I wanted to do. 

 

I went to America in the summer and was in culinary teacher in a creative arts summer camp. I completed my level 3 patisserie / confectionery & level 2 in cooking. It was a scary choice, all of my friends were doing their A-levels to go on to university, while I decided to leave. I think so many people believe you nearly just have to go onto university. But taking my own path was the best decision I made. 

 

I love training, working out, being active and I love how it makes me feel. To me, posting all this on Instagram is a way of holding myself accountable- to do workouts, to eat healthy. I also would hope that there are people who follow me taking inspiration from the food that I’m sharing or the workouts that I’m doing.

 

In the past 6 months I stated hot yoga and it’s been great seeing so many people give it a try after seeing it on my stories. I am actually starting a new gym very soon and will defiantly be posting a lot more workout and gym content. Stay tuned!

 

 

The before / afters on your new house are so much fun to see! Where do you find your home decor inspiration?

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder- especially when it comes to decorating. I would say my style is rather “all over the show” with some rooms being industrial/dark/moody and others being light modern and airy. Instagram is amazing for ideas and D.I.Y inspiration. 

 

However, I do think you have to take a risk and hope for the best, thus was definitley the case when I decided to paint my radiators black. I was just hoping it would turn out right- and it did! The risk was worth it! 

 

Top tip; Farrow & Ball have the most beautiful colour palettes- that come with a rather steep price tag. I buy a sample pot of the colour; test it out to be sure I like it. I then bring it to B & Q and it the colour mixed up to match- you could not tell the difference! 

 

I also find just simply going into shops is great inspiration, seeing different ways the items are styled. 

How do you find time to maintain your fitness / beauty routine whilst also working full time and keeping on top of your social media?

I think the biggest thing that I have learnt while doing social media is that we can be so judgmental on ourselves, especially when it comes to photos and uploading photos that we deem to be “perfect”, but social media doesn’t want to see perfect, just ourselves. 

 

I try not to care too much about the photos I am uploading, I don’t have set times as such that I set aside to do social media, I just do it because honestly, I love it! 

 

I work Monday to Friday 9-5 in the family concrete business as sales manager, I work out 4 times a week- mostly hot yoga classes, alongside that I bake cakes after work.  

 

I am a firm believer that you make time to do the things you want to do. if you are someone who is always telling yourself that you are busy, you should look more into planning out your days, a run in the fresh air can take as little as 30 minutes! 

  

Have you ever experienced online trolling? If so, how did you handle it?

 

I have, however very lightly- not that it makes it okay. I am every easy going and really it takes a lot to get to me. I had comments made on the online forum tattle life saying that a goldfish has more talent than me.... 

 

The way I look at the comments are that that person clearly does not know me, something that my mum always said to me was that not everyone is going to like you, and you shouldn’t live your life trying to make those that don’t matter like you. 

 

However, online bullying & harassment is a completely different matter, if this is happening to you, please, please! tell someone. 

 

 

As the longest ever reigning Miss World Northern Ireland (2 years!), what was your favourite aspect of the role?

It seems like an absolute lifetime ago I was crowned Miss Northern Ireland. This is probably my most asked question, and every time I get asked this, I have a new answer because there were so many things that came from it. 

 

I had a ball at miss world; I made great friends that I still talk to this day- I’m actually flying over to Scotland soon to meet my friend Keryn (miss Scotland 2019) 

 

I think my next answer to this question is not so much as aspect, but becoming miss NI changed me so much as a person, I came out of my shell so much and I am way more confident. 

 

 Check Lauren out on Instagram at @laurenleckey

Kim Kelly - Managing Editor at Local Women Magazine

How did you get your first job as a journalist?

I started my first job the day I left journalism college. It was luck really, the editor needed someone to help out, and I was able to start immediately. 

 

For about a year, I worked four days a week at the Sentinel in Derry for the princely sum of £100 a week. It was 1998 and it wasn’t great money even back then! However, it gave me a lot of on-the-job experience and a foot in the door. From there I progressed through local newspapers to national daily papers and then on to celebrity magazines. 

 

My career has taken me to Dublin, London and New York before I settled back in Northern Ireland and started to work with Local Women Magazine.

 

 

What advice would you give to any young aspiring journalists who might be reading this?

Write about what you know. You may not think you have any particular traditional area of expertise like politics or sport but what you do have is you and your lived experiences. If you are willing to share this, you can be a great feature writer.

 

Good manners and a friendly attitude will get you a long way in a competitive work environment. I’m a great believer in saying, “Yes, I can do that,” and working out the details later!

 

 

What do you enjoy most about your career?

You get to go to a lot of lovely places and experience a great lifestyle, of course that is great. However, it is the people I meet who impact me the most. It is a privilege to be allowed to share someone’s story. I am always humbled that someone allows me to do that.

How do you balance being a working mother in the media/journalism industry?

The former First Minister Arlene Foster said to me, “You wouldn’t ask a man that,” when I asked her this question! I replied that I wasn’t being sexist, just that I had never met a man who juggled! Women are jugglers and it is one of our greatest skills. Men, for a variety of reasons (and I am generalising here) don’t have to balance their lives like we have to.

 

When my son was very little I went back to work and got a child minder which worked. When he was a little older and needed me more, I went freelance and worked around his needs. As he grew up and went to school I increased my hours, and now I am full time again. 

 

There are very few jobs that offer the flexibility of journalism. Saying that I remember vividly locking myself in the bathroom to do a radio slot while my son screamed the house down! I felt like the worst mum ever but sure he survived – and so did I!

 

Would you say that the rise social media has changed the dynamic of your career in any way?

It has completely changed the landscape and it was a question of keep up or get left behind. Before social media, if you wanted information about someone you had to go to their door and ask them, or search through public records. 

 

These days, everything is at your fingertips which is amazing, but it can make you lazy. Sometimes the old ways are better, and a little bit of proper research can get you a better story!

Keep up with Kim @the_kimkelly