Name: Katie Sloane

Age: 38

Lives: Inch Beach Whitegate

Job title: Owner of Peach Vintage and Co–owner of Revolving Wardrobe 

Salary bracket: 20,000 euro

Education background: Equestrian Studies in Stiofain Naofa. I just started a night course at St Johns College on fashion Upcycling this September.

Hobbies: Charity shop shopping, going to antique stores, Horse Racing, GAA, Music Festivals. Walking on the beach with my dog Freddie Bear. Making terrible “Lives” on Instagram and FB.

Describe your job in five words: FUN, hectic, sustainable, satisfying, progressive.

Describe yourself in five words: Happy, positive, hardworking, creative, sense of humour.

Personality needed for this kind of work? I spent many years in corporate sales and I have worked all my life with race horses, a very different blend so I have learnt how to handle pressure and deal with changes quickly. I am generally a calm person that comes from working around racehorses.

How long are you doing this job? I started Peach Vintage in February 2018.

How did you get this job? I have had a passion for vintage clothing since I lived in America back in the early 2000’s after I left college. I started to visit the charity shops and unique spots in the states and I couldn’t believe the amount of beautiful items that you couldn’t find in the high street and for a quarter of the price. When I returned from the states I started working in hotel sales. I was involved in many networking events and attended trade shows and meetings. My colleagues always looked so wonderful and would mention where they had bought their new dresses or gowns. Looking around a room full of beautiful woman all in amazing clothing I wondered how many times they would wear their dresses. This is where the idea came to me to set up an online consignment store selling preloved and vintage clothing. Since starting the business I have travelled around the country selling at vintage and craft markets meeting some of the best people. This is where I met my business partner Anna Troy.

Anna is from Youghal and had invited me to one of her amazing vintage nights we realised we were both driven people who ADORE vintage and decided we would start a vintage events business called @revolvingwardrobeevents we started the business in 2019 and had ran many events in East Cork incorporating local crafters and makers. We had huge plans for 2020 with our events side of things, in the meantime, we joined a collective in Youghal and opened our vintage shop at 72 North Main Street Youghal. Then lockdown came, when it was time to reopen, the original collective decided to do other things which left Anna and I with a decision to make, we worked tirelessly for two months to get more people involved and we reopened the collective under its new name The Wildflower Creative. Since the second lockdown we have had to take the decision to go on line. Peach Vintage has always been an online business so that hasn’t been a problem but it was so sad for us to have to close our doors for the second time. You will find us now on line both on FB and Instagram https://www.facebook.com/Revolvingwardrobeevents and https://www.instagram.com/revolvingwardrobevintage 

The initial question was how I got here from where I started – I believe in meeting good people, in staying true to myself. In working hard and putting myself out there when opportunities arise. You never know what is around the corner.

Do you need particular qualifications or experience?

I had no experience running my own business, but I have great support from my boyfriend my family and my friends. 

I have been known to say “I am bluffing my way through life” I stick my neck out, always ask questions and always ask for help!

Describe a day at work: As I wear two hats every day, I always plan my “work wardrobe” the night before. I get up at 6.30am I have almost an hour to drive to work, on the journey I listen to Neil Prenderille podcast (I am always a day late with the news). I am in the yard for 8am and I am there until 1pm each day. After lunch I am busy on the computer updating the website, adding stock to social media taking pictures of the items and attempting to make live videos, which have never been a success. 

When the shop was open I was there a couple of times a week (as it was a collective we shared the days of work) Now I am in the shop each Thursday to take pictures to add to our Etsy Shop.

The days absolutely fly for me, but being my own boss gives such satisfaction.

How many hours do you work a week? All the waking hours I have.

What do you wear to work? As much colour as possible. I love a mix of vintage, and second hand clothing, My boyfriend has commented that I could be selected for a spot on Ballymory the kids tv show.

Is your industry male or female dominated? It is mostly female in the sustainable fashion and vintage clothing industry, however I have been going to markets over the last number of years and have become firm friends with both male and female artists and makers.

Does this affect you in any particular way? Not particularly when it comes to work, however it would be fantastic to have more men get involved in buying and selling preloved & vintage clothing. If there are men reading this, I would be delighted to hear from you if you have amazing preloved clothing that you would like to make money on!

Is your job stressful? How? Rate it on a scale of 1-10: It’s only as stressful as I make it myself. My customers, or queens as they are known, never ever put me under pressure. I always say “are you in a hurry with them” and the answer has always been “not at all”. Having customers that are easy going makes Peach Vintage stress free.

Do you work with others or on your own? Peach Vintage is my business I don’t have any employees. I share Revolving Wardrobe Events with Anna Troy.

When do you plan to retire or give up working? With the horses, I am still fully convinced someone is going to give me a jockey’s licence one day. 

Peach Vintage is small and niche and if it stays like this I don’t ever intend on retiring from it, just to keep evolving it to suit both me and the people around me.

Best bits: Queens! without them Peach Vintage wouldn’t be a business it would just be me posting pictures of myself on insta ;-) Being my own boss, choosing what way I want to take the business and how fast or slow I want to take it. I get to bring my dog to work with me.

Worst bits: Sometimes I find myself running out of time to do things. There is never enough time.

Advice to those who want your job? Contact me!! I will be only too happy to help.

Any other comments? You will find me on social media https://www.facebook.com/Peachvintage https://www.instagram.com/peach_vintage_clothing www.peachvintageclothing.com