A fresh perspective on life
2025 is a milestone year for Joanne Skelly.
She will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of her business, Joanne's Fashion House in Ballina, which has become not only one of North Tipperary's leading boutiques but also a popular “go-to shop” that serves as a treasured social outlet in the local community.
Perhaps more poignantly, this March marks the tenth anniversary of Joanne's breast cancer diagnosis. That was undoubtedly the most trying time of her 25 years in business - during which there were many ups and downs - one that led to her taking an enforced step back from the shop.
But it was also a time that kindled within Joanne a very new perspective on life. Always a woman of great faith, her battle with and eventual overcoming of cancer left her taking stock of the things that really matter.
“I kind of lost interest in everything when I was sick,” Joanne reflected last week. “But God is good. I am so grateful that I got another chance at life. There was a time there where I thought I wasn't going to pull through it. Once I did pull though it, I kind of didn't think of the shop as seriously as I used to because it's only a shop, it's not my life.”
SICKNESS A BLESSING
Joanne found herself focusing a lot more on home and family life than she had done before cancer, which came in her 40s. The mother of three spent more time with her children.
Her treatment involved a mastectomy, chemo and radiotherapy. She adhered to a strict diet of fruit and vegetables. She prayed a lot.
She eventually got the coveted “all-clear”, by which stage Joanne was already gratefully ensconced in her newfound appreciation of life, a situation that continues to this day.
“Looking back now, it was a great blessing that I got that sickness because it freed me from things I'd worried about. It gave me the freedom [to realise] that you could be here today and gone tomorrow. It's just so precious. You're only one breath away from eternity...
“That sickness freed me from worrying about all the worldly things in my life. Now I don't worry about stuff like that - I let God take care of it.”
DIVINE PROVIDENCE
This fresh perspective of life was underscored a few years later when Joanne was again forced to take a break from business by the Covid pandemic. She enjoyed the temporary reprieve from the hassles of running a business.
“I got up in the morning, I went off walking, I said the rosary - I said four rosaries every morning of covid - and then came home and spent the day with my kids.”
Recalling her experiences of cancer and lockdown, Joanne talks about how those times moved her all the closer to God. “I go to Mass every day now. God is a huge part of my life - I try and live my life as much with God as I can.”
She revealed how she asks God to help with the running of the shop and said His guidance has been key to its success over the last 25 years. “My shop would not be open only God kept it open. It's pure divine providence that that shop is open,” Joanne said.
“I engage with Him as a friend and not someone on a throne. I engage with Him in every little detail of my life.”
‘MORE STORMS THAN DRY DAYS’
Native of Scarriff, Joanne previously worked as an air hostess with Aeroflot and Aer Lingus. After Aeroflot pulled out of Shannon, she went looking for a fresh start closer to home and that led to her opening her boutique beside McKeogh's Hardware in Ballina.
There were some turbulent times - “more storms than dry days”, was how Joanne summed up the experience of running her own business. She described herself as a cautious businesswomen in the early days of running the shop, despite the affluence of the time in general.
This may have stood her in good stead for the economic crash that was to come. Though times were tough, Joanne's boutique survived where so many other retailers disappeared. Again, Joanne's faith in God played a decisive role in this survival.
Certainly, she has witnessed a great deal of change over her years in the fashion business. She noticed that lot of clothing became more disposable as Ireland became more affluent. Multinational chains arrived en masse and sold mass-produced clothing at lower cost.
‘MORE THAN JUST A SHOP’
But Joanne has always found that her Ballina boutique has had to cater for a much wider cross-section of client, from farmer's wives to solicitors and medical professionals. Far aside from that, her shop has become an important mainstay of the local economy over the years in terms of employment - Joanne reckoned around a dozen staff members have worked in her shop - and in being a place where local people feel welcome to drop in and have a chat. Joanne continues to love this element of her business.
“You meet great people,” she said. “Lovely customers and I've had lovely staff over the years.
“The customers make it. They come for a chat and sometimes a cuppa. It's a little go-to shop that they can come into... It is more than just a shop.
“The shop is only secondary, sometimes. It's place for local people in the village to come to and they often do stop in to say hello.”
Joanne - a daughter of Josephine Gleeson of Smithfield, Nenagh - hoped people would come from all over her catchment area to greet her on the 25th anniversary of her boutique. She has no plan in place just yet but may mark the occasion with a fashion show.
For now, as she looked forward to the future of her business, Joanne took the opportunity to thank all the customers and staff for their friendship and support over the last 25 years. Here's to many more!