KCM Beauty technician from Holbeach competes in the Worldwide Eyebrow Festival 2024 — and hails husband for spurring her on
A beauty technician who represented the UK at a competition in Europe says she couldn’t have done it without the support of her husband.
For the past three months, Katie Hardy, 27, of Holbeach, has competed against candidates from all over the world – after taking part in the Worldwide Eyebrow Festival 2024 competition.
The specialist started her business KCM Beauty (which stands for Katie Cynthia Maddison), while working at Tesco — but has thrown herself into her business dream full time from a cabin in her garden since 2021.
Some of the services the salon offers includes occasions and events makeup, lash lifts, lash extensions and a whole range of eyebrow treatments.
After seeing a social media post for the competition on Instagram, Katie’s husband, Tom Hardy, 35, encouraged her to take part.
Katie said: “I have been into beauty ever since school and it is 100% my passion. I saw the advert for the competition on Instagram and I wasn’t sure whether to do it or not. I asked Tom and he told me my work is really good and that I need to start entering competitions.
“I entered the brow lamination category which is something I already offer as a treatment, so I was feeling pretty confident about the process.”
In order to take part in the contest, Katie had to submit photos of her best work, which was then scored by judges, who put the top five highest scorers into the final.
The couple travelled to Birmingham on April 14, where Katie competed in the UK final and was awarded first place.
As a result of her achievements, Katie was also invited to take part in the five day long worldwide final against 14 other countries, which was held in Rotterdam.
Katie said: “I came third which made me feel amazing. I was so shocked and there was a lot for me to take in – I cried.
“I was so unsure about whether to enter it or not, and then to get this far, it was pretty overwhelming.
“I was so grateful that I've had the opportunity to try and showcase my work and it was the best decision I made - I’ll definitely be doing more.”
Katie’s husband Tom, who works at a car sales business in Spalding, explained how proud he is of her work and what she has achieved, he said: “Myself and the whole family is really proud. I travel with her and support her as much as I can but it’s her success and I want her to take all the credit.
“After she represented the UK and took part in all of the events, I just thought it was brilliant. She is so hardworking and invests a lot of time and effort into her business.
“I have to remind her to have a 10 minute break and make a sandwich – it’s definitely taken over our life but in a good way.
“The reason I wanted to encourage her to enter these competitions is because her work is all perfect. I think after she received feedback from the professionals, it made her want to push on and pursue other areas.”
The couple met when they both worked at Tesco and have been supporting each others dreams ever since, Katie added: “Tom is amazing – he makes my passion his passion and I’m so grateful for him. If I am ever unsure on something, he’s the one that pushes me to do it and I do truly believe that I am where I am because of him.
“The next step for me is to offer my own master classes for other people, build up my social media and enter more competitions to become more confident.
“My advice for anyone who is looking to start their own business would be to just go for it.
“I’ve not always had the confidence or believed in myself. It just shows that if you do push yourself out of your comfort zone and just go for it, anything is possible – just keep consistent and don’t give up.”
