Celia Holman Lee “I’m sitting in the high grass waiting to pounce back”
By Marisa Reidy
SHE’S smart, beautiful, vivacious and fabulously friendly – but one overwhelming trait that immediately strikes you when chatting with Celia Holman Lee is her fight!
She may be 70 years old, but the Limerick model agency owner has absolutely no intention of slowing down, telling CONNECT that she cannot wait to get back to work as soon as restrictions allow.
The stunning grandmother-of-five describes her work as the ‘love of her life’ and while her business has suffered hugely through the Covid19 pandemic, she is as eager to get back to it as she ever was. The very suggestion of retirement is immediately laughed off.
“Not a bloody hope,” she says, emphatically!
The story of Celia’s journey into modelling is well known by now. A chance encounter with a model agent on the streets of Limerick at the age of just 15 was the beginning of what would become a spectacular career in the industry.
“I was a young one in Limerick just looking at models, bearing in mind this was well over 50 years ago,” Celia recalls. “It was an elitist industry back then, and I’ll go to my grave on that one, so I used to look at the models of the time but never, ever think I could do that, coming from a working class background.
“But one day, a lady stopped me on the street and asked me if I’d be interested in modelling and I just couldn’t believe what was going on. It was phenomenal. That lady was called Ann Moloney and she was starting up her own modelling agency, so it all went from there.”
Celia took part in her first fashion show at just 15 years of age in what is now the Penney’s store on Limerick’s O’Connell Street. From there her career simply took off.
“After that show I ended up in the Evening Herald and I remember there was an old photographer called Michael Finn, who would go round on his bike with an old camera and, God, he made everyone look dreamy.
“I just started modelling from there and over the years I was up and down the country, going to shows in Dublin, to every fashion show really. I was in the Limerick Leader all the time [and I do all their fashion stuff now] so I became a bit of a local celebrity really.”
As the years went on, Celia was becoming a very well-known face in the industry, but despite the lure of further career opportunities further afield, she admits that leaving her home city was never an option.
“Of course, I could have pursued a career in Dublin, but I never wanted to leave Limerick. There was no decision to make as far as I was concerned,” Celia tells Connect. “I was an only girl and was always close to my mother, so I never thought about it. Plus, I had met my husband Ger Lee at that stage so I was happy.”
As her reputation grew over the years, more and more clothing
stores were asking Celia to coordinate fashion events for them and she found herself sourcing models and teaching them some tricks of the trade. Quite quickly the Celia Holman Lee Model Agency was formed. Celia was just 22 at the time.
Almost 50 years later, the now family-run Holman Lee Agency continues to blossom, and Celia is understandably very proud of its success.
“I’m hugely proud of it and I say it out loud and with pride that I have worked hard and the agency has worked hard and will work again after this pandemic,” she says.
Like so many businesses, however, the modelling, beauty and fashion industry has been horrendously damaged by the pandemic. But true to form, Celia is ready to fight back!
“God, this pandemic! It’s like we’re going over a cliff, but we’re still hanging on. From a financial point of view, it’s been a disaster, but there is so much more to it than just that. It’s the meeting and talking to the people and being part of their lives and vice versa. And the stores and shops and all those people. It has been devastating, but in that situation, you have to get out there and fight back. I could have dropped over the cliff very easily, but I kept my head and fought back….and will continue to fight back.”
Celia’s fighting spirit and determination to never give up is something that was instilled in her from a young age, she says.
“When I was growing up, a badge of honour was that you were a great worker. I came from a working-class background, but once you were a hard worker, you were great, and I guess that was always so important to me and still is.”
And it was this mentality that helped Celia get through the pandemic, telling Connect that while it was devastating for her business, she feels luckier than most:
“I am strong,” she says. “If I have lasted in a business this long, I have to be. But, with my hand on my heart, if this had happened 20 or 25 years ago, I may not be telling you the same story. Back then, we both worked in the fashion industry, we had two young kids, a mortgage and two cars. The industry we are in has been wiped out and I know there are people out there who this is happening to right now. Restaurants, hairdressers, salons, events – the losses have been extraordinary. Lots of people are in that position and my heart is out to them. So, we are very lucky that we’re in a position after 50 years – thank you Jesus – that our home and cars are our own.”
If there was one positive that Celia took from the pandemic, it was that it allowed her more time to spend with her five grandchildren – and she loved it!
“We had such a great time with the five grandchildren because we were around a lot more, and that was fabulous. But other than that, it’s difficult to find anything positive from this awful pandemic, isn’t it? That was only one side of me though, and while it was wonderful, the other side was pining for my business that I love and there was no sign of it coming back. Now though, I watch the world and look at what’s going on and feel more confident that we will be back. We are controlling it, I hope. The vaccinations are going to help us live through this without getting ill and that makes me feel better. We’ve got to get out there and get our lives and our sanity back, especially those of us who went over the cliff.”
At 70 yeas of age, Celia Holman Lee is looking sensational. So, of course, we had to ask how she does it?
“I was never mad into fitness because my generation just didn’t know that at all. If you were putting on weight you just shoved the table back,” she laughs. “But it’s a new world now. So, while I’m not hugely into fitness, I love to walk. I’m not one who wants to go sit in the sunshine. In fact, I think I’d have a breakdown. I’m just not like that.
“My diet is also very good and I eat as healthily as possible. Ger had a bypass 22 years ago and I’ll always remember his doctor said: ‘eat what you like but eat no sauces and watch the drink’ and I’ll always remember that. So, we don’t take sauces and we eat as healthily as we can. I like my chocolate and cake and chips, but at a limit, and still eat plenty of brown bread and sourdough, and I love my butter, new potatoes and full fat milk. The truth is that I’m not a bit adventurous with food and I just eat as healthily as I possibly can.”
Of course, we could not let our chat end without asking Celia about the Rose of Tralee fashion show, which she has co-ordinated for more years than she can even remember! Seeing the festival cancelled two years in a row caused Celia huge sadness, as it has been part and parcel for her life for so long.
“Oh my God, I miss it so much. The Rose of Tralee committee are like family to me and it’s just so sad for them all,” she said. “The fashion show has been going on for as long as the Rose itself and every year we love coming down and trying to do something different. When I see the crowds gathering at 7pm, the queues outside, the ladies looking like film stars dressed to the nines, and you can hear the buzz getting louder and louder as the crowd sit down – it’s magical.
“The atmosphere gets going and then we go on the ramp and we give it everything year after year. Then afterwards – the buzz and the people around. The craic and the ladies appreciating everything. It’s truly incredible.”
In fact Celia is a huge fan of the festival as a whole, and spends the best part of a week in Tralee every August to savour it all.
“I just love it. It has got bigger and bigger each year and has so much to offer. We’d go down on the Friday night to the Rose Ball and that’s when we’d meet everyone again and we’d be hugging each other. Then Saturday we’d drive around Tralee or back to Dingle or walk the canal to the windmill. That night we go off out to Fenit to one of the fabulous restaurants there. There is so much to enjoy – the parade and fashion show, the Roses going on stage the night of the fashion show – wonderful, young, intelligent, fabulous women. And of course the gorgeous escorts. We’d made a week’s holiday out of it. The festival has reinvented itself to a new generation and I know that because I’ve seen it grow and grow. God, I miss it so, so much – but it will be back. It’s one of the greatest festivals in the world.”
Asked what’s next in her story, a defiant Celia tells Connect that she is ready, willing and waiting to get back to work.
“I’m just sitting in the high grass wating to pounce back,” she jokes. “I may not be able to pounce as high as I used to, but I’ll certainly give it everything. I have great energy and as long as that stays with me, I’ll keep going. I want to keep working. It’s so important. And I say that to every woman out there. Keep active and especially the mind – because the mind is everything.!
