Heading up one of the West's biggest modelling agencies while raising three young children is no easy feat, but for Mandy Maher it is just another day of the week.

Originally from Tipperary, love brought Mandy to Galway at the tender age of 19 when she met her husband Ger.

Mandy started off working in the health and fitness sector, while doing some part-time modelling with the well-known Celia Holman Lee Agency in Limerick. However, after deciding to take a break from the day job, she realised that there was a gap in the market for a modelling agency in Galway and Catwalk Models was born.

Establishing an agency in the West was no walk in the park and Mandy says she was "absolutely nauseous" when she decided to take a chance and set up her own business. Getting any new business off the ground can be tough going but Mandy had one major obstacle in her way: she had no models.

"I was so desperate, I was asking any of my friends who were tall and picking people off the street for my first show. I started off with eight models and I had my first show eight weeks after I set up the business. We did the Windsor Motors Fashion Show and I was short on girls, so I ended up having to model myself as well! Luckily, it was very successful and I haven't looked back since!"

Since the Windsor show, Catwalk Models has gone from strength to strength and is now one of the most recognisable agencies in Ireland. With over 40 models on the books, including former Miss Ireland Lynda Duffy, the agency provides models to businesses all over the West and is now set to go national with the launch of its new website www.catwalkmodels.ie.

Being a good model, according to Mandy, requires much more than good looks and, in the wake of the size zero debate, demand is high for women with 'real' figures.

"I have to say, I am very lucky with my girls. They are very down to earth and hard working. That is just as important as their physical appearance. If I didn't think that a model would treat a client with 100 per cent respect, then they wouldn't be with the agency.

"To be a good model, of course you have to be good looking. You have to have the height as well, at least 5' 8. Other than that, there isn't really a shape or size. You don't have to be a size six or eight to be a model; they are screaming out for bigger women at the moment. People like to see models that they can relate to. They want to see what clothes look like on someone their own size, not some size zero. At the end of the day, this is Galway, not Paris or New York. The size of the average woman is 12 or 14 and we try to reflect that."

As well as running the agency, Mandy is also a mother of three and fits her work schedule around taking care of Amber, Joshua and Reese. While being a model mum involves long and unsociable hours, she says she thoroughly enjoys taking a "hands-on" approach to her work and trains each model herself.