It turns out there’s a lot more to being Maria than wearing the wig. Our ‘Maria in Training’ day brought an incredible buzz to the Ethos office, with Stephen Dwyer, Greg Hayden (MBA, Chartered Engineer) and Derek Hayden stepping behind the reception desk and throwing themselves into whatever came their way.
And we mean whatever came their way. From an old-school “is your refrigerator running?” prank call to a supposedly lost client struggling to navigate a straight-line Luas map, our recruits were kept guessing. In between, there was real work to be done, with travel requests to manage, lunches to organise for CPDs and client meetings, visitors arriving and the usual stream of unexpected requests landing at reception.
All three were brilliant sports, fully embracing the role, including the wig. There may have been a few forfeits along the way and more than a few calls for Maria to step in, but they came away with a very real appreciation for just how much happens behind the calm, organised welcome Maria gives our colleagues and visitors every day.
And just when Colm Devin thought his fourth-place finish had saved him, Greg issued one final challenge: take the last shift and he would donate another €1,000 to ARC Cancer Support Centres. Colm stepped up, the wig went back on, and our fundraising total reached an incredible €4,000.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated, got involved and made the day what it was. Most of all, thank you to Maria Hayden. We may have had some well-trained Marias by the end of the day, but there really is only one.
As for whether ‘Maria in Training’ could become an Ethos tradition? We’ll just say the wig isn’t going anywhere yet…
