By Lois McCarthy

Copyright walesonline

Running a pub is not for the fainthearted – especially when it’s a family affair. For most children, mornings begin with cereal at the kitchen table. For Olivia Kelly, they began with a trip downstairs to the pub; maybe cracking open a packet of crisps and sipping a J2O before school . While her classmates were waking up to cartoons, Olivia was learning what it meant to live and breathe hospitality. Coming home from school often meant hearing a shout from downstairs: “Can you help wash the dishes?”, a call that meant dozens of hungry patrons had just been fed. It was an unconventional childhood. Constantly moving from school to school, Olivia quickly got to know every neighbour because, in truth, half the neighbourhood would be at the pub on any given weekday. That lively, close-knit lifestyle shaped her and ultimately set her on the path she’s on today. Back in 2013, Olivia’s parents Chris and Lucy Kelly spoke to WalesOnline about how challenging it was to run pubs while raising three daughters. Over a decade later, their eldest is now 27 – and proudly running her own place – often with her two sisters in tow. “When people ask me where I’m from, it’s more complicated than you think,” Olivia admits. ” My parents are retired now but they have run pubs my whole life – so we moved around a lot growing up. I was born in Paignton in Devon, but only lived there for a short stint of my life. We moved to London, then Cardiff – Cardiff feels like home.” For Olivia, pubs were never just workplaces. They were extensions of her family. “My parents have always said that pub life was a lifestyle,” she says. “It’s family-oriented, people in the pub become family, even though they’re not related by blood. It’s not your average nine-to-five. You only switch off when the last person is out the door; you’re always around.” As kids, she and her sisters Danielle and Estelle were immersed in the business from the start. ” We’d come home from school, have a bit of food and if it got busy we’d jump in – and that was our life really. It was 100 miles an hour. “We’d hear shouts of ‘Help!’ from downstairs, and we’d be running around, picking up glasses. My sisters would be in the pot wash doing dishes. It was just normal to us. I found it to be exciting. Challenging… but it made me who I am today.” At 16, Olivia officially joined her parents on the payroll. “Crazy is one word for it,” she laughs. “Working with family isn’t always easy – I probably wasn’t the calmest… I was a bit wild as a teenager. But it made us so close. Wherever we went, it was the five of us together.” Seeing her parents run a pub with such passion, drove Olivia into wanting to do it herself. “It was inspiring seeing them do it,” Olivia reflects. “With my upbringing – I knew that this was the only thing that I wanted to do. When I told my parents, my mum told me I was crazy and I think my father agreed, but they both always knew that this was meant for me.” Olivia’s professional break came after lockdown when she became assistant manager at the Harvester in Cardiff Bay . After a short time at BT made her realise she wasn’t cut out for office life, returning to hospitality felt like coming home. Just a few months later, she was sent to cover as manager at the Harvester in Llanedeyrn; a venue that was struggling after years of instability and the toll of Covid-19 . “When I first took the job and was told that I was basically the boss – it sounded great but I do get moments where I’m like – oh my god, I am the BOSS!” “In the beginning, honestly, t here was no part of me that wanted to stay . I didn’t know anyone or the area. It was one of the oldest Harvesters in the country, ” she says. “I was only 23 or 24 at the time and it felt like a lot of pressure.” But when she heard the building was going up for sale and facing closure, something shifted. “I’m stubborn,” she admits. “I just wanted to see it work.” From superstar gigs to cosy pubs, find out What’s On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here The Coed-Y-Gores Harvester was one of the oldest in the country – dated, struggling and surrounded with slicker competitors. Yet, Olivia and her team were able to transform it into a thriving community hub. They introduced DJs on Saturdays, live music on Fridays, and worked tirelessly to win back locals who had drifted away. “It’s not something you can usually expect from a Harvester, but this place meant a lot to people, throughout the years. The people of Llanedeyrn have come here to eat, to drink, to meet with family and I think people steered away for a long time because it was so outdated.” Then came the big moment: a full refurbishment worth £516,000. ” When we were closed for three weeks for the refurb, you sort of lose yourself a little bit – your personality in ways… you don’t feel yourself,” Olivia confessed. “It was all worth it though.” When the pub reopened on August, 20 the support was overwhelming. One of their longest-standing regulars, Bryan, was given the honour of cutting the ribbon. “He’s here every day,” Olivia smiles. “When he saw the place after the refurb, he had tears in his eyes. He’s like family.” Since then, the pub has become a heartbeat of the Llanedeyrn community – supporting the local football club Cardiff All Stars, hosting events for all ages, and providing a welcoming space where familiar faces fill every corner. “I don’t think there is anywhere I can go where I don’t bump into someone I know,” she laughs. “I go into a shop and they’re like ‘Oh Liv!” or there will be talk about the pub and a regular will say my ‘daughter is turning 16, are there any jobs going’. With there being such a communal aspect to it, I do feel a need to help people out – you want to look after everybody there. We really have become a family.” The family have become a part of the fabric of the place. According to Olivia, her younger sister Danielle, now 22, juggles table tennis competitions for Wales with pulling the odd shift when she’s home, while 21-year-old Estelle now works as a supervisor. “Danielle might be the only one who wasn’t dropped on her head as a child because she was absolutely against going full time into hospitality other than to make a little pocket money so she can fly here, there and everywhere,” Olivia jokes. “With Estelle – the baby, as we like to call her – it’s in her and it’s great to see. Watching her do the job, you do feel proud. “It’s amazing to be able to support them the way our parents supported me,” Olivia says. “We used to bicker as kids – you can’t put three different aesthetics in one room – but now we’re older it works. “They respect what I do – they understand that there are times where I’m going to have to have difficult conversations and situations but they have always been on board – they’re my go-to’s.” Every now and then, Olivia’s partner will also make an appearance – more often to steal a packet of sweets or to chat with customers. ” We definitely wouldn’t put her before the bar!” Olivia laughs, ” My partner does a completely different jobs and she thinks I am crazy sometimes.” And her parents are never far away either. “The advice from my parents never ends,” Olivia smiles. “Sometimes it’s not always wanted but I’ll always listen” More often or not, they pop in for a glass of wine, though her dad still writes the pub quiz every Sunday – a nod to the quizzes they used to run when Olivia was a teenager racing around the floor. Over a decade later, Olivia still looks forward to a future running around a pub floor. “I have my whole career ahead of me and of course I would like to explore more ventures in the future – at the end of the day you don’t know what opportunities may come up, but you would have to take me kicking and screaming from this place right now. “This is just the start of this place; we’ve only just ticked off one box.”