Restoring Heritage one mould at a time: Fibrous plasterer Mary-Havana Little

Let me introduce traditional fibrous plasterer Mary-Havana Little, she shares her remarkable journey into the world of heritage plastering and restoration craftsmanship. As a passionate advocate for traditional trades and one of the few women in the traditional plastering industry, Mary opens up about the challenges she’s overcome, the beauty of working on historic buildings, and the importance of preserving artisanal techniques.

This episode dives into her standout restoration projects, creative collaborations, and how platforms like Instagram and TikTok have helped her showcase her plastering skills to a broader audience. Mary also discusses the importance of mentorship in skilled trades and why passing on knowledge is vital to the future of construction and heritage work. To wrap up, we get to know her even better with a fun and light-hearted quickfire question round. Be sure to like, download, and follow for more awesome episodes. 

Key Takeaways

• Mary started plastering at a young age, inspired by her family.
• Restoration work is a passion for Mary, as it brings history back to life.
• Mary emphasizes the importance of asking for help in a male-dominated trade.
• She has worked on unique projects, including work for films like Gladiator 2 and the Netflix series The Gentlemen.
• Social media has helped Mary connect with a wider audience and showcase her work.
• Mary believes in the importance of teaching and mentoring others in her trade.
• She faces challenges as a female tradesperson but remains determined to succeed.
• Mary values authenticity and only collaborates with brands she can provide value to.
• She enjoys the camaraderie of the trades and appreciates the respect from her peers.
• Mary hopes to inspire more women to enter traditional trades. 

Follow me:

Instagram: @lifeofafemaletradie_

Facebook: Life of A Female Tradie

Follow Guest:

Instagram: @mary.plaster.mouldings.direct

TikTok: @mary_pmd

Chapters

00:00 Mary's Journey into Traditional Plastering

06:05 The Art of Restoration and Craftsmanship

11:22 Unique Projects and Notable Collaborations

14:27 Legacy and Family Traditions in Craftsmanship

17:38 Empowering Women in Trades

19:14 Struggles in the Trade as a Woman

21:24 Customer Engagement and Business Growth

22:12 The Power of Social Media

24:03 Balancing Social Media and Privacy

25:47 Brand Collaborations and Authenticity

27:51 The Importance of Quality Workwear

30:40 Networking and Community in the Trade

34:58 Quickfire Questions and Personal Insights

39:10 1. Thanks for listening 

39:25 Outro

Transcript

Mary-Havana Little (00:11)

name's Mary Little and I'm a traditional fibrous plasterer from Surrey. I've been in my trade now since I was like a little kid but I've been working professionally for about 10 years like really putting myself out there with my plaster work. I was trained by my dad and my brother, they're both masters and mould makers and plasterers so they've taught me everything I know really.

Laura (00:32)

Amazing.

Well, welcome to the podcast, Mary. It's great to have you on. Your work's incredible. And I love that it's so traditional and just different. These are the types of trades that I feel are dying out now. So it's great to see people still doing it and especially a female. So yeah, how did you...

Mary-Havana Little (00:44)

Yeah.

Laura (00:54)

Get into it, did you follow your father's footsteps then?

Mary-Havana Little (00:58)

Yeah, so I got into like traditional fibrous work by just following my dad and my brother around. I think I followed my brother around more than my dad. So yeah, it sort of just become a thing. I jump in the van and be like, I want to come to work too. I want to come to the yard. So yeah, like on weekends, I didn't really want to stay at home and with the girls, like with my sisters, I wanted to go out with my dad and brother. And I was always

Laura (01:10)

Hahaha

Mary-Havana Little (01:21)

very creative little kid making things and drawing and painting. So I think, yeah, it was just like the mess of the yard and making beautiful things. And I was just really drawn to it from a young age. I thought, like I said, I've always been quite creative. So yeah, I think it was quite natural for me to just come in the yard and pick out little molds. used to make my mum little flowers and things and take them home to her.

Laura (01:34)

Okay.

⁓

Mary-Havana Little (01:46)

Yeah, and then when I got big enough, my dad, know, he sort of like, she has got a real good natural talent at this. And he gave me a spashed brush and he said, right, we'll teach you how to cast now where your big brother is. And I was so, yeah, I remember I was so excited. I was like, yes, I can't wait. You know, was like being, I was one of the big boys, you know, being allowed to cast Cornice. And yeah, since then, I just, yeah, just absolutely loved it. Stick to it is about a proper passion. think it's real important when you love your work, you got to love your work to be happy.

Laura (02:00)

Ha

brilliant.

Oh,

absolutely, 100%. So it sounds like you were thrown in the deep end then, just crack on with it.

Mary-Havana Little (02:23)

Yeah, always on my dad and brother. Yeah, like there's no princess treatment for me around here. I've always been taught like, you know, I've been, I have, I've been treated like one of the boys always. And I've always, you know, I had to keep up and obviously I've had to ask for help throughout my whole life. Like I can't be as physically strong as the men, obviously I'm a woman, you know, but I can do my best and try and keep up as best as I can. And I know when I need to ask for help, even though I don't like asking for help, but if I need to, will.

Laura (02:27)

Hahaha

That's it.

You

Mary-Havana Little (02:52)

But yeah, it's just all about learning and adapting really. you just, think as well in a trade, like a proper, like traditional trade, just it's such like a man's area. You've got to be mentally strong for it and all. You've got to just keep pushing yourself. Yeah. All the time.

Laura (03:03)

Definitely.

It's

nice to hear that you've got an open mind to asking for help, even though sometimes you may not like asking for it, but you know that sometimes you need a helping hand from someone, your dad or your brother. Because it can be difficult as a woman in the trades to ask for that help, especially when the help is likely to come from a male,

Mary-Havana Little (03:18)

⁓ yeah.

Yeah, of course, but they've got to appreciate and respect you for that as well. Sometimes your brother will turn around and he'll go, I'll leave off, you can do that yourself. Stop being stupid. You know, I'm having a lazy down, oh God, really be bothered today. And he's like, no, you can do that. Don't be silly. But other days, you know, he's jumped straight to it and they can ask me for help whenever they can as well. And I'm always there to help them. So it works both ways. You just got to that good relationship with the boys in the yard, really.

Laura (03:30)

Absolutely.

Ha

Yeah.

100%.

Mary-Havana Little (03:55)

My

dad and brother obviously can't help it. I'm the annoying little sister. They've got to help me. They've got a choice. Yeah, so we do a lot of, we do a lot of different stuff really Laura. So we've got obviously like our online shop and we sell like stock item cornices so people can just go on there and buy like a ceiling rose for their living room or a few lengths of cornice.

Laura (03:57)

Brilliant. So what are the different types of mouldings and projects that you work on specifically in your yard there?

Mary-Havana Little (04:23)

You can buy columns from there. We've got a massive range on there, but obviously our traditional side, which is our more bespoke side, is that we do the match to existing. So we're going to like a grade listed building, get a piece of cornice down, bring it back to the yard and remake the mold. And that's, that's a massive process, you know, and that's, that's obviously one of the most difficult things that we do, but that's me and my brother's sort of like favorite projects because it's different from the everyday. We absolutely love that.

Laura (04:39)

Wow.

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (04:50)

And there's nothing more beautiful. You know, you go into like these big old houses and you see these cornices and they're covered with like layers and layers of paint. You can't even see the detail on them. Do know it's mad. And we take them down, we bring them back to yard, strip the paint off them, remake the mold and it's like a different cornice. Like it just, it really changed it. And I love that because it's like putting life back into the house. Do you know? I really love doing that. It's my favorite thing to do. And we get some really beautiful like antiques.

Laura (04:59)

No.

Wow.

Yeah

Mary-Havana Little (05:18)

Yeah, these pieces of cornice is like hundreds of years old that we get to take down. Do you know? And it's just, it's so beautiful to like have that. the man before, you know, like the craftsmen before you like, have to respect them men. Like, do you know? We learnt from like them and it gets passed down. So it's lovely to be able to see that and have that piece of work. I mean, you can't really see, but if my camera was working, I'd show you, but.

Laura (05:21)

That's madness.

Absolutely, yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (05:43)

We've got so many, we've got loads now, you know, like all these bits of old cornices that we've took down from jobs, hang on our ceiling now, these little bits, because we like to keep a little bit of life, you know, like a little memoir. But no, it's lovely. Love doing that.

Laura (05:48)

Okay.

Yeah. That's awesome.

I love it. So would you say that you're more drawn to the restoration side than the modern and the stuff that you make at as stock?

Mary-Havana Little (05:59)

Hmm

Yeah, definitely.

yeah, restoration is, yeah, I absolutely love that. Like I said, it's just a history in that of it. I just think it's really cool that we get to do that, you know. So that's what we're here for, because like the grade listed buildings, if they've got cornice, they have to be done by a traditional fibrous. It's the law you know, it has to be done that way. And that's why we're here. So, yeah, I love bits like that. And we just do exactly how they've done it four or five hundred years ago. And it's lovely.

Laura (06:15)

Yeah.

Okay.

Wow.

Mary-Havana Little (06:33)

that we can still recreate that and I know that my pieces are going to be up there for probably even longer now because the plaster's changed, the materials changed. I mean we still use the same stuff but obviously it's going to have evolved and have been better anyway like all the scrim, that's better material, it's tighter than what it was 500 years ago like that's just evolution basically. But yeah my work will be up there for like yeah when I'm long gone it's been, my work will still be in places yeah hundreds of years later.

Laura (06:52)

Yeah, exactly.

Absolutely.

Mary-Havana Little (07:01)

So I love that because it does, it sort of makes you, what's the word, like immortal in a way. But you've got your bit of work up there. That's always fun.

Laura (07:07)

Absolutely. That's amazing.

Definitely. So could you kind of try and talk us through the process of creating a traditional moulding, like either a ceiling rose or a cornice or something like that? How'd you go about it?

Mary-Havana Little (07:23)

Yeah,

we've got cornice, obviously it's a lot easier to just tell you about it. It takes like a couple of days, but so we've got a bit of cornice and it's got a nice decorative bit of like flowers or vine or a canvas on it. What we do is we bring it back to the yard and we make sure that we've got like a repeat pattern on it, what we call. So obviously when you cut the cornice, it adds in nice. So when it's installed, there's no mismatching. It all runs in one piece. So we always check we've got that.

And then what we usually do is, is we draw out the profile, which is like obviously the shape of the cornice from wall to ceiling. And we will run that as a blank running mould on the bench, like a blank cast. And then from the old piece, what we'll do is we will silicone or try clean it up first, obviously, then silicone over the detail. And then we make little plates. So then I'll cast them little plates and then they fit in the running

Laura (08:03)

Okay.

Okay.

Mary-Havana Little (08:19)

profile cast that we've done. It probably gets a bit confusing now, but you fit them in and once you put it all together, you've basically got your whole mould and then you make a case and then you pour a load of silicone in it. And yeah, there's your mould. I make it sound easy, but it's not easy. It's not that easy at all. But watching my dad and brother do it, it looks easy enough. Yeah, we'll do it all together.

Laura (08:32)

Okay.

Hahaha

Yeah, it's crazy that you make your own moulds.

mean, it makes sense.

Mary-Havana Little (08:46)

My dad's

been making his moulds since like the 80s, he has. I still cast out of moulds that he made before I was even born, haven't I brother? Yeah, it is lovely. I love that though, because he like tells me stories, he's like, I remember when I was making that mould and your mum, she was expecting your brother, like it's nice, do you know? Like he's got some really lovely little stories, but that's, I love that about our family business, it's nice. Our moulds are like our legacy, do know, they get passed down.

Laura (08:49)

Wow.

Goodness me.

Definitely.

Yeah, that's

it. It's like the tools that your granddad passes down to your dad and then your dad passes them down to you, isn't it?

Mary-Havana Little (09:17)

Exactly. Yeah, it's exactly that. Yeah, we've

got me old granddad's. I've got some of my great granddad's tools in this yard as well. Yeah. So yeah, it is a proper legacy. I think these old trades, that is what it's about. It's about passing it down and continuing on. It becomes a family tradition. It's not just like a craft. It's like your family legacy. Yeah.

Laura (09:23)

Have ya? Wow, so it does go back.

100 % Yeah.

And do you get orders from all across the world or are you just UK based?

Mary-Havana Little (09:45)

No, we get orders all over the world. I mean, we try not to do a lot of America because it's just a nightmare trying to get stuff in and out of there. But yeah, we do a lot of Europe, Ibiza. My dad got to go to Ibiza last summer for like a month. Him and my mum was loving life out in Ibiza. Yeah, they were still working out. He took a load of stuff out there. But yeah, we sent some stuff out to some Caribbean islands and...

Laura (09:47)

Do ya?

Yeah.

I bet they were. ⁓

Ooh.

Mary-Havana Little (10:12)

We told them to get like a temperature controlled container and yeah, they didn't want to listen. And by the time it got there, it was all black and mouldy. Where the humid, you know, the humidity, but we told them you need to get, you know, you need to get the right shipping container for it, but they didn't want to listen to us. So it got there. It was like, yeah, a few hundred lengths of stuff and it was all absolutely ruined. So to order that again and then pay for a

Laura (10:16)

Nice.

⁓ no! Yeah!

Jeez.

Mary-Havana Little (10:37)

temperature-controlled container and paid for their cornice again so they learnt a valuable lesson. But yeah we ship everywhere, I love shipping all over the world like it's really nice especially like people say can you sign your ceiling roses? I'm like yeah sure. I've just sent loads of stuff to, well we've we sent stuff to Malta for the Gladiator 2. That was filmed you know like the original Coliseum where they filmed it, the first one. So yeah we sent a load of stuff out there.

Laura (10:41)

Absolutely.

Wow.

Whoa, okay.

Yeah, yeah

Wow.

Mary-Havana Little (11:05)

What else? Recently, where have I sent stuff? Oh, to Paris. Sent stuff to Paris, yeah, to a chateau. That's my most recent. Yeah, that was for Warner Brothers. They're doing a TV program. Yeah. So it's all fun and games.

Laura (11:12)

⁓ okay.

Ooh, that one?

you got a favourite job that you've done?

Mary-Havana Little (11:22)

to be honest, do, I do loads of, obviously like one of our most famous, everyone loves is the gentlemen statues that everyone absolutely loves that. I know to me I'm like, people must get bored of hearing about it. Cause everyone always ask me, but no, that's gotta be obviously our favorite. mean, Snatch and films like that, when we was little kids, like they was our favorite films, you know, like as teenagers and yeah, to get a job for like Guy Ritchie, it was mental. Yeah, me and my brother, we was like.

Laura (11:28)

I was gonna ask you about that.

Yep.

Mary-Havana Little (11:50)

could not believe that we was over the moon. Yeah, and then...

Laura (11:52)

So just expand on that for me

so the listeners know what we're talking about. know it's all right.

Mary-Havana Little (11:56)

sorry. So yeah, the

on Netflix, the Gentleman 2 series is episode five. They come in. We got commissioned to make some life size like St. Mary's statues and we had to make them hollow because they was being stuffed with like fake. What's the word should I use? There's been stuffed with fake cannabis for the film. So, yeah, that was great. They they bought like a little tiny statue.

Laura (12:15)

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (12:22)

of St Mary from like a car boot in Wales, I think the lady said. And yeah, they said, we've got this statue. We was like, yeah, bring it to us. And my brother got her on the bench and put a load of clay on it. And we put on like a stand and made this and that. And we moulded it. It was a right laugh. did. It was, remember though, it was like January and it was freezing cold in our yard. It was so cold. And me and my brother's there. I remember my fingers being so cold. I was like trying to hold like silicone pots and that.

Laura (12:24)

really?

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (12:50)

It was fun though, we did have a right laugh. We made, we did that. I think it took us three months to do all that. It was to make them old and then we made like 20, I think it was 27. My brother reckons it was 25, but I thought it was 27. But yeah, so we made 27 of the statues and yeah, they come and picked them up and then a year later we got the call and they was like, right, it's coming out this day, enjoy it. You're in episode five and that was it.

Laura (12:56)

Did it? Okay.

Okay.

Wow.

Amazing.

Mary-Havana Little (13:20)

And when it come out, I'd never seen nothing like it. We was quite shocked. We didn't think there was going to be in it that much, you know, and working for Guy Ritchie and stuff, it's just a cool thing to be able to do. And yeah, and then that was the same company that rang us up a few months later and said, right, we're doing, we've got this and that. And we did some other bits of Bridgerton So you get

Laura (13:26)

Yeah.

Sure is.

I bet that was a good one.

Mary-Havana Little (13:42)

Yeah, but my daddy's in the 90s, he worked at the studios and stuff and did a lot of, like, film work, so he's quite, quite known for his bits and bobs anyway. Yeah.

Laura (13:50)

Awesome. Goodness me, you're like a

famous family then, aren't ya? Aw. Yes, yes.

Mary-Havana Little (13:55)

Yeah, well I suppose. Yeah, he's quite, he's good at his job though. No, he's good. He done like the, do you know like the old Borrowers film? Did you ever see that?

Yeah, that was like my favourite film growing up. My dad made like loads of stuff in that. So, yeah.

Laura (14:05)

Did he? Wow. I guess when

a trade is so unique that there aren't many people creating things in that division in the trades, then you are gonna get families and businesses such as yours that are just so good at the trade because it's been passed up through the ranks of the family. Who else do you go to?

Mary-Havana Little (14:17)

Yeah.

Yeah, that's it. It

works like that. It's because we've been brought up in this yard, you know, like, so it's all we sort of know. And I think you can't learn that at college. Someone can't teach you that. Like, it's impossible. So that's why I'm always so lucky. I'm so thankful to my dad and my brother because, like, if it weren't for them, I would have never found out I had this talent. And that's what I think is really sad when you see these girls working in offices and that.

Laura (14:35)

Yeah. No. No.

There you go.

Anon.

Mary-Havana Little (14:55)

and they go home and they make like beautiful art and things like that and I'm like, why are you wasting your life sat in an office? But I understand when they say, well, no one will have me in their yard. Like I get that, I've seen it. No old, like not being horrible, some of these men are very traditional and to them having a girl in the yard, just not, it's just not, it doesn't happen. Like it's just not. It rocks the boat Exactly. They can't, yeah, they can't fathom.

Laura (15:01)

Yeah.

Mm.

It rocks their boat sometimes, doesn't goes out you know...

Mary-Havana Little (15:21)

that

a woman wants to work or not only that but that a woman can be as good or even may I say better and that's where the issue lies. Yeah.

Laura (15:27)

Mmm. Yeah. Thankfully,

I think a lot of minds and views are changing as time goes on. Yeah, I mean, I think all the trades for women are slightly changing and becoming better, especially with the likes of social media allowing us to show our skills and how we approach jobs. think the men can appreciate

Mary-Havana Little (15:35)

Yeah, definitely. ⁓ 100%.

That's it.

Laura (15:52)

that we are good at our jobs. So it's nice to see that kind of change.

Mary-Havana Little (15:57)

Of course.

That's what I like as well and that's what I'm trying to do. You know, like in my trade Laura, it's like, I love it now seeing all these girls coming into like our male industries, but I want them to know that you can go into a male industry and not just be a plumber, not just be an electrician or do you know what I mean? There is so many trades out there, you know, like my trade, like girls are like, wow.

Laura (16:06)

Yeah.

I do, yeah.

Exactly.

Mary-Havana Little (16:21)

Do you know, like, it's mad, the amount of girls I could have in this yard, and I know they'd be really good at it. But it's just getting them in here

Laura (16:25)

Yeah. And I mean, I

was so excited when I came across you on social media because of how different you are and the trade, you know, and seeking out traditional trades can be very difficult.

Mary-Havana Little (16:32)

Yeah.

Yeah, it can be because we're very secretive private people like

even my dad like when I first started my instagram stuff Don't be putting up videos of our secrets. This is our trade like it's very our trades are very like trades like this like stone cut like stonemasonry and that we're very secretive people. Yeah

Laura (16:47)

Okay

Yeah.

I can understand

that because like you say, it's the tricks of the trade that make you as good as you are, isn't it? And the fact that you are a family business, you are gonna have your own way of doing certain things that is better than the mainstream. So I can understand that.

Mary-Havana Little (17:12)

Yeah.

Yeah, we do. keep our little... I do keep my little secrets under wrap, like my plaster in there, I do my gauge and that. I have, I've got to keep some secrets. I can't have anyone finding out my tricks, they turn better than me. I won't be number one then, will I? That's it. But listen, I'm willing to teach anyone that wants to come and be my apprentice for five years, and if they'd stick with me and work with me, then I'd teach them everything. But you've got to find the right one.

Laura (17:23)

Absolutely.

Absolutely, that's it.

⁓

Absolutely.

Mary-Havana Little (17:39)

and

that's what I'm waiting for. got to wait. I'll probably wait a few more years and hopefully someone will come to me and I'll think, do you know what? That's the one. It'll probably be my little girl in a couple of years time to be honest with you. Yeah. Yeah. It will probably be my girl. Yeah. She's, cause she's seven, she's seven in August and she can't decide if she wants to be a plasterer or a marine biologist. So we've got a big.

Laura (17:47)

Yeah, that sounds good.

I was gonna say, have you got any children that might be interested in following your footsteps? Yeah?

Aww.

Whoa, big goals.

Mary-Havana Little (18:06)

I'm pushing her for marine biology to be honest with you. I'd much rather be out seeing the world than working in a yard. really would. That's it. She's a little powerhouse. There's one thing, being a strong woman is when you raise strong women you're like, oh shit, please don't use it on me. Do you know? I oh no, what have I done?

Laura (18:09)

Fair play.

⁓ that's amazing. Great goals to have.

You

created a monster.

Mary-Havana Little (18:30)

She

sees me and then she you know she sees me being like this strong woman I don't take nothing from no one and I'm the boss and I say what goes around here so then she comes to me and she thinks she can start telling me and I'm like hang on you're wait little girl you've got 20 years till you can do that. You know we have a right laugh but she thinks like she thinks it's normal she thinks women run building sites and that because she sees me obviously like run in the yard and

Laura (18:38)

There you go.

Ha ha ha. Bless her.

That's fantastic.

Mary-Havana Little (18:57)

running the work and she watches all my YouTube videos and she's like, mum look at all these comments, like wow. And she's like, you're the boss. And she's like, you're the boss of everyone. I'm like, yeah, I am. But she generally thinks like women run everything, yeah. It's great though. She's got no, yeah, there's no in between. It's great. Yeah. No, yeah, I don't want to keep her mind limited thinking that she can't do it. Can't have that.

Laura (19:02)

Wow.

Fair playing.

Amazing. That's brilliant.

Absolutely, no,

no. Would you say that you've ever come across any sort of struggles in your business, in your trade, as a woman that you can share with us?

Mary-Havana Little (19:31)

Yeah, course we all come across struggles, don't we? think, yeah, just like the normal is obviously being a woman, you're not physically as fit and as strong as a man as much as you try to be. That's always a struggle, but we've already sort of been through that. And then obviously just being a woman, I get my mood swings as we all do and that can cause big issues in the yard.

Laura (19:33)

Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (19:54)

I'll come in a miserable little bitch in the morning and if my brother's also a miserable little bitch in the morning, we can really ruin a day's work, you know? So we have struggles, but that's very rare happens. We've grown up now, you

Laura (20:01)

Yep.

Do get many customers come to the yard? it a place where customers can come or do you get all of your orders over the phone or the internet?

Mary-Havana Little (20:15)

Yeah, to

be honest, we invite so like our customers, know, if we're doing bespoke jobs, like for massive jobs in London, people want to see where their money's going. So of course we invite them because there's these this work's not cheap, moulds are not cheap, you know. So a lot of times people want to see where their money's going. And I love that. And obviously our customers from Instagram, they want to come down and they want to see this and see that. I try not to be too much of a show pony because I'm too busy.

Laura (20:24)

Okay.

Yep.

Hahaha

⁓

Mary-Havana Little (20:43)

But

I mean, if they're paying good money for a job, I've got to accommodate, obviously. But no, to be honest, this is like our family home. We're in the middle of opening a second yard and getting one sorted so that we can have a showroom and we can have people here. Because to us, this is like our living room, do you know? This is our home. So it is, you know, we invite people up here and people love coming here. But I can't add too many people up here because, yeah, it's our family home.

Laura (20:46)

This is true, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (21:11)

And it's like that, but like I said, when we get our showroom and stuff open, I'll be having like demo days in that yard and you're getting all the right insurances and stuff like that because yeah, to us, this is, like I said, it's our living room. This is our home lounge. Sorry.

Laura (21:16)

Wow.

Yeah.

Amazing. Whereabouts

in the country are you?

Mary-Havana Little (21:27)

We're in like Virginia Water in Surrey. Not far from Windsor and Ascot. Yeah, we're in a good area. We're just outside of London. I say I'm in London. We technically are London, but we're just out a miles. But to be honest, living in London, that's a nightmare for me. Working in London, that's a nightmare for me. But my dad and brother, all our jobs are basically London. That's where our work is. We couldn't be any more, you know, we couldn't be in a better...

Laura (21:29)

okay. Gotcha.

Just outside. Cool.

Mary-Havana Little (21:52)

place really. London is the main hub for fibrous plasterworks.

Laura (21:54)

Well yeah, that's it with all the listed buildings,

Mary-Havana Little (21:57)

Exactly that. And there's always something needs doing in London. So we're always busy. Yeah.

Laura (22:03)

Well, that's good to know. That's good to know, definitely.

So just kind of switching to the social media side of things, you mentioned your YouTube channel. Do you use social media as quite a big part of connecting with people or do you use it more for business?

Mary-Havana Little (22:12)

Yeah.

To be honest, the social

media thing is really funny for me. People... It was me, to be honest, it was actually my younger sister a few years ago. She said, Mary, you need to start putting your work out there. Like, the things you do is amazing. And I've, honestly, Laura, I said to her, no one will care about my work. Like, no one's gonna care. Do you know? Like, I've just had it in my head, like, I've always been in this yard. My dad and brother, I've always just put the, you know, get your cast and boots on and get to work.

Like, you're here now, that's it. But I thought, no, do you know what? Maybe she is right. Maybe people will be interested in actually seeing what I do. So yeah, she started helping me and she was like, I said, I don't want to be on there. Like, I don't want people to see me. Because I used to be probably like, unconfident, I'm shy. To be honest, I used to not even tell people I worked in the yard because I'd be like, people are going to think I'm like, I was always a tomboy anyway, you know? But when you're growing up like a teenager,

Laura (22:54)

Yep.

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (23:13)

It's difficult, innit? So, I used to keep myself proper private and, you know, I used be like, not embarrassed, but I don't know, I did, I sort of didn't want people to know I worked in a dirty old man's yard. And then, yeah, I started putting my videos up of just me work and I was like, shit, people do actually like my work, like they're real interested in it. And then she was like, you should put a video up of you like making something and I was like, don't be so stupid. And...

Laura (23:14)

It is. It really is.

Hmm.

You

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (23:38)

Yeah, we went from there, put up a video and that was it. And then one video I put up, got 20 million views in like a month. And that was that. It was bang done. Yeah. And yeah, just went on from there really. But I don't, I'm not very like sociable or anything like that with the social media. I, you know, I try and keep myself quite private. I don't do a lot of talking on there. which I need to be, but that's what, that's sort of what YouTube's for.

Laura (23:43)

Whoa, that's mental.

Love it.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, if you're

already doing YouTube, then you can have a mix of the two.

Mary-Havana Little (24:08)

I'll probably keep me YouTube for like my talking and more longer process videos. think Instagram people don't want to watch a long, they just want bang. They want to see the finished product. They want it done. Thank you. Bye. Do you know where people on YouTube, they want like the whole process. They want to sit there for a cup of tea and they want to, they want to listen to your life. Yeah.

Laura (24:13)

Yeah.

Yeah, the done Onto the next flick flick.

They do. That's it.

Yeah. It sounds like you've got a nice balance anyway, so I wouldn't fret too much about expanding onto different stuff on your Instagram anyway. ⁓

Mary-Havana Little (24:37)

yeah to be honest people try you know people are all you should do this you should do that I'm just saying to them listen I'm happy doing what I'm happy what I'm doing

Laura (24:42)

Yeah, exactly. If what works for you works for

you, then that's fine, isn't it?

Mary-Havana Little (24:47)

it ain't going so bad so far, is it? I'm doing all right. I'm just happy. I just love it when people, I don't really care. People say what they want about me as a person, but I just love it when people appreciate my work. And it's when I read the nice comments from men on there and they say, wow, you can tell like you are dedicated and you, cause you know, if you know this job, you know how difficult it is. People that don't know plaster, they're like, it's easiest. I'll just.

Laura (24:50)

There you go. There you go.

Mm.

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (25:15)

fucking whack some and plaster in a mould. It's not that at all mate, do you know? And it's nice, I love it when I see like random men on my posts and they're like you're really dedicated to your craft, like well done. I love that because I'm like thank you, that's proper respect. They're not saying all I like your ponytail or I like your shorts, do know what I Like I hate that shit, Do you know like, leave me alone. Like if I want to wear a bikini at work I can, do you know? I wouldn't.

Laura (25:18)

No.

It is.

Yeah.

Because it's hot.

Mary-Havana Little (25:43)

because my dad would beat me if he saw her on the internet I

wouldn't but still, do you know what I mean? Even in me shorts and me gym vest it's taken three years for my dad to get used to that but I'm like dad, I don't care I can wear what I want at work it's not up to anyone else I'm not doing it for views on the internet my work speaks for itself I can wear five layers and some manky old overalls and I still get the same views do you know? it's just who tends to comment on that video at that time that's it

Laura (25:48)

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Mary-Havana Little (26:13)

Facebook's wild. It's jungle out there. Yeah. That's it.

Laura (26:14)

Oh, yeah, it is savage. So I was going through your Instagram a little bit obviously, because I've got to get to know you a bit more. And I saw that you've got a couple am I right in saying affiliations with brands? Yeah, so I saw last year you did an ad for B &Q, TradePoint.

Mary-Havana Little (26:26)

Yeah

Yeah

Oh yeah, I'm with them, I'm signed with them I think for three years or five years. Yeah, so that was for the trade point. Yeah, that was fun. they've got me like, yeah, it's just women. It was like a few of us tradies went up there and we did some pictures and some videos. That was good. Love doing things like that really, cause it's nice like for, you know, kids to see it. Like little girls and that like be friends. She was like, oh, my nieces saw you and they absolutely loved it.

Laura (26:39)

Yeah? How did that come about?

Yeah.

⁓

Mary-Havana Little (27:05)

You know, like that's lovely. I love that. What else have I done? I've done a few bits for Stabila. I don't really do anything for them. Not this year. Last year I did. I just find it really hard. I get offered a lot of collaborations, but I actually turn quite a lot down because to me, if I don't use it every day or three or four times a week, it's no good to me.

Laura (27:07)

Definitely.

Yep, I saw that.

Okay.

See ya.

Yeah, exactly.

Mary-Havana Little (27:33)

Do

know, like, can't make you any content. Like, I love, obviously, spirit levels, I'm always using them, but only when I'm on site, if I'm doing instal and things like that, or straightening out a mould. I'm not doing much measuring, you know, bits like that. Like, I appreciate it, I love working with them guys, do all the content I can, but there's some things that I do have to put my foot down and say, like, no, thank you very much, I really appreciate it, but I'm not just gonna take your money and make some shit video, like, that's not me.

Laura (27:37)

Okay.

Yeah.

Mm.

Yeah.

also...

Mary-Havana Little (28:01)

I'm

not, I'm real person, like, do you know, fair enough, everyone else do what they gotta do, but I won't take on collaborations if it don't fit with me.

Laura (28:06)

Yeah.

That's

absolutely fair because I mean, also, if it's not something that you're going to use whilst you're doing your trade, then you've got to take time out of your day to then make that content for that brand and you might not have the time.

Mary-Havana Little (28:19)

Mmm.

Yep. And I want to make

the best content, you know, like you want to do the company justice. If they're paying you money and giving you product, you've got to give them something, you know? And I think if I can't give them what they want, what's the point of me doing it?

Laura (28:32)

Yeah. Exactly.

That's fair.

Yeah, absolutely. And I see you've got a pair of work boots named after you. The Mary boots? That's amazing. Have you? Awesome.

Mary-Havana Little (28:45)

yeah, my work boots, the Mary boots, no, I've got them on Yeah,

they're my boots. And my friend, well, she was first of all like a work acquaintance. And then we actually become quite good friends, you know, being like women in the trade. She's a surveyor. So she puts up with a bit more shit than what I do, you know, she's with posh people and you know, all that.

Laura (29:01)

Okay.

Yeah

Mary-Havana Little (29:08)

And yeah, she come to me and she invited me up to like their big massive head office at Ambler safety. And yeah, we had a lovely like PR day, tried on loads of boots and yeah, she said, right, these are our new boots. And we're to call them the Mary boots. What do you think? Oh my God, they're the best. And yeah, they are really, yeah, absolutely love them. Yeah, they're really cool. But before they made them, they, you know, was asking what, what would you like in a pair of boots and what do you find? And yeah, they're

Laura (29:14)

Okay.

Come on.

awesome

Mmm.

Mary-Havana Little (29:35)

there honestly I gotta say like my whole life it's funny because I was like me and my dad talked about it quite a lot when I was like younger he used to have to take me down to like screw fix and wicks and buy me like the boys boots and they was always so uncomfortable because obviously they don't fit me right you know because you couldn't actually buy women's boots in them places and then they started catching on and you'd be able to buy a pair of women's dicky boots or Dewalt boots but still they was

Laura (29:50)

Yeah.

None.

Not the best.

Mary-Havana Little (30:03)

not good enough they did make like they i'm sure they made them less good on purpose you know not on purpose but maybe thinking women don't do as much work but i used to through three or four pairs a year like three or four pair work boots a year yeah and i've had these now i've had two pairs of these i've got a nice pair for sight and i've got my yard pair yeah i've had these for well over a year now

Laura (30:12)

Yeah, they're not gonna wear these. What? Wow.

Nice,

there you go, quality.

Mary-Havana Little (30:27)

unbelievable.

I absolutely love them. I'm not just, honestly I say it to everyone, I'm not just saying it because they are the Mary Boot, they are the best pair of work boots I've had, 100%.

Laura (30:35)

There you go. The fact that you've had them so

long, it just, they talk for themselves, don't they then?

Mary-Havana Little (30:40)

Yeah it does, they're the comfiest pair of work boots like, yeah me ankles used to get rubbed to death and things like that but these, these are lovely. Yeah I'm really happy with these.

Laura (30:48)

There's nothing worse than

uncomfortable work wear.

Mary-Havana Little (30:52)

Yeah.

I imagine it though, in being like February, there's ice, it's freezing cold and you've just got water running down into your socks and that, like there's nothing worse, you know? And these boots, they've got 3M insulated, they've got memory foam in them, they're the best. Yeah. Yeah, memory foam, they're a proper nice pair of boots. Yeah, no worries.

Laura (31:00)

Uhhh... Nah.

Memory foam, very nice. Awesome.

I saw that

you went, well, I didn't see, you told me you went to the Installer Show this year, didn't you?

Mary-Havana Little (31:17)

Yeah.

yes, I did. went with CT1 invited me up there the Wednesday. Yeah, well to be honest with you, yeah it was CT1 but it's actually Nicola. There over there, yeah she's a very good friend of mine and we actually... Yeah we've become friends not through work which was nice. We met on the, we actually met on you know on Instagram and stuff but we just generally started chatting and you know you just meet someone, you just click. That was it.

Laura (31:20)

Did ya? Nice.

Yeah.

⁓

Okay, that's nice.

Yeah. ⁓

Mary-Havana Little (31:44)

Like,

yeah, we just clicked and we literally just become best friends. I love her to death. Like, yes, she's, she's that woman, top woman. She really is. She's lovely. Like, the whole family, her and her dad. Yes. It's like being at home, when I'm sat there chatting with her dad, it's like being sat there with my dad. Do you know? Like, it's one of them. They really do involve you and like the family. They're a great company. Yeah, I love spending time with them. Like, I really do.

Laura (32:06)

That's lovely.

That's

great. And the show was good, was it, this year?

Mary-Havana Little (32:13)

Yeah, to be honest, I've never done anything like that before. It's not really my thing, but because my besties was going to be there, Nicola and Kimmy and James Stone dresser, I thought, oh, I've got to go and see them. And yeah, it was nice. It was nice. It was nice to see everyone. Because I don't really socialise with the whole Instagram situation. I'm quite a private person. It's like loads of people are like, oh my God, it's like, you're Mary, are you the plaster? I'm like, no, I'm And they're like, yeah, you are.

Laura (32:20)

Yep.

Good.

Yeah.

not me.

Sunglasses on, like, trying to skulk around.

Mary-Havana Little (32:43)

Yeah, like, no, it's not

no, but it was nice meeting everyone. Like, everyone's like, love your work and stuff. So that's really nice. It's nice putting like faces to the names, I suppose. And it was really cool, all the stuff there, you know, it's lovely seeing it all. And I just like seeing people passionate about their stuff, you know, it's nice.

Laura (32:48)

⁓

Yeah, and I think...

There you go, definitely.

I think these shows that they put on they do give you that option to push yourself out of your comfort zone, don't they? Because like you say, if you're not really comfortable around a lot of people because your job is quite solitary maybe, or you work in very small team,

Mary-Havana Little (33:11)

Yeah, that's a bit.

Yeah, that is it. I work on my own almost every day. I love being on my own. So yeah, it's a big, jump.

Laura (33:22)

Same, me too. Yeah,

it is. And it does make you nervous because some people can see, well, let me say this a different way. Some people follow others on social media and when they're such a high standard of work that they put out there, they almost get a little bit of a...

Mary-Havana Little (33:32)

Yeah.

Laura (33:43)

like a celebrity status in some people's eyes, don't they? And it can become quite nervous for you to go to these shows because you just think, well, I know I'm just a normal person. And you see all these other people that you've seen on social media and you think, well, can't

Mary-Havana Little (33:57)

Yeah.

Laura (34:00)

go and say hello to them. But again, they're just a normal person as well. Yeah, madness.

Mary-Havana Little (34:04)

They're just normal people yeah.

I was in Aldi the other day packing some more shopping and that some man come up to me and I was like oh no here we go. Do you know I can see him I thought oh no, fuck sake. I'm trying to pack me bit of mince and that in my bags and he's like excuse me, excuse me but you have to give these people the time of day you have to appreciate them like

Laura (34:11)

Ha ha ha ha

You do.

Mary-Havana Little (34:25)

He's coming up to me and saying like your work, I've never seen work like it. I'm like thank you mate, I appreciate it. Like it's nice, know so yeah you do, you have to be like that don't you? I love giving everyone the time of day but that's my problem. I'll then stand and chat with them for 5-10 minutes because I'm that type of person. I love giving people my time of day especially if they come to me and just want to tell me that they appreciate my work. Of course you know like you've got to give them that 5 minutes.

Laura (34:30)

Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's nice. Yeah, absolutely.

Brilliant.

Mary-Havana Little (34:55)

So it's always nice.

But yeah, it's also, it is always a bit strange at times

Laura (34:59)

It can be. Right, we've got to the

point of the show where I like to do a quick fire question round. It's like a this or that. So there's two options. If you feel like you want to expand on your answer, please do. we're going to go for it. So driver or passenger?

Mary-Havana Little (35:07)

yet.

All right then.

Oh driver Always.

Laura (35:19)

Cornice or corbles

Mary-Havana Little (35:21)

Cornice

Laura (35:21)

Tea or coffee?

Mary-Havana Little (35:23)

Tae.

Laura (35:25)

Or, yeah?

⁓ yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (35:26)

Two cyber gal. Don't do coffee, only

do tea or coke. Like Coca Cola, obviously. Jesus Christ, Mary, calm down.

Laura (35:31)

Okay.

Calm down, calm down.

or simplistic molding?

Mary-Havana Little (35:39)

ornate always.

Laura (35:41)

Sunshine holiday or a cold holiday?

Mary-Havana Little (35:43)

Sunshine, even though I really want to go skiing. No, never.

Laura (35:46)

Yeah, we never been before.

Do some lessons before you go because then you don't waste your time there doing lessons. Lime plaster or modern gypsum. Cats or dogs? You've got two dogs, right?

Mary-Havana Little (35:52)

Yeah.

time fucking bloody

Gypsum

Dogs.

I have, I'm not a cat person. Cats hate me and I don't them. They just always hate me. Cats are rude, aren't they? They're so rude. Yeah. They come up to you and give you, like, make out with your friends. You see them the next day and they hate you and like attack you. I was like, f***ing you was my friend yesterday.

Laura (36:08)

not Aren't they? I think that as well.

Yeah.

Like my neighbours got two cats and they're amazing. They are lovely. ⁓ But yeah, sometimes it's like they're just not interested. But an hour later it's like, I love you. yeah, I know, honestly. A new creation or restoration.

Mary-Havana Little (36:25)

Yeah.

That's just rude.

Yeah, I'm your mate now, I know.

Restoration.

Laura (36:40)

and an early start or a late finish. Yeah, same. Beautiful. I like to end the show with a couple of other questions that I ask everybody. So if you could do another trade, what would it be and why?

Mary-Havana Little (36:43)

Early start Always

Yep.

Another trade?

Laura (36:57)

Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (36:58)

Well I always thought I'd be... well if I had to pick like a trade it would probably be like a farrier like of horses because I love animals, love horses or it probably be a stonemason because I love, I love that, I love watching like my friends videos and that, I love their... I just love it but if I had to do any job I'd probably have been a chef or a pilot. I love chefing, I would have been like the best woman Gordon Ramsay in the world to see.

Laura (37:05)

Ooh. ⁓

Nice.

Yeah.

Okay, ooh, a pilot.

Awesome.

Mary-Havana Little (37:28)

I'm like Gordon Ramsay in my yard, honestly. My dad's like, stop it little Gordon. Yeah, because I will see you, you idiot. Your work's dog shit.

Laura (37:30)

Really?

that's hilarious. Brilliant. And what trade or who do you think I should have on the show next?

Mary-Havana Little (37:39)

That's me. That is me.

I love my girl Kimmy the Sparks. Have you met Kimmy?

Laura (37:49)

yeah. I haven't met

her, but I've listened to her on other podcasts. Yes. Yeah.

Mary-Havana Little (37:55)

Yeah, go to Kimi.

She's girl. You'll have a real good chat with her. She's a very deep, insightful person as well. Where I'm very straight to the point is what it is. She's, yeah, I really like her way of thinking. She's a real nice person. She's got a good, I say like we've got a little vibe going on. You know, she's a good girl. I like her a lot.

Laura (38:01)

I like that.

Yeah.

Okay, brilliant.

I'll drop her a DM then, see what we can get. So where can people find you on social media and YouTube, et cetera? What can people search for?

Mary-Havana Little (38:20)

get slide in her DMs, she'll love it.

You can find

me on any social media. can just Google Mary plaster and everything will come up. Or yeah, just search Mary plaster moldings on all socials. I think tick tock. I'm like MPD Mary plaster.

Just search Mary Plaster mouldings on anything and you'll find me.

Laura (38:45)

Perfect.

Perfect. Well, I've thoroughly enjoyed speaking to you today. You're an absolute diamond.

Mary-Havana Little (38:52)

thanks,

Laura. Yeah, I've had a nice chat with you. Sorry I'm a bit loud and a bit in your face, but...

Laura (38:55)

No! Absolutely not!

Don't apologise for being yourself. Perfect. Alright.

Mary-Havana Little (38:59)

That's it.

But no, I've really enjoyed it. Thanks, love. And yeah, we'll catch up soon.

Laura (39:03)

Brilliant,

yep no problem, speak to you soon.

Mary-Havana Little (39:06)

All right then, we'll catch you later. Thanks, girl.