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From Poodles to Picking Locks:
Locksmith Jen
» JEN MCKEOWN NEVER PLANNED ON becoming a locksmith. She was clipping poodles long before she was clipping lock picks into keyways. But when her dad needed an extra pair of hands in his locksmith franchise, she stepped in- and discovered a trade that gave her freedom, confidence, and a reputation as one of Shropshire’ s most trusted locksmiths.
Falling Into Locks
I’ ll be honest, I accidentally fell into locksmithing. My dad was a locksmith, but I wasn’ t planning on following in his footsteps. After moving around a bit, I spent a short stint in Brighton, then eventually settled in Chester for many years, where I ran my dog grooming business. I moved back to the Black Country wondering what to do next – but I knew that I didn’ t fancy going back into dog grooming because the market was overcrowded.
Dad had a national franchise at the time, and he was overloaded with work. He asked if I’ d help him out. Before I knew it, I had a van, a diary full of jobs, and I was on the road.
Going Independent
I spent four years in the franchise, learning the ropes. Dad wanted me to take over when he retired, but at that point I really didn’ t think that locksmiths was for me long term. So, I took a year out, got a random job in Telford, then Covid hit and threw everything up in the air.
By July 2022, I decided to go solo. That’ s when Locksmith Jen was born! Setting up on my own was scary, I won’ t lie. There are already a lot of established locksmiths around here, and I didn’ t know if there’ d be enough work. But I was quietly confident in my skills. I enjoyed what I did, so I figured it shouldn’ t fail.
That first month waiting for the phone to ring was the worst. You start to second-guess
everything and compare yourselves to other people, but slowly the calls started coming in, and once I’ d done a few jobs, word spread.
The Freedom & The Frustrations The thing I love most about being a self-employed locksmith is the freedom. I’ m not accountable to anyone else, and my customers get to deal directly with me, not a call centre. They know who’ s turning up, how long things will take, and that I’ ll explain exactly what I’ m doing.
But it’ s not all rosy. Some customers think I’ m superwoman and expect me to drop everything at 10 o’ clock at night. I’ ve had to learn that I can’ t do it all.
One thing that makes the work more fun? My two dogs. I’ ve got a Cavapoo and
10
OCTOBER 2025
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