The journey into the great unknown is not just about conquering new frontiers but about discovering more about ourselves, our place in the universe, and the infinite possibilities that await.

Join me in celebrating the wonder of space travel and the collective human spirit that propels us towards the stars. Together, let’s inspire future generations to reach even greater heights and make the cosmos not just a destination but a home for humanity’s unyielding curiosity and exploration.

This episode concludes with a piece of spoken word by the amazing Edie Rose O’Brien.

Realising the undeniable benefits of being around horses Emma knew she had found her tribe. Her path eventually led her to the UCD Innovation Academy where she undertook a Graduate Certificate in Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship with Eileen Diskin and Maurice Knightly. Pivoting, she then researched what people wear to ride horses, and realised that this industry hadn’t ever been ‘disrupted’ and that the traditional breeches and jodhpurs could be reimagined to be modern, comfortable, durable and ethical. Super chats, energetic and informative. Do tune in!

Ruth’s mantra is about harnessing your self knowledge to make an impact, and she has now turned her attention to the cyber world. Creating Sersha – a platform designed to educate and empower families to navigate the online world safely. Children can learn about communication and content online safely to make informed decisions. This will be run through a social media simulator presenting them with controlled risks. Drawing on cyber security and exploring how we interact with technology. She has a unique offering to create impact in a vastly changing digital world.

She came back to Ireland and started a journalism course that was the foundations of where her entrepreneurial journey has now taken her.

We talk about being non conformists, taking risks, and about returning to education later in life. Patience and compassion for yourself are key to flourishing and surviving the undulations that life can hand you. Yvonne is honest and authentic throughout. She has published a book, “Talk, Learn, Connect” and is now a published Journalist and Content Creator and Writer. She is also a speaker at International Dublin Writer’s Festival 2023. Tune in and listen to a wonderful storyteller!

Ciaran’s Soulfood Oats can be found in cafes everywhere and Centra. Ciaran is a chef, a podcaster and an MMA fighter and an entrepreneur with big dreams – he wants to expand Soulfood Oats into a community based initiative so watch this space. I have no doubt he will change the world. Shout out to Chad Byrne and Chef Collab
Instagram: Soulfood_Dublin.

John takes us through his journey from living in Jakarta, Indonesia and coming home to Ireland to start his entrepreneurial endeavours – I often wonder are entrepreneurs born or made? In John’s case, it seems he may have been born into it, as he grew up seeing how hard his entrepreneur Father worked.
Bowsy addresses inequalities in hiring and the internship quandary and they are now scaling to the UK and USA – building success upon hard work, timing, opportunity and a great VISION. This is a wonderful story and John is a joy to chat with. Tune in!

We discuss the label ‘entrepreneur’ and why more of us don’t realise thats what we are. Aveline shares her journey (described as being a burning desire) and competition within herself – can we ever be done / happy / content or does the curiosity of the ‘next’ challenge keep us moving forward?
Always good in a crisis – and feeling she could do anything – she has redefined what it means to GIVE – finding a niche in gift giving for every occasion, happy or sad and everything in between. Aveline KNOWS her customer inside out.
Tune In – this is an amazing story.

On a trip to Uganda he discovered the inequalities within the coffee sector and decided to make a difference. In a global industry worth over €100bn euro per year (and every day we drink a mind boggling 2 billion cups of coffee); almost none of the profits from coffee go back to coffee growing countries or to the farmers who work so hard to produce the beans. So about 8 years ago a bunch of African and European entrepreneurs launched Moyee Coffee UK & Ireland. Their ambition was to reimagine the coffee industry and share more of the value from coffee with coffee growing countries. They called this model FairChain. They set up Moyee’s first roastery in Addis Ababa, established partnerships with coffee communities in the Jimma region and began to develop a roadmap for a living income for coffee farmers which could also protect and rejuvenate the wildlife habitats of the coffee belt.

We discuss impact through entrepreneurialism and how your purchasing power can affect real change. We also delve into the idea of trade not aid and chat about the future of collaboration and equality. Killian is an academic and an activist – tune in to be inspired by his vision and drive.

He immediately saw the value within Alpaca farming but prudently researched for 2 years before he made the leap. This decision took him to Peru and he ended up living in Wicklow with 100 Alpacas ! He launched Alpaca trekking with Prosecco and it took off to make him a market leader. With over 10 million views from an early article that went viral – his fate was sealed, and he became ‘Alpaca Joe’ forevermore. With Alpacas having a calming effect he has now moved into the wellness sphere and built a village so you can stay with them. Their therapeutic work is now taking off with huge added value for those that are neurodivergent, stressed, anxious or non verbal. This is a gorgeous conversation and Joe is a delight to chat to, informative, entertaining and riveting how he has found his niche.
Fun Facts: Joe knows every Alpaca by name ! One of his Alpacas is notorious for biting bums (of the other Alpacas) and Alpacas smell like popcorn!

She learned how to negotiate living in a different culture and thrive – learning everything she could from those around her – and upon arriving back in Ireland horticultures loss became the vintner’s win.
Using all her business experience she saw a gap in the Irish market for wine as nature intended. She believes that the closer you get to nature, the better it is for everyone and sources beautiful organic and biodynamic wines from Europe and further afield. Nude wines were the first in Ireland to do virtual wine tasting and with a unique no nonsense approach to buying and enjoying wine she landed a guest spot on Ireland AM as the wine expert.
Join us to learn more about all things wine, this is a gorgeous interview, full of laughter (and no drink was taken).

Learning from everyone along the way he has honed how to stay in his lane and keep solving problems. Inspired by travel and food, he understands how community and transparency is at the heart of success.

He has now helped 140 new food outlets to get up and running and turn over more than €25 million a year.

Seany was named the Rising Star – Young Professional of the Year at the CausewayXchange awards in 2021. In 2022 he won the National Enterprise Awards and then took gold for his pitch at the National Start up Awards .

Join us for a rip roaring whizz through Seany’s journey. A serial entrepreneur with many more businesses to come …

Founder & Director of StreatSchool & Blasta Street Kitchen empowering Street Food Vendors
Streat School Blasta Mush Mor Verify a Vendor

Kimberly talks us through how her first business took off just from instagram, whilst still working full time. When she wrapped it, she knew there was another business in her. Coming into UCD Innovation Academy she honed an idea for a tanning brand. Building it from the ground up, she sourced the best suppliers, explored the gap in the market and launched Naked Glow.

A runaway success – Naked Glow by Love Kimberly proves that Luxury skincare products can carry a high street price tag, whilst delivering exceptional results through high end ingredients. Knowing your customer inside out is key – and delivering high end sustainable products. A road that hasn’t been without its ups and downs, Kimberly – a self proclaimed tan addict – shares her journey with us – tune in to hear how you CAN build something to be incredibly proud of … watch this space … because Kimberly has more coming!

Rachel is passionate about experiential learning and embodied learning. She has found what works for her and now practices these divergent styles through her role in the UCD Innovation Academy. Now her dancers perform across Ireland and her business is flying – so of course she took on a Masters and now teaches at UCD ! Living proof that there is more than one way to create your path – a total joy to chat too. If you would like to know more about the Grad Cert in Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, listen in!

If you want to understand the landscape of digital technologies transforming our work and lives we have designed a course to help you embrace a digital growth mindset necessary to foster lifelong learning, including learning strategies for new digital tools and technologies without fear. This course starts by looking at ‘homodigitalis’ – how our minds interact with the digital world, and borrowing from neuroscience, anthropology and psychology, we dive into debates about digital etiquette and examine how we interact and understand the emerging world. We explain the ways these technologies are transforming the world of work – our behaviours, our roles and our interaction with each other.

We chat about resilience, teamwork, agility, discipline, and so much more! (Finding out about ‘Poo buddies’ certainly surprised me!)

He became a bodyguard (of course it was all top secret as to who …) but he does share stories as to working with ‘High risk clients’ with hypervigilance and a protection mindset (yes he sits with his back to the wall). It finally led to becoming a marintime counter terrorism consultant in piracy.

Daren now practices Amatsu therapy from the Shinobi tradition, 3,500 years of healing practice within the traditional Ninja community. He has found his path. He has found out what he is not. Healing the world one person at a time.

In Dublin we say “you don’t lick it off the path” and for Margaret it all started with her mother’s shop in the 1960s where she saw how authentic interaction is at the heart of a successful business.

From Ireland to Belgravia, working her way up as a nanny in the 1980s she explored her passions, attending exclusive London parties, studying acting and being mentored by some of the best.

In her work at the Innovation Academy she is a firm favourite for her ‘Margaretisms’ a no holds barred approach to innovation and entrepreneurialism. Much beloved, she helps hundreds of students find their way into creating the business of their dreams.

Karen created a lash business / training academy and brand after a devastating betrayal.
We talk ‘everything eyelashes’, and how to be a Mompreneur with 5 children and make it all work.

Karen is an award winning Lash educator and now mentoring women to create their own revenue streams and empower themselves.
Truly authentic, confident and marching to the beat of her own drum. A true gem.

I had such a blast with Barbara Scully; author of ‘Wise Up: Power, Wisdom, and the Older Woman’ Barbara believes we should ‘Embrace Our Inner Crone’ and start thinking about what we want to do with our golden time of Post-Menopausal freedom. Her book is a call to the ‘Grey Army’ to lead the way for the next generations. Her mantra is ‘Embrace your Age but Don’t be Defined by it’

We also meet the incredible author, Alana Kirk. A no holds barred chat where Alana tells us that ‘As we move past the nurturing role we need to give birth back to ourselves…

And why ‘having it all feels a lot like doing it all.’ Alana believes women have a responsibility to our children to show them that there is more to life than hanging on by our fingernails trying to conform to all the myriad roles and asking the fundamental question of ‘What do I want and need right now?’

Her book is ‘Midlife Redefined: Better, Bolder, Brighter’

Read them – you won’t regret it!

Brian talks about how fundamental it is to align your values to what you do, how you spend your time and who you spend your time with. A vibrant speaker with strong entrepreneurial spirit, a love of mountains and a fascinbation with people across the globe. Brian is an expert in leadership with 66 countries under his belt and more to come – with his latest crossing 100 miles of frozen lake in Mongolia. Tune in – you wont regret it!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianpdownes

Liz won a Social Impact Award for her company Shapes of Grief; which offers one of the best professional trainings in grief and loss for mental health and behavioural health professionals, delivered by twenty-six of the world’s leading experts in grief and loss. A true maverick in the field of change, do have a listen!

Starting with Robert Plant dressed in leather to being Pavarotti’s neighbour – we then delve deep into the advertising and branding business where Jack found a home with Saatchi & Saatchi. Moving on to co-found his own advertising agency and into the entrepreneurial space Jack spills the beans on why good branding works and much more. His current band is Bone Machine and he tells us how it came to be that they became a Tom Waits Tribute band with a nod from the big man himself. A true gem of a chat with a rockstar and a gentleman. Do give it a listen!

Loretta visualised a different future for herself and made it happen, harnessing personal circumstances and physiological change and combining them with a passion for helping women be as healthy as possible as they approach 50 and beyond.

We chat about being in the best shape of your life and how complex life can be – and the opportunities being 50 can bring – how will you head into the latter portion – and in the words of Mary Oliver ‘What will you do with your one wild and precious life?’

With her trusty pooch, Noodle by her side, Eileen takes us on a wonderful journey through the challenges of education, into living an authentic and passionate life from Stateside to Ireland. This is a Christmas story – come join us!