My journey, from confused grad to focused entrepreneur

I’n going to start right at the start, and bring you through a little timeline from when I graduated to where I am now. This is my story and how I ended up here.

2011 - Graduation

I graduated in 2011 with absolutely no clue what I was going to do next. My business degree was so generic I could’ve gone in any direction. And I sure as hell did not know where. I knew I liked topics in marketing like consumer behaviour and I did love languages, particularly Italian which I had just studied, including spending a year in Italy on Erasmus learning more about how to have a good time than the actual language.

I got a 9-5 office job with a restaurant group after I graduated. The money wasn’t great and it was a basic secretary role, but it was an entry into the corporate world as such. Little did I know it was just the start of my 15 year career in the food industry.

2012 - Moved to Italy

About 4 months into my time with the restaurant company, I was called to interview for a grad programme I didn’t apply for. Having said that, had I known it existed for Italian I may have applied. It was programme run by IBEC in partnership with comapies and government agencies like Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia. This particular placement was with Bord Bia (the Irish food board). IBEC called me and explained they only had a few people with Italian applying and would I be interested in coming for interview. So I gave it a bash without much thought. The day after the interview I got a call and got offered the role for Marketing Executive in Milan. This would mean I had to move to Milan and work in Bord Bia’s office there. I didn’t know what to think because I didn’t think much about it and was just kind of taking a shot in the dark. I told the guy from IBEC to let me sleep on it, he explained how this was a prestigious programme but I still said I need to talk things over with my family and come back to you. Needless to say I knew in my gut this would be an amazing opportunity and my family said the same. I decided to give it a go and even though I was slightly terrified of moving to a city where I knew nobody, it changed my career for the better.

I had the best time in Milan. I was in my early 20s, my tolerance for wine was high and I didn’t need to walk 10k steps every time I ate pizza. I met the best people, had the most amazing opportunities with companies, celebrity chefs, government officials and diplomats and a real introduction to the world of food, not to mention Italian culture and the travel.

2013 - 2014 - Moved home, pregnancy

I tried really hard to stay in Milan but once my grad programme was up it was tough to find a job in Italy that would pay enough to cover rent, bills and living. I had the best time there and gain a massive amount of experience which I’ll be forever grateful for. I moved back home and it was equally as tough to find a job. I worked in a couple of marketing and business development roles for small companies before I went on maternity leave with my son Noah. I took a full year off after I had him and I just loved motherhood. I dabbled in a few bits and bobs, got a food blog going and always had my hand in something food related, baking healthy treats for my new found love of the gym and posting on the still very new Instagram.

I knew going back to work was going to be tough. I just loved motherhood so much and I couldn’t bare to think about leaving my baby but at the same time I knew I needed to do something for me. I had never intended on staying at work full time again. I knew coming back off mat leave would be a tough transition from motherhood to water cooler talk.

2016 - Bid Management career

I was looking for something in marketing again and stumbled upon a role in bid management. When I say stumbled, a family member knew I was on the hunt and told me he could put me forward for a bid coordinator role at a Food Service company he worked at if I was interested. I had no idea what that was so again I went for the interview anyway and thought I’d figure it out if I got the job. You can see the recurring theme of winging it in throughout my career, highly recommend.

I was offered the role and again was excited but nervous of the unknown. This was my first real taste of a large American corporate too, although Bord Bia was big it was still small in comparison.

For anyone who still doesn’t know what bid management is, I tried ChatGPT, since I still find it difficult to explain but it was no help, so here goes. In the instance of food service, say Google want to find a food service provider to run their staff restaurant and barista bar, they want to make sure they get the best provider so that they attract talent and retain staff, get the best price for this service and maybe they want a company that is on trend or has sustainability goals aligned to theirs. So they’ll put together a document asking food service providers to respond to a set of questions, everything from food safety to innovation and marketing and food trends, to menus and coffee options and pricing. I put these documents together. They require storytelling, beautiful visuals of food and coffee, put together in one document that answers all of their questions and requirements.

I eventually moved from bid coordinator to bid manager and established myself really well in that company.

It’s honestly like a trade that will stand to me for the rest of my life and it’s such a niche role that I’m so glad I winged my way into!

2020 - A taste of the freelance life

That job in 2016 was the start of a very successful career in the corporate world. I got to work on some amazing projects for very cool clients like Warner Bros, Primark, the PGA Tour, The Guinness Storehouse. I stayed at that company for 4 years before I thought I’d like to get back into marketing. I secured a new role and left my job to start at this new company. Then the pando hit and all of a sudden the company didn’t have budget to take me on. Bear in mind I had worked my notice, signed contracts and agreed a start date at this stage. And now I was jobless. I frantically applied for new roles but also started a free online business course I stumbled upon (recurring theme 2), where I met a girl from the UK doing virtual assistance. It wasn’t a common thing in Ireland at the time. So I decided to pursue it. And guess what, it was successful. I reached out to all of my contacts in the corporate world, posted on LinkedIn and had lots to keep me busy. I enjoyed working with so many different companies doing both marketing and bid management. I did some copywriting for the likes of Three Ireland, and in an amazing turn of events I also ended up doing some marketing work for a few months for the company that couldn’t hire me! Win for everyone!

2022 - A return to corporate

I had 2 successful-ish years in business. Well probably one in virtual assistance and bid consultancy. I started a podcast and I absolutely found my passion in it. I fell in love with talking to other people and how they found their purpose in life. But by the middle of 2022, 2 years into business, I was so unclear on my my own purpose and business direction that I felt completely lost, lost my passion for my business and as a result I no longer had the motivation to put the effort in. One of my clients offered me a role in-house as a Bid Manager and I took it. I wanted to buy a house so I told myself I’d give it til 2023 and then I’d be done with corporate again. I felt like a fraud after everything my podcast stood for.

2024 - Re-exit from corporate and Flourish Creative is born

I started Flourish Creative in 2023 with the intention of building it and leaving but a great salary and a promotion later in 2024, I found myself getting comfortable with the regular income. Months went on and I suffered stress and burnout though and quickly realised that the corporate world still was not for me. I needed to get back out there with my business so I hired a coach, did a rebrand and relaunched my business. I kept my promise to myself this time and handed in my notice with my sights set on nothing but success. But with a three month notice period it has felt like the long goodbye. It has given me time to be ready with this business as soon as I leave, but the fear is real the closer it gets. We’re 4 weeks out, I’ll keep you posted!

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Quitting corporate