Brigit 2022 - Local Enterprise Office Dublin City Women in Business Network Webinar
As part of the Brigit 2022 event led by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland, broadcaster and media entrepreneur Aine Kerr will talk to six innovative women in business in Dublin about how they have found success and who has inspired them along the way.
Panel One: Award Winners – Who Inspires Me? Two winners of the Annual Awards 2021, Valentina Makarova (VP Merchants), and Jessica Nolan (The Disruptors Agency) will discuss their inspirations, and explore their experiences emerging into the business world during a global pandemic.
Panel Two: Pivoting with Style Two companies will talk about how they adapted to the changing environment of the pandemic, and were able to launch new elements to their businesses. Maeve O’Malley, food entrepreneur and founder of Meltdown, saw in the pandemic an opportunity to extend the reach of Meltdown via stores across Ireland (currently in over 170 stores nationwide). Yasmina Lenehan of The Wellness Circle has similarly managed to grow a business devoted to wellness and care, taking on corporate clientele to bring a sense of energy, connection, and self-care into the mainstream and launching a new Wellness Gift Box business.
Panel Three: Collaborating to Win An insight into how Aine McGurk (Dainty Bear Childrenswear) and Aisling Grimley (The Silk Pillowcase.com) saw the opportunity to collaborate with other businesses to drive growth in both of their businesses.
Each of these women has fantastic stories to tell and Aine Kerr will lead them in a discussion that will shine a light on what motivates and inspires some of Dublin's successful women in business.
Please book your place through this link: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/Celebrating-Women-in-Business
Please see https://dublin.ie/whats-on/brigit/ for more details about others events taking place during the Brigit Festival.
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Profile of Entrepreneurs on Panel
Valentina Makarova, VP Merchants
Valentina Makarova is a Dublin-based wine and spirits importer. Native Russian, she had lived in China and Australia for years before moving to Ireland.
Passionate about wines and experienced in the hospitality industry, Valentina together with her business partner, native Italian, started an alcohol wholesale company VP Merchants trading B2B mostly nationwide.
In late 2020 Valentina launched The Jar Tales - premium pre-made cocktails, and to date the range includes 6 classic cocktails. In late 2021 Valentina’s company diversified into Italian premium confectionery.
Valentina won the Female Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in the LEO Dublin City Women in Business Network 2021.
Jessica Nolan, The Disrupters Agency
Jessica Nolan is the founder and ‘Chief Disruptor’ of The Disruptors Agency: a digital marketing agency that specialises in working with brands within the health and wellness space.
A passionate builder of brands and communities, Jessica strongly believes that ‘the best marketer is the end consumer’. This is why she is so focused on working with health and wellness brands… Because she represents their ideal target customer. So she knows, better than anyone, how to communicate with them effectively.
The Disruptors Agency was born as a result of Jessica losing her job due to the pandemic. The company’s main mission is to disrupt the influencer marketing industry as we know it… But they also provide a full suite of digital marketing services, including: strategy and consultancy, website design, Facebook ad management, social media management, copywriting, content creation and more. This year also sees the return of in-person events, and The Disruptors have some very exciting plans in the pipeline for the coming months!
Website: https://www.disruptyourmarket.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/disruptorsagency/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/69695586/admin/
Maeve O’Malley, Meltdown
Maeve O'Malley is a food entrepreneur from Galway, who opened Meltdown originally as a three month pop up in April 2018. Maeve kept the brand going by popping up in various locations and launching Meltdown Hot Stuff throughout 2018/19.
When the pandemic first struck Ireland in March 2020, Meltdown was operating from the Button Factory in Temple Bar and 5 Leeson Street Lower. Maeve immediately closed Meltdown Temple Bar and continued to operate out of 5 Leeson Street Lower, she used the quiet time to expand the menu, set up online ordering, and focus on getting Meltdown Hot Stuff in as many stores as possible (currently being sold in over 170 stores nationwide). She also took part in the Grow with Aldi programme 2020. Despite being located in Dublin City Centre, sales increased rapidly and when an opportunity to open on Montague Street presented itself, Maeve was able to acquire an SBCI loan and take advantage of the opportunity. Montague Street is a much bigger space with a beautiful upstairs and given the times Maeve decided to target evening dining as well. Meltdown by Day,
Winedown by Night was launched in December 2020. Maeve is currently kitting out a 2000 sq ft Production unit on Cork Street which will allow the business to be more streamlined and facilitate the expansion of Meltdown to other locations around Dublin.
Yasmina Lenehan, The Wellness Circle
https://thewellnesscircle.ie/about-us/
Yasmina from ‘The Wellness Circle’ discovered the world of massage therapies after receiving her first-ever massage in Dublin whilst working in a very busy work environment.
She was left feeling re-energised, connected and deeply relaxed like never before! It led to have a life-changing career move after working in leading Universities here and abroad for over 10 years in Programme Management. She trained as a Therapist in various Therapies (ITEC) and travelled the world learning and training.
Yasmina set up the Wellness Circle in 2018. Putting staff Wellbeing first in the Workplace, she developing an integrated ‘Onsite Wellness Programme’ with a Team of passionate Wellness professionals. It offers Onsite Massage, Yoga and Health Talks and more to offices in Dublin.
More recently she pivoted her business to create her ‘Wellness Gift Boxes’. Clean, natural beauty & lifestyle products that will help nourish self -care rituals daily helping to unwind and ‘just be’. She is delighted to have collaborated with over 15 Irish producers in their making. Beautifully packaged and kind to the environment, they make a welcoming nourishing gift for a loved one.
The Wellness Circle also offers a bespoke tailored 'Wellness Programme’ service for International Hotels focusing on Integrated Health and Wellbeing for guests. She works with leading photographer Emily Quinn, who always captures the magic!
Aine McGurk, Dainty Bear Childrenswear
Dainty Bear Childrenswear is owned by Dublin based mother of two Áine McGurk.
While on maternity leave from her 15 year career in IT she decided to turn her passion for fashion into a business and Dainty Bear was born.
They specialise in traditional yet stylish occasion worthy clothing and footwear for babies and children under 5. In their 3 years in business they have become renowned for providing unique but attainable luxury products at a range of affordable prices. Their products are created to be cherished and come beautifully packaged which make them perfect for a new arrival or a special baby gift.
Aisling Grimley, The Silk Pillowcase.com
Aisling Grimley runs The Silk Pillowcase.com which she founded in July 2019.
At The Silk Pillowcase, we love the luxury and comfort that a little silk can add to our everyday lives. We sell mulberry silk pillowcases, eye masks and face masks . We primarily sell through our website, www.thesilkpillowcase.com, as well as through a limited number of retailers.
Aisling also founded and runs My Second Spring in 2013, Ireland’s first dedicated menopause website – www.mysecondspring.ie. This menopause resource reaches almost 1/2 million visitors a year, and has contributed significantly over the years to the opening up of the topic of menopause in Ireland and further afield.
In December 2020, Aisling and The Silk Pillowcase won the Rising Star Of The Year award from LEO Women in Business.
Moderator
Aine Kerr, Co-Founder and COO of Kinzen
Áine Kerr is co-founder and COO of Kinzen, a regular on broadcast media, a Fellow of Columbia University’s Sulzberger Leadership Programme and an award-winning journalist. At the age of 12, as a curious yet introverted child, she knew she had something to contribute if only she had the courage to find her voice. Today she uses her voice to encourage other women to recognise and reach for their potential. Fast becoming one of the most recognised speakers in this area, Áine believes change can only happen collectively, and that men play as much of a part in change happening as women.
Earlier in her career Aine led global journalism partnerships at Facebook in New York. She was instrumental in creating the Facebook Journalism Project and the News Integrity Initiative (NII). She was also a key part of the leadership team at successful news agency Storyful for the five years before the company’s acquisition by News Corporation.
As a journalist Áine spent over seven years working as a political correspondent and news reporter with The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and The Irish Examiner. As of March 2021, she sits on the President’s Gaisce Council (Gaisce is the President of Ireland’s award).
She is also on the board of the NII, an advisor to the Institute for Future of Media and Journalism (Fujo), and co-founder of Online News Association (ONA) Ireland.
In 2018, Áine won in the media category at the Women of the Year Awards. In summer 2020, she brought her consummate skills to the radio waves as host of Reignite on Ireland’s national radio station RTÉ Radio 1, where she interviewed the likes of Gina Miller, Arianna Huffington, Jim Gavin, and Jamie Heaslip. Áine is also a regular guest host on The Business on RTE Radio 1.
Áine, who is a fully accredited Executive Coach, is a seasoned speaker with a fresh approach and broad appeal. Her career in business, journalism and life’s lessons makes for stimulating, content-rich talks. Some of the events she has spoken at include Web Summit, Collision and the Women in Tech Summit, as well as Inspirefest, LEO Entreprise, BUILA (British Universities International Liaison Association), CES, and IE Domain Registry CLG. As a popular and agile MC, she has also played a key role in some of the biggest media industry events in the world.
