National Women's Enterprise Day - "From Local to Global"

This year's theme is "From Local to Global" and in Wexford we have a talented line up of female entrepreneurs in their business endeavours.  The key note speaker, Niamh Sherwin Barry, will share her experience of developing her business from an idea right through to exploring and developing export markets. 

The event will run from 5.15 to 9.00 pm commencing with registration and a networking/drinks reception, followed by talks from the key note speaker, dinner and a panel discussion and Q&A.

See below for more information on the speakers at LEO Wexford's NWED event:

Niamh Sherwin Barry, along with her husband Oisin Barry and friends Aoife and Gavin Lawler founded The Irish Fairy Door Company in 2013.   The company has sold over 500,000 products around the globe and it continues to grow from strength to strength. Niamh has won various awards in the last 12 months with particular emphasis on the “Women in Business” sector.  Niamh is extremely passionate about the power of the imagination in our children today.  She was a regular panellist on Midday on TV3 from 2015 to 2017 and has spoken at numerous Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland and Network Ireland, Irish Made Summit, Mumtalks and Irish Times talks all over the country.  Niamh was a finalist in EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017.

Sabine Rosler moved from Germany to Wexford as a young girl. In 1996 Sabine moved to Wells House where she and her husband Uli opened their first business in offering accommodation to holidaymakers. The first business came to a natural end in 2004, Wells closed to the public and Sabine went on to qualify as an accountant and ran a successful book-keeping business for 8 years. In 2011, Sabine and Uli embarked on their second business venture; Wells House & Gardens. Since opening in 2012 Wells has gone from strength to strength and Sabine has been recognised as one of the top business women in Ireland, winning an award for such in 2015 with Wells also winning many awards in its time. Together Sabine, Uli and the Wells team have formed the number one tourist destination in the county and it continues to develop into new and exciting markets year on year.

Vanessa Tierney is co-founder of Abodoo the Smart Working Career Platform with powerful matching technology that is enabling companies to hire exceptional professional talent fast and accurately from every corner of Ireland and has gone international. Launched from Gorey, Wexford where Vanessa and co-founder Ben Wainwright live, Abodoo has been described as the "Linkedin for Smart Workers with superior matching algorithms" giving access to great talent with less cost and time then using traditional job sites. The growth in smart working where employees are empowered to work more agile whether from home, a hub or hybrid model means there is a real opportunity to support rural regeneration and attract talent back into region with #SmartWorking. Vanessa has been listed in the Top 100 All Ireland Female Entrepreneurs, has been working with Fortune 500 companies across multiple sectors in Talent Acquisition and is championing the Mission to reduce Emissions.

Ciara Donlon founded Theya Healthcare in 2014, after she identified an issue facing some of her customers.  “Women would come into the shop looking for a bra they could wear while recovering from breast cancer or surgery, and there really wasn’t anything that met their needs. So her solution was to create one herself. With no previous manufacturing experience, she found a designer, and established Theya to manufacture a new range of bras made from bamboo, which has antibacterial properties. In 2015, then barely a year in business, Donlon’s fledgling company won armfuls of awards, including the gong for Best Innovative Start Up 2015 by the DCU Ryan Academy, and a Bank of Ireland Startup award. The following year, Theya became an approved supplier to the British NHS, covering more than 1,200 NHS trusts in the UK, and was awarded two worldwide quality standards. “I did the DCU Ryan Academy Female High Fliers Accelerator programme two years ago, and met a network of women.

Bláithín Ennis is an original, unique and contemporary brand. She has been voted one of the best new jewellery designers on the Irish fashion scene.  The label is affordable and beautifully designed, incorporating simple, traditional and craft driven techniques inspired by her natural surroundings in coastal Ireland.  Bláithín prides herself on her ability to source, manipulate and combine unusual materials from around the world to produce wearable, special and striking jewellery design.  Her rare and unpredictable approach to material manipulation, embroidery, construction and embellishment produce exclusive, beautiful designs. Using mixtures of delicate and robust metals, sparkling crystals and soft whimsical shell mesh, her creations represent the 'unconventional' in design. Bláithín has since received tremendous support from premium Irish retailers who are now stocking her brand nationwide. Brown Thomas, of the Selfridges Group, selected her work as part of their prestigious CREATE showcase in 2014, 2015 & 2017.  The jewellery has been worn by; Roz Purcell, Madeleine Mulqueen, Una Healy, Rachel Stevens, Kathryn Thomas, Nicole Scherzinger, Emma O'Driscoll, Rosanna Davidson, Laura Woods, Holly Carpenter, Teodora Sutra and Sarah Morrissey.