LEO Dublin City Women in Business Network

The more than 60 women in business who attended last night's Achieving your Personal and Business Financial Goals event in the Radisson Blu Royal were rewarded with three complementary talks that got to the roots of what we need to do:
Alana Kirk talked about the Money Mindset and how many women need to overcome limits set by upbringing, society, etc to develop an abundance mindset that will give us more control over what we can achieve.
Melissa Boyle of Master My Balance explained how financial wellbeing is built on four pillars, two present oriented (Control through budgets and Choice), two future oriented (Financial Shocks and Future Goals). She recommended improving our financial literacy as a high priority if we want to improve our financial wellbeing.

Carmel Seery shared tips on how we can make sure we're making money from our businesses through carrying out CEO reviews, three month planning on ongoing basis, no matter what size the business, and understanding the difference between profit and margins.

The three speakers together underlined the importance of setting goals and monitoring our progress personally and in our businesses, how our own beliefs and experience may be holding us back and what we can do to overcome these limitations.

Thanks to the three speakers for sharing their expertise and to all the attendees. who came, asked questions and took active part in networking afterwards! LEODublinCity

The almost 70 members attending last night's Annual Barbecue were treated to an inspiring talk on Resilience from Cora Barnes Speaker who drew from her insights from years of running a successful business through many challenges and her passion for supporting other women in business to summarise what it means for business owners.

Cora talked about the need for resilience at different stages of the business and how we may need to overcome doubts about being an entrepreneur (remember you have, you can and you will) and become proud of our resilience, focusing on the greater vision. She finished with practical tips about auditing to identify where we may need to make changes and what we may need to end .

We have twice as many attending now as we had before Covid so it is great to see such a large group of members gather together on a sunny evening for a relaxed al fresco dinner after Cora's talk! LEODublinCity

Great photo from last night's Annual Barbecue Bobby and Cathy!

Annual BBQ . Networking and bonding with like minded people.

What a special night due to the large turnout of amazing entrepreneurs like yourselves Deirdre and Janette and Cora's inspirational talk!

The full house at last night's Sustainability themed networking event is a sign of the times as more businesses see the topic as relevant to them. We had the opportunity to hear about how sustainability is now central to some businesses like TImeless Celebrations and Alison - Irish Glass Artist and what help is available from experts Cyd Connects and Earthology and the financial and other support that is available from LEODublinCity to make positive changes.

* Aisling Connaughton of Cyd Connects set the context, noting that sustainability is about changing the business model and working out how to make money without exploiting others. She pointed out that Gender Equality is central to the UN Sustainability Goals and Aisling also mentioned the EU Corporate Sustainability Directive which will drive major change in Europe.

* Sarah Blake of Earthology gave an overview of the BCorp programme which UK research has shown brings multiple benefits, including attractiveness to potential employees. There are currently 45 certified B-Corp businesses in Ireland. Carbon Literacy can be a more affordable option for smaller businesses to demonstrate their commitment.

* Aoife McHugh of Timeless Celebrations has considered not only the waste that customers will avoid through reusing the crackers but has also opted for more sustainable options throughout her business.
* Alison Byrne of Alison - Irish Glass Artist showed us that glass as a material for art has many advantages from sustainability point of view, particularly that it can be infinitely recycled. Alison is committed to sustainability practices including sourcing materials locally and using recyclable practices.
*Sandra Reynolds of LEODublinCity ty gave an overview of the Green for Business programme, Energy Efficiency Grants and MODOS, the Circular Economy Programme.

A huge thanks to all five speakers and to Aisling for moderating the panel discussion.
Thanks to Eimear Wright, Margaret Farrell and Heidi Duffy as well as Alison, Aoife and Sarah for talking display space to let members know about what you do.

The sun shone for our first lunchtime event of the year yesterday and we were also treated to three expert talks that between them gave us a very clear picture of how we need to appproach our online activities in a planned way to maximise the return and to avoid unnecessary challenges:

Mary White, Stobbs Ireland, Irish and EU Trade Mark AttorneyP/Copyright Mary White, , Irish and EU Trade Mark Attorney talking about IP/Copyright concerns for online business underlined the importance of doing the necessary prep work in advance to make sure you have identified the value of your intangible assets and what you need to do to protect them.

Social Media Strategist and The Disruptors Agency founder Jessica Nolan stressed the importance of basing your online strategy on a good website (like a shopfront) and encouraged attendees to use collaboration to get in front of new audiences and build their social media presence.

Lucy O’Reilly, Designs for Growth founder and Branding and Digital Marketing Specialist, urged attendees to approach their branding in a strategic way (focused on your customers greatest concerns and reflecting your values) and to carry that clear thinking into your own website design and content so that your customers discern from your website that you understand their needs and are able to respond to them.

There was a consistent theme running through the talks of the importance of planning before you invest and launch and many attendees commented on the powerful impact of the three talks combined. We are very lucky to have so many superstar experts within the network so willing to share their expertise with other members - thank you Mary, Jessica and Lucy!

The talks were followed by lunch which many enjoyed out on the patio of Hyatt Centric The Liberties Dublin - a treat after so many weeks of rain! Thanks to Adonis Flower Designers for providing the thank you hampers from LEODublinCity

Did you know that only 3% of creators post on LinkedIn? This was one of many fascinating things about LinkedIn that we learned from our speaker Elaine Walsh-McGrath at last night's networking event with the Personal Branding theme. Elaine shared a wealth of valuable tips on how to use LinkedIn more effectively, with the overarching recommendation to act like a kind human being in your online interactions. Show that you are listening to what others are saying by commenting or show you care by sharing recommendations or posts that might be of interest. As Tanya Crosbie Photography explained in her talk, Headshots are a crucial part of personal branding in that they present your visual identity in the digital world. Tanya explained how a company might use one set of professional photos to address four content pillars (Promotional, Educational. Entertainment and Inspirational).
There were some brilliant questions for both speakers from the nearly 60 attendees.
Four companies took Display tables which gave us an opportunity to find out more about their businesses, especially during the networking session at the end:
Mary White of Stobbs
Aoife McHugh of Timeless Celebrations https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015622477328
Margaret Farrell of Margaret Farrell
Sinead Crowe of Adonis Flower Designers
A huge thanks to both speakers for their excellent talks and generosity with their tips.
LEODublinCity

Yesterday's Dublin Celebrating Women in Business event as part of the Brigit: Dublin City Celebrating Women Festival was a joyous occasion as over 70 women gathered to hear four fascinating women in business share their stories and insights, expertly moderated by Aine Kerr. The panellists were Madeleine Blaine from SilverWorks Dublin and The Collective, Deirdre O'Sullivan of Kays Flower School, Richella Boggan of Sandown Business School and Paola Shanahan of Irish Weddings in Italy. Greg Swift, Head of LEODublinCity opened the event by encouraging women in business to look for opportunities to build export businesses as these are the businesses they can support. The Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste then welcomed attendees to the historic Mansion House. The talks were followed by lunch and a lot of networking was done over soup and sandwiches! These photos were all taken by the brilliant Emilia Krysztofiak of rua photography, please credit her if you are using any of them.

Over 50 women in business showed up on a very cold January night to hear insights and tips from The Communications Coach Aisling O' Rourke and they were rewarded with excellent insights and actionable tips that will help them to 'cut through the noise' and increase visibility this year. It was great to see the high levels of energy in the room that continued after the talk. A huge thank you to Aisling from LEODublinCity
Radisson Blu Royal Hotel

The network finished 2023 on a high with our Awards and Networking night in The Mansion House last night, featuring a welcome from the Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste and a talk by award winning businesswoman Rachel Doyle of Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven, who shared her story from a the modest start of just wanting to sell plants to being one of Ireland's leading retail and lifestyle businesses, now incorporating a strong online presence. The talks were followed by the presentation of our annual awards by Paul Berry of LEODublinCity. The winner of the Rising Star award is Richella Boggan of Sandown Business School and the winner of the Female Entrepreneur of the Year is Madeleine Blaine of SilverWorks Dublin and The Collective. Congratulations to Richella and Madeleine and to all who entered the awards and shared their great achievements over the past year. A huge thanks to the Lord Mayor of Dublin for hosting this special event inn the Mansion House!

We had over 50 women in business at last night's networking event in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel featuring Rob Cullen, Head of Business Development at Engage People and ex Head of Membership at Dublin Chamber. Rob shared some really valuable tips on how to get the most out of networking, including how to select which networks to go to, how and when to join a group at an event and what your goals at each event should be. As one member commented, it comes down to networking as a human! Figure out who you should be networking with and what you want to be known for but focus in your conversations on getting to know others as people and make sure to listen to make the most of your networking. We had a chance to practice our skills after the talk and also had a chance to visit display tables with lots of Christmas present ideas from Giggles and Smiles Photography, SilverWorks Dublin Alana Kirk Margaret Farrell Jessica Molesini Art ART Egregor Italy & Weddings by Paola Shanahan LEODublinCity

Over 40 members and guests attended yesterday's lunchtime networking event in the Hyatt Centric The Liberties Dublin featuring inspiring talks by four entrepreneurs who have all been winners of our annual Awards: Yinka Martin of HairWeavon, Lauren O'Reilly from ProMotion Rewards, Daisy Mauhay from The Nightingale Placement Agency and Pamela Fitzmaurice from Blazing Salads and FLIP V Burgers. There was agreement from attendees that there was a lovely balance between the speakers, providing inspiration at all the stages of starting and running a business, for example:
* Lauren O'Reilly: You need to follow the money when faced with choices about strategies and priorities. Also, take advice but trust your own findings too.
* Daisy Mauhay: Don't give up! Look for opportunities that are a good fit for you and stay focused on delivering.
* Yinka Martin: Whatever you're doing, do it with passion and integrity and you will see results.
* Pamela Fitzmaurice: Take the time periodically to assess whether your business is still working for you. Remember why you set it up and ask if you need to make changes?

The LEODublinCity presented the speakers with beautiful bouquets from Adonis Flower Designers.

WEARWITH.co Sandown Business School New Growth Designs Harvestbloomsbyaoife Small Business & Startup Adviser Ilaria Eugenia Virtual Assistantt Bracken Recruitment Ltd
MAKER Margaret Farrell beproductive.ie Infinite Sound Easy Treesie Women on the Run

Maryrose Lyons from Brightspark Consulting delivered a barnstormer of a talk on Generative AI for Marketing at our September networking event last night. One thing that made the talk especially valuable was Maryrose's hands-on expertise with the latest tools, such as ChatGPT and Bing, and also some very useful add-ons such as Claude. We finished the night with networking over wine. LEODublinCity Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin

It was wonderful to see almost 60 of our 170 members gather for our annual Barbecue last night and to hear our special guest speaker Melissa Curry of Melissa Curry Design talk about her story and her principles. It was a lovely touch for Melissa to provide each attendee with a "Pink Power" card with discount for the new Póg "Pink Power" jewellery range and to provide a gift of three beautiful bracelets to three members. Many members commented that they found Melissa's talk and Q&A inspirational, especially her vision for her brand, how she responded to challenges and her commitment to passion and purpose for driving her forward. LEODublinCity The Trinity City Hotel Dublin

A huge thanks to the two terrific speakers who shared their exciting stories at our June event in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin last night attended by 40 women in business. Greta Dunne talked about how her company Marker Content is offering writers a means of receiving payment for their output (80,000 already signed up) and providing organisations with access to quality writing based on memories and personal experience. Dee Reddy talked about the power of podcasting and her own passion for making podcasting an accessible medium for a diverse range of voices through her new company Poddle Audio. It was great to see two Irish entrepreneurs speak so passionately about what their businesses and the impact they will make! The talks were followed by networking and wine.

We were able to spend much of our first lunchtime event of the year out on the lovely patio of the Hyatt Centric The Liberties Dublin for lunch after the excellent talk by Eileen Fleming of The Buff Day Spa Eileen shared her own business story and how she came to realise the importance of systemising her business. While this can be very difficult for business owners to do, Eileen shared some practical tips on steps you can take. A key thing is to work with someone else to document what is involved in key tasks. If you can systemise more basic tasks, you can free up valuable time to work on aspects that require you and effectively give you more time to work ON your business. The talk was followed by networking over lunch out on the patio and inside! LEODublinCity. Adonis Flower Designers Alive Experience Dana Thai Bodywork & Yoga
Earthology Easy Treesie Elaine Walsh-McGrath Helpingnetworks Ilaria Eugenia Virtual Assistant
Women on the Run Simmering Impressions

Don't miss tomorrow's Webinar if you'd like to pick up some tips from Ilaria Eugenia Virtual Assistant on how you could free up time in your working week! See https://www.localenterprise.ie/DublinCity/Start-or-Grow-your-Business/Networking/Women-in-Business/Network-Events/17th-May-Webinar-Save-up-5-hours-in-your-working-week-Simple-tools-software-to-make-your-workday-leaner.html for details and to book. LEODublinCity

With over 150 members in the network, we’re always looking for ways to facilitate more connections between members and this week, we are sharing social media details and encouraging you to support other members. Over 50 members have provided Facebook details for the Directory so far, making it the third most used platform used by you all, after Instagram and LinkedIn. Please have a look and discover who else is in the network! And please let me know if you’re a member and not listed here or in the post that follows. Lynda Emmett- Your gift to you
1:1 Diet with Dee
Alana Kirk
Alive Experience
Lani O'Regan/
Anya Design Studio
Aroundireland.ie Tours

Balance My Life
Basic Senses
beproductive.ie
Bon and Berg
Power In You Coaching with Brona Malone
Burnzone
butterbiscuit.ie
CFC Consult
Dana Thai Bodywork & Yoga
Elearning Ninja
Discover Nutrition
Earthology
Easy Treesie
Elaine Walsh-McGrath
Happier at Work
Small Business & Startup Adviser
Female Entrepreneurs In Dublin
Fidelma Greene
Glorious Wines
Helpingnetworks
Ilaria Eugenia Virtual Assistant
Infinite Sound
Janus Estates Ltd
Jessica Molesini Art
Kalicious Collections
Kays Flower School
MAKER
MASONRY PR
Master My Balance
Nolan Kearney Coaching Solutions
OrianaB.
SaRian Hair Replacement
SilverWorks Dublin
Simmering Impressions
sparkdigital.ie
Studio b
the_holistic_virtual_assistant
The Silk Pillowcase
The Style Bob
VP Merchants
Waywords Journals
Women on the Run
Adonis Flower Designers

Some very interesting insights on Leadership Styles of entrepreneurs and the impact this has on business ambitions and success were shared by Michelle Lestas https://michellelestas.com/about-michelle/ at our April event last night, based on her book Business with Yourself . Great turnout and lovely to see some new members getting stuck into networking! LEODublinCity

It was so lovely to see such a big turnout of women from the entrepreneurial, corporate, professional and other business fields all mingling together at the Dublin Chamber LEODublinCity last week. The keynote speaker Natasha Adams from Tesco Ireland delivered a speech from the heart, touching on how we can support colleagues going through difficulties and how she balances different aspects of her life. Sandra Quinn from sponsor Barden Ireland shared really interesting insights about how she prepares men and women for the challenges of senior positions and how they can be managed. And the panel of entrepreneurs Katharine Deas of OrianaB., Julie McLoughlin of JANDO and Charmaine Kenny of Hatched Analytics shared their wonderful stories and valuable insights into what works for them in ways that resonated with the audience. Thanks to Ruth Scott for MC'ing the event so well - she tied together the strands perfectly!

Last night's networking event in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublinfeatured two excellent speakers Emma Coogan of Articulate Now and Alana Kirk who clearly resonated with attendees as can be seen from typical responses to the question in the survey about what people liked most about the event:

"Both Emma and Alana were fantastic speakers - honestly loved the content from both of them" and "The experiential learning with Emma. Her content, Loved Alana’s presentation Love her style , energy , openness , honesty , and humour."

Thanks also to Máirín Murray for sharing details of the upcoming TechFoundHer bootcamp coming up in May https://techfoundher.com

Rachel Hickey from LEODublinCity ran the event as the Network Coordinator Pauline Logan wasn't available.

A huge thanks to Miren Samper for taking most of the photos!

Over 50 women gathered in the Guinness Enterprise Centre,at our Brigit: Dublin City Celebrating Women event yesterday featuring a panel discussion of four of our members with inspiring stories to tell Anita Donoghue of Annutri, Daisy Mauhay of The Nightingale Placement Agency, Madeleine Blaine of The Collective and Lucy O'Reilly of https://www.designsforgrowth.ie, moderated in a fun and insightful way by entrepreneur and broadcaster Aine Kerr. We were honoured that the Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy dropped by to open the event, welcomed by Mary MacSweeney, Deputy Head of Enterprise and Economic Development in Dublin City Council. LEODublinCity

Our opening networking event for 2023 had the theme of "Inspired by Sustainability" and it was heartening to see such a big turnout for this on a cold January Monday night. Angela Ruttledge of FoodCloud explained how they are driven by the need to reduce the massive amount of food waster so the core activity of the business is the redistribution of food to where it is needed. Sarah Blake of Earthology shared practical tips on how we can all reduce our carbon footprint, right down to the number of emails we send or how much we needlessly fill our kettles. Sandra Reynolds of LEODublinCity set out what is involved in the Green for Micro programme, designed to help small businesses to become more sustainable and Orla Farrell of Easy Treesie finished the night with an inspiring talk about her work planting trees with school children around Ireland. Thanks for Emma Finn of Bees on the Roof for providing three jars of raw honey as spot prizes! Most attendees stayed behind for networking over wine.

At our first in-person Awards event since 2019 and during a weather warning, it was wonderful to see over 60 women in business turn out in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin to drink some mulled wine, chat and celebrate their business year in style. A big congratulations to our two Award Winners, Entrepreneur of the Year Daisy Mauhay of the The Nightingale Placement Agency and the Rising Star Lauren O'Reilly of ProMotion Rewards - well done on winning in a year when the competition was particularly tough! It was great to see six of our members display their products Margaret Farrell, Cathy Soraghan of Women on the Run, Jess Boucher of Studio b, Colourful Simone, Jessica Molesini Art and Alana Kirk! Looking forward to seeing you all at the January events but don't forget our last Coffee Zoom of the year taking place this Friday 16th. Hope you enjoy these photos which I think captured the night very well thanks to the amazing Emilia Krysztofiak
of rua photography! Thanks to Mary Mac Sweeney, Deputy Head of Deputy Head of Economic Development and Enterprise at Dublin City Council for welcoming attendees and giving an overview of the role that LEODublinCity plays in supporting start-ups and early stage businesses.

Slightly belatedly, here are some of the photos from our very successful event in the Mansion House on 14th November. We were honoured that the Lord Mayor of Dublin hosted the event in the Mansion House and welcomed the attendees and Mary Mac Sweeney of LEODublinCity introduced the Lord Mayor . In addition, the wonderful Ellen Gunning of The PR Training Academy gave a keynote address, telling her story and sharing tips under the theme of “Say Yes - it could change your life!” Lastly, the spectacular turnout provided attendees with a golden opportunity to connect with many other women in business. Thanks to all attendees for creating the lovely atmosphere and lively networking.
Thanks especially to our four members who took the tables to share what they do and, hopefully, provide a few Christmas present ideas!
Margaret Farrell Artist
Tanya Crosbie Giggles and Smiles Photography , Moira Dunne. All-Star Gazing book and
Madeleine Blaine, .ie

Great turnout on Monday 19th September for the September networking event featuring one of Ireland's most dynamic entrepreneurs Oonagh O'Hagan of Meaghers Pharmacy. Oonagh shared some of the milestones in evolution of Meaghers from a single pharmacy to multiple outlets, a website selling to 58 countries and an emerging range of telehealth and digital medicine services. What really came across from Oonagh's talk was how hard the leadership works at maintaining the core values present from the start. LEODublinCity.

It was so good to be able to hold our first Annual Barbecue event since 2019, in the new venue of Trinity City Hotel Dublin . More than 40 members turned up for this special event featuring an inspiring talk by Moxi Loves founder and participant in Apprentice and Dragon's Den Pamela Laird, followed by a sit down barbecue meal with wine. As always, it was so nice to see members networking together after meeting each other online over the past few years.