Over the course of the last year, our curly haired one, Greg Canty has been really busy with the Fuzion Win Happy podcast and it has featured some incredible, powerful women from all walks of life.
The episodes with these inspirational women are very revealing and you can clearly see a pattern whereby early life experiences has clearly shaped them and driven them on in special ways.
If you get a chance you might take the time and listen and learn directly from this special group.
All of these podcasts can be accessed from the usual Apps and Spotify but they can also be listened to directly by clicking on the links provided below:
Gillian Keating
First up was Gillian Keating, who as well as being a successful commercial law solicitor (now with RDJ), was President of Cork Chamber and has been busy “Cracking the Diversity Code” with her work as part of the huge iWish movement, which is making huge strides in opening up STEM for young women.
Deirdre Waldron
No series would be complete without our very own Deirdre who started off life working hard as part of the family business. She started Fuzion as a small business in Tralee and now it is an award winning agency with offices in Dublin and Cork and doing great work with large and small clients. She became the President of Network for Women in Business and launched their Fuelling Ambition roadshows, encouraging women to reach higher and higher.
We love her “Chicken Maryland” story about her dad!
Lilla Vargen
Sometimes circumstances can drive you on and this beautiful, superstar singer songwriter from Northern Ireland has the most fascinating tales from her youth and she will admit that her obvious talents had to be coaxed out of her by those around her who knew the talent that was lurking inside. Was this an “Accidental journey” or was it her destiny?
Eleanor O’Kelly Lynch
How do you end up being the brightest, cheeriest and most positive person in the room when you have the colossal task of minding a very sick, totally dependant child 24/7. We learnt a lot from this episode “Staying bright in a dark world” with Eleanor O’Kelly Lynch from Golden Apple Training.
Mary McCarthy
The very passionate art lover, Mary McCarthy is a Cork treasure. She has had a fascinating career that thankfully saw her joining the Crawford Art Gallery last year as Director. Already we are seeing sweeping changes as the doors of this fantastic facility have been thrown wide open to fire up art passions in everyone. “Art and Culture and the huge role it plays in our society”
Catherine Moroney
Catherine, Head of Business Banking with AIB has a fascinating story including being told at one point that she had just six weeks to live! Her dad dragged her with him on his visits to building sites when she was young……maybe it triggered an interest in business? “Connecting heart and head – a self declared conehead”
Margot Slattery
Margot who has the huge job of being Country Manager of Sodexo shared her idyllic stories of life on a farm in Bruff in Limerick and her inspirational grandmother who was widowed at a very early age and ran a farm by herself. Margot reminds us that we should all “remember where we came from” and she proudly waves a flag for the LGBT community in Ireland.
Deirdre Garvey
Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel does some inspirational work assisting non-profits each day as she leads this powerful organisation. This engineer suddenly found herself working in a charity in Ireland, which led her on a journey to leading The Wheel “18 Years behind The Wheel”.
Denise Fitzgerald
How can a career in banking suddenly change to working for a children’s charity – maybe experiencing the difference such a charity can make on a hospital visit! “Making a huge difference with the CEO of Temple Street Foundation”
Kay O’Connell
Unfortunately, Kay O’Connell the founder of the famous Cork fishmongers is not here to tell us her story, but her son, the famous Pat O’Connell talks lovingly about his best friend and his powerhouse mother “My Mother, the Mother-in-Law and the Queen”
Deirdre Mortell
Why make a difference in one organisation when you can make a difference in many? Deirdre Mortell, CEO of The Social Innovation Fund does huge work every day matching corporate donors with deserving causes and helps them to make the most of these funds and supports. Deirdre has a great outlook about being really busy “Headaches should be headaches for a great reason!”
Caroline O’Driscoll
Caroline is the Chairperson of IT@Cork, working hard to promote Cork as a region for IT and she is also one of the co-founders of iWish, the huge movement, which is making huge strides in opening up STEM for young women.
Annemarie Collins
When Greg met Annemarie, to say he was blown away is a huge understatement. This powerhouse of a young woman came from the Traveller community in Navan and she was determined to have a life just like her school friends including college and beyond. She earned a scholarship in Trinity and she now works with the East Cork Traveller Project. “Plotting her own course with the help of the EIL Explore Programme”
Mary McKenna
When people stopped travelling to the United States after 9/11 Mary, CEO of Tour America diversified. When the wheels fell off the economy in Ireland putting half the travel agents out of business, Mary stayed brave and positive, invested in marketing and grew her business. When she nearly died after being rolled over by a jeep she stayed calm and made a miraculous recovery. “The Ultimate Survivor”.
Sister Bride Given
The fascinating story of Sister Bride who reigns from Listowel, who navigated a career at a time of huge change for everyone working in religious orders. “The changing life of a nun and the story of Nano Nagle”
Ann Canty
Greg couldn’t resist but capture the story of his mum who was obsessed about America and moved to New York for six year in 1957, at an exciting time of change “A New York Adventure – A young Irish couple get married and emigrate”
Siobhan O’Donoghue
She left school after being bullied in West Clare, she stood up for chickens in the family farm and she stood up for patients while working as a nurse. She worked tirelessly for travellers in Limerick and for migrants rights in Dublin and then founded Uplift to help other people to fight for their worthy causes.
We hope you get a chance to listen to some of these episodes featuring many inspirational women and we would like to take this opportunity to salute all of the other inspirational women out there!
Harpy International Women’s Day!!
