1. Don’t be scared to go for it
Everybody thinks your mad until you succeed. I had an Honours Degree in Accountancy, but at 23 I was baking out of my apartment and walking around Dublin with a basket of pastries trying to sell into independent cafes! I held part time jobs in the Hard Rock Cafe, Airtricity, Capitol Nightclub, Elvery’s and lots more. I slept on friends couches for months and owed all of my friends and family money, you would be a fool to continue. 3 years later I opened my second cafe in Dublin 2 on George’s St employing 15 people.
In store tastings every week – enjoy the hustle
2. Material things have no value until they do
People spend too much time wasting money on material things, the next phone, watch, shoes and I have always found this need to buy things only leads to the same unfulfilling feeling, which can only be replaced by the urge to get the next thing, These purchases normally don’t have any alignment with your personal goals. I have found it’s better motivation instead to reward yourself with items after symbolic achievements, happiness levels. E.g. I worked hard all year in 2017, closed out our seed round for my second company Parkpnp and went out that day and bought one thing: My very first Apple product: a MacBook Pro replacing my 5 year old mini laptop. Doing it then captured the happiness felt at that moment in the product, now regularly I open this laptop and get that feeling of accomplishment. I’m not saying this is a method for every purchase but it has helped me focus and it works for me.
3. Be more open, tell people you care
This is something I have to push myself on. Being brought up in the Irish countryside Colehill Co. Longford you are thought to be a man, to be tough, unemotional and that if you cry or say something emotional you are a “softie”. What I have found is that the more I open up to my friends, fiancé and family the better I feel. I regularly ask my friends now how they are feeling, ask them if I can help with anything and try and tell them openly how I feel. I would recommend everyone to try and open up a little bit more.
4. Quality is much better than quantity
Always go for quality, in everything you do. When we were starting Krust, I was desperate to keep costs low. I ended up finding office chairs being given away for free. The chairs weren’t in great condition but hey a saving is a saving right? After a few months, I was sitting in the office one day working away and suddenly the office chair split in half. I landed on a metal rod which ended up lodging in my back. I was literally an inch away from being paralysed and required 12 stitches. You might think you are saving time & money in the short run by shopping around for bargains. However, in the long term quality always pays…
5. Go with the flow
I never had much money. When I was young we were quite comfortable but things changed when I was around ten and life was sometimes a struggle for my family. I didn’t get good enough grades in secondary school to get into any college of choice and I was crushed, I ended up deciding to get a student loan and go to a private college DBS, which actually turned out to be the best thing for me. I moved to Dublin, met some amazing friends and had some unforgettable times. I worked in DBS during the summer and they gave me a job after I graduated and have many great things to say about the people there. Sometimes life dictates your path, just go with it and make the best of it, you may end up better off.
6. Treat people with kindness and respect but don’t waste time on the fools and naysayers
Everyone deserves the right to be treated fairly and with respect, but once they lose it, don’t suffer them for a second more as they will drag you down.
7. Aim higher than you believe is possible
I have always dreamed big, my grandfather was best friends with JFK, my mum vividly remembers playing as a child in the Oval Office (true story). I grew up with my Mum telling me I was destined for great things. This constant reinforcement has set me up with a self confidence to try to do things other people thought was daft, or madness. I setup a renewable energy company Esound Energy at 20, a golf company “Esport Golf” at 22, a bakery “Krüst” at 23, a tech company “Parkpnp” at 27 and my goals in life after living to 150 are to change the world in some meaningful way and leave a lasting impact.
My Grandad and JFK – since I posted this first I have been on the Ryan Tubridy show to discuss, special thanks to Sinann Fetherston, you can listen below:https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=6993987876840827982
8. Don’t do tomorrow what you can do today
Nearly every night when trying to sleep, my mind swirls with highlights of the day, thoughts of tomorrow, ideas for the future and this normally results in a wave of adrenaline that forces me to get up and start working again! I have done some of my best work through these all-nighters. I would embrace those moments and sleep it off later, don’t fight the urge, you will feel and do better!
9. Rome wasn’t built in a day
When leaving college, I would read about all of these so called overnight successes, then I would push myself hard doing 7 day weeks, 20 hour days trying to create this success for myself. What I have realised is that success doesn’t happen overnight and it can take years of persistence and eventually you still might fail as business is hard and so many things can go wrong that are out of your control. Go easy on yourself, enjoy every moment and take the learnings as successes until you get to where you want to be (hard I know!). Relax and enjoy the ride.
10. Travel makes you richer
Travelling is by far my favourite thing to do with my partner Neassa. In 2017 we set a goal of going to one new country each month mostly during the weekends. We managed to hit up Morocco, Dubai, Belgium, Spain, France, Thailand, Austin TX, Iceland, Chicago, Scotland and the Netherlands creating experiences that we will remember forever is worth more than anything else in our opinion. While traveling, try and talk to as many people from around the world as possible, and you will come to the realisation that we are all the same, we all want to be happy, successful in our own right and respected.
Morocco
10.1. Surround yourself with your favourite people and inspirations
I have been fortunate to meet and become friends with some incredible people in my life. I believe you are sum average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I believe this but also push to meet people who inspire you and can teach you from their own learnings. Reach out to people you look up to and ask for that coffee or lunch meeting, you will be surprised with the mostly positive response to help.
Randy Komisar at Kleiner Perkins
10.2. Separate time for you / family time and keep to it
I’m a big fan of self improvement, I created this thing called self improvement Sunday with Neassa where we would spend one hour each Sunday doing something fun, different, challenging. e.g. learn Spanish, rock climb, skydive, visit museums etc. This helps increase the scope of your imagination and pushes you to try new things. Make sure you spend quality time with loved ones, these are the memories you will remember.
“Every Second Counts”
Best,
G