There were a number of career milestone decisions which influenced my life including a keen interest in art & heritage activities, which was encouraged by my family & school when I was young. My decision to accept a place in art college over university as major foundation projects were in various textile media and my decision to pursue textile design course. 

Also I chose to make the best use of college facilities available and specialise in woven textiles and an aim to ‘work from home’ with a profitable lifestyle business. 

Family & friends. Art & Home Economics teachers at school. College tutor Husband, and  Colleagues.

I created it.

Check to-do list written previous evening. Check emails & reply. Weave and organise completion of various production tasks

Allocate time to marketing & promotion, finance management & accounts. Updating my Website. Ongoing maintenance of equipment.

Keeping up with all my daily tasks on an ongoing basis.

Husband is in full time education and I am the only earner. Staying focused and keeping it going through very tough times. Staying positive.

The skills I feel I bring are an ability to be multi-skilled and multi-task every day, an ability to bounce back from setbacks and of course a passion for what I do. 

The subjects I took at shool all influenced me in different ways. English is very necessary in how I represent myself, Maths is oh so important in so many ways from yarn calculations to understanding numeric’s in business.

Art was very influential in my career path. I was introduced to Impressionism and Monet who is a major inspiration in my current work and marketing mix. 

I wish I was better at Irish and I would use it in my business marketing. History influenced how I relate to current affairs, Home Economics is vital in developing my needlecraft skills which is an important aspect of my business. 

Biology, well I do enjoy gardening as a hobby and my husband is a student psychiatric nurse so a knowledge of biology has come in useful over the years.

My education to date includes the Group, Inter & Leaving Cert, NCEA Certificate In Visual Education – Foundation Art & Design, NCEA National Diploma in Textile Design – Woven Textiles with Distinction and AnCo Self Employment as a Career. 

Project based - developed ability to work individually and achieve targets and goals.
Design – this is an important element in my work.

There have been a number of rewarding events in my career so far such as winning the IWS Woolmark Weave competition as a final year student. I love the feeling of seeing a stranger wearing and enjoying a ‘Liz Christy’ scarf. I was really chuffed when I met an unknown lady wearing one in Shop Street in Galway as I studied and honed my craft there.

Building and running Swallow Studios along with welcoming visitors and tours to the studios have also been very rewarding.

I don’t give up easily and I don’t like a problem to beat me. I enjoy working with colour and texture. Quality is important.

I get great satisfaction from sending out an order & getting paid for it. I still appreciate it when a customer spends their hard earned cash on my work.

This is it, though I am working towards it being ‘better paid’!

Getting the work life balance is difficult, made even more so by the current economic climate. However the crossover between work and home is something I am comfortable with.

Think long and hard, listen to advise, plan well and be ready to make sacrifices for job satisfaction…

The three most important personal characteristics are determination and willingness to really work hard, mentally & physically, creativity both in product development and running of the business and a willingness to learn and use new skills.

It changes daily.

Kinky Boots.

Untidyness.

Libra.

The training I have undertaken includes a very basic computers course before my first computer purchase, a Monaghan County Enterprise Board business skills course, training with Fáilte Ireland and a Leader funded website and internet skills course/2.0 skills course. 

I am also embarking on stage two of the Leader funded Web2.0 skills course with a view to attaining digital media skills to market and develop online aspect of business. 

Work in a production based setting, Art & design work, Craft production, Business administration and anything else to equip you with skills to work with people.