Celebrating International Women’s Day #IWD2021

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. Find out more about IWD & how you can make a difference here: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Magico are proud to be a female-centric organisation, with women comprising 87% of our workforce – a remarkable statistic in a traditionally male-dominated field, and we caught up with some of the team for a little background on how they’ve reached this stage in their careers.

What was your first job?  My parents owned restaurants growing up, so I was lucky to be able to gain a wealth of experience working alongside them in various aspects of the business. Working in the hospitality industry armed me with many tools that I still apply to my day-to-day work life and has stood to me as an invaluable work experience. 

What’s the best advice you ever received?  Sounds like a simple one but ‘If at first you don’t succeed try again. This has been my motto, keep moving forwards do not let disappointment hold you back, try thinking around the problem or a new approach there is always a solution, and stay positive. 

Where would your dream holiday be & why?  A dream holiday for me would be to take a yearlong round-the-world trip. I do not like to sit still! So being able to take in and experience lots of different cultures, foods and ways of life with no pressures and time constraints would be amazing. A totally immersive experience! 

What is your definition of “happiness”?  Happiness to me is being contented, totally at ease mentally and physically.  

What hobbies do you enjoy doing outside of work?  I am a fitness fanatic! I discovered weightlifting about five years ago and have never looked back. For so long it was seen as ‘women cannot do that’, ‘weightlifting is for men’ but that most certainly not the case. I like to run and spin too. I love to travel (whenever we get to do that safely again!) experience new cultures and love to cook!  

What advice would you give to young women starting out in business?  Be your own leader, do not follow anyone else path, and do not be afraid to be different! 

What was your first job? I worked with a digital agency in Dublin and we worked on  CIE’s first website. We had to manually create all the timetables and as our deadline was Jan 1st that was a Christmas I won’t forget !

How did you get started in this business? Very much by accident, I applied for a marketing role with a Digital Agency, they won a large contract and at the first meeting the client asked who was the Project Manager and I was put forward and then sent on a Time Management course the following week as they didn’t know what a PM should do

What’s the best advice you ever received? Work at something you are passionate about and it won’t seem like work

Where would your dream holiday be & why? If you asked me a year ago I would say a Safari in Africa but right now I would settle for a week in Lahinch

What is your definition of “happiness”? I think Covid has changed our ideas of happiness and now the idea of being surrouded by friends and family and enjoying their company over a bottle of wine would be bliss

What hobbies do you enjoy doing outside of work? Travel, reading and walking ( I have to say that as I encouraged the Magico team to do the 100 day walking challenge)

What was your first job?  I was a ‘Dunnes Stores Girl’ for the later years of secondary school and I loved it!  I worked on the cigarettes & newspaper counter, so I knew every pensioner in town!

What’s the best advice you ever received?  ‘Don’t think your time away’ – I just love this. In a busy world it’s a helpful reminder to slow down and enjoy what’s in front of you. Also I have to confess, I’m not always great at it.. I got given the advice for a reason!

Where would your dream holiday be & why?  My husband and I were lucky enough to be just back from a magical holiday in South Africa when the lockdown came along, which makes those memories all the sweeter. SA is an amazing country, with something for everyone. I would love to go back. Besides that, I adore New York and hope to get back there soon, COVID permitting!

What hobbies do you enjoy doing outside of work?  Planning trips! I am a booking.com fiend, and am obsessed with the next trip away or researching the next country to visit. Besides that I love home interiors, and spend a lot of time on house-related projects

Are there any women in business that you admire/ are inspired by? I have had some incredible female mentors in my career to date and have learned so much from each of them. A female leader who I greatly admire is New Zealand PM, Jacinda Ardern. She is the epitomy of a 21st Century leader for me – modern, progressive and brave, whilst remaining empathetic and relatable.

What advice would you give to young women starting out in business?  Ask yourself, ‘what would a man do in this situation?’. It might sound patronising, but from years of working alongside male colleagues, and hiring males for roles, I am impressed by their confidence and their capacity to get what they want. They don’t tend to second guess themselves and think of what they ‘deserve’. They tend to back themselves more.  I think we could sometimes do with dose of this energy – particularly when it comes to interviews and career progression.