I went along to the ATU Sligo today for the Experience – Exposure – Education event. I’m always interested in listening to what other people have to say, and I always believe that we can learn so much from others, and that was one of the many things that was said today.
At the start of this meeting (and every SWIBN meeting), members are welcomed by Fran and Maeve who run the network, and Shona from LEO Sligo. There was a lovely breakfast, which was great because it was an early meeting.
We were welcomed to the ATU by Úna Parsons, who is Head of College and Head of Faculty of Engineering & Design at ATU Sligo. Úna is also a member of Sligo Women in Business and joined the network 13 years ago.
President of the Atlantic Technological University, Orla Flynn also welcomed us and told us about some of the latest ATU news, and that there will be more good news in the coming weeks.
Anna Marie Brosi, who is a Coaching Psychologist, Coach and Wellbeing Facilitator, spoke to us about the power of gratitude. Anna Marie suggested the three good things technique. Every day you write down three good things, and the reason you are grateful for them. If you take five minutes to do this over seven days, it changes the way you feel. I’ve never done this before, but I certainly am a glass half full person, and I know writer Roisin Meaney does this on twitter every day.
Our next speaker was Yvonne Kennedy, the Healthy Campus coordinator at ATU Sligo. Yvonne spoke to us about some of the projects she is working on. One of them is The Period Promise, this campaign aims to provide free period products in all ATU campuses the products will be ethically sourced to meet ATUs Sustainable Development Goals. Yvonne told us that logo was designed by marketing students, and explained that period poverty is real, with 40% of students struggling, some of them have to decide between buying period products or buying lunch – that’s shocking in this day and age. Yvonne also explained that many period products contain toxins, such as pesticides (I didn’t know that!) She told us about an Irish company: Riley, founders Áine & Fiona are on a mission to drive change by supplying sustainable period care everywhere with dignity for all.
Fran and Maeve hosted a panel discussion and talked to President of the Atlantic Technological University Orla Flynn and CEO of Complete Laboratory Solutions (CLS), Evelyn O’Toole about their career paths. This was so interesting, and I loved how open and honest everyone was.
Orla said the 1980s were quite a dark time, but we didn’t know what we didn’t have. We had no cappuccino, and just two types of wine, and education was very different, as was employment, for women the main jobs were teaching/nursing etc. Ireland started to change in the 1990s, when computing came in and opportunities opened up. Orla told us that the tough years will give you courage and resilience.
CEO of Complete Laboratory Solutions (CLS), Evelyn O’Toole told us about growing up in rural Ireland, and how there weren’t many opportunities locally when she started college. Evelyn went into a dusty guidance office and saw a leaflet about toxicology, she loved the sound of it, and her imagination opened up, and she started studying for it. Evelyn told us she stared her business 30 years ago, and there are now 240 people in her team.
It was really fascinating listening to Orla and Evelyn, and also to Fran and Maeve, who spoke about their educational journey. A big thing that came up is that you are never too late to go back to education, or change your career path, lifelong learning can be a passport to the next best thing.
As Evelyn said ‘If a door opens walk in, if you don’t like what’s in there you can always walk back out.’
Sligo Women in Business Network was established in 2004 and is supported by LEO Sligo. SWIBN has over 300 members and is a supportive community, they host regular events, and it’s free to be a member, so if you a woman in business or if you are thinking of starting a business it’s well worth joining. Thank you SWIBN for hosting another wonderful event today, and to all the speakers, it was very interesting and enjoyable. Find out about Sligo Women in Business here.
Magnumlady Blog 