Women in Business: International Women’s Day in Croke Park

Network Ireland Limerick

I joined Network Ireland Limerick in 2022 to grow my network and learn from the different type of events they hold. I’ve always found it to be such a friendly network. It can be intimidating to go to these types of events as a solo business owner but I’ve always found someone to chat to and invariably learn something new that strengthens me either professionally or personally.

I set myself a goal this year of participating in more of the Network Ireland events. They put on great events every month but for whatever reason, either being away, sick or not pushing myself out of my comfort zone enough, I haven’t always gone to as many events as I could. I started 2025 well with attending the January and February events and then I saw what the national branch of Network Ireland had planned for their International Women’s Day event, and I knew I had to book myself a ticket! I’d be helping myself get towards my goal of attending more events and be in for a real treat with the event itself.

Women in Business – in Croke Park!

First of all, it was an historic event as it was the first time that an all Ireland women’s networking event of this kind has been held. And it felt significant that it was taking place in Croke Park.

I’ve only ever been to Croke Park for hurling matches (even though it’s been awhile!), I was intrigued to see what the conference set up would be. It was brilliant and even the fact that we got to go out into the stadium itself in a completely different situation to All-Ireland final day, felt really special.

Exhibitions Stands

I was delighted to see members of the Limerick branch exhibiting at the event. This included branch president Eve Stafford – an award winning soprano, Danilly from Talamh Natural and Ixis from Forest Mist Skincare. I bought the Forest Mist Vitamin C Serum and I am loving it’s healing effects on my skin.

Event – Speakers

The speakers ranged from informative, emotional to rousing. The chosen charity for the event was Debra Ireland. A charity doing incredible work for people suffering from the skin condition EB, and their families.

I think we were all blown away by the keynote speaker Dr. Norah Patten. The dedication and belief she has shown is nothing short of spectacular. If you haven’t heard her story of becoming an astronaut and soon to be Ireland’s first person in space, have a look at what she has achieved here.

I also particularly enjoyed a reflection at the end of the day, by super talented writer Aoibh Johnson. She had the whole whole room in tears.

People I met

In 2024 I finally took advantage of Network Ireland’s mentorship program. Every member is entitled to a 30 minute mentoring session with all the mentors on the panel, free of charge! There are mentors is in many different categories from marketing, sustainability to leadership development. Each mentor is highly skilled and experienced in their area, so it’s a fantastic opportunity.

When I decided to book a session with a mentor I was interested in getting some advice about marketing my business. This lead me to choosing to book a call with Yasmin Vorajee who is a messaging coach and business strategist. Yasmin is involved in the mentorship program at a national level so I had seen her speak about the program on one of the virtual networking events that are part of Network Ireland, so I already felt like I knew her a little and loved the sound of her business.

My 30 minute session with Yasmin was fantastic. Straight away she knew that I didn’t have any strategy in any of the marketing effort I put in to my business. The way her program works she wants to make sure that you were clear on what you’re saying, you’re not overwhelmed and you actually implement your marketing strategy. So after our session was over even though I was so happy with how it went, I knew it wasn’t enough. I knew that if I just took the advice from the session and tried to apply it myself I will be in the same place this time next year. And that’s what I was looking to avoid.

I really wanted to improve my marketing activities in my business so I signed up to Yasmin’s program. Having a session with her allowed me to get to know her and what she’s about and see if we clicked and we absolutely did. I’m so happy that I signed up to a program and the support and advice I’ve gotten so far has been so valuable. It’s a year long program with group calls twice a month so accountability is a huge part of it. It can be easy to put your own business at the bottom of your to do list and never get around to actually constructing an effective marketing strategy and then implementing it. So having the support of Yasmin’s program has been fantastic.

All of this to say I actually met Yasmin for the first time in real life at this event. It was great to meet her in person since I’d only met her on Zoom calls before. Also another woman who is on the course was at the event set of three of us got to meet, which was fantastic.

With Yasmin Vorajee and Susan Collins Duggan

With Orla Canney from Orla Canney Consulting

I was delighted to also bump into Roberta from Core & Form. We initially met through Instagram and even collaborated on a project together. Roberta designed the branding and website layout for Plush Hair and I developed the site in WordPress. It was a great project to work on as Roberta did a fantastic job of the design and was so easy to work with.

Overall

I had a really inspiring and enjoyable day, like I knew I would. Network Ireland has been a great organisation for me to join to make new connections and be inspired by women in different industries all over the country. I would encourage anyone whether you’re self-employed or working for a company, if you’re interested in joining – do it. You won’t regret it as there’s inspiration, advice and support to be gained no matter what branch you’re be a part of.

Interested in becoming a member of Network Ireland? Check out the website for more information here.