WEBVTT

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Hi, and welcome back to And you, How Did You Make

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It, the podcast in which we explore each step

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that has built the career path of various professionals

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through the discovery of their habits, passions,

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and interests over the last few decades. I'm

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Yosra, your host, and today we meet Orla. Do

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you think that you need to pursue studies which

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allow you not to feel limited? Do you want to

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feel empowered to start working harder and wiser

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towards your goal? And lastly, do you want to

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understand the power of sports in your life?

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then this episode is for you. Orla will inspire

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you to accept difficulty, to embrace failure

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and the learning process that comes with it,

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to determine what resiliency can mean for you

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and inspire you to invest in yourself, in your

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values. So let's learn from her. Hi Orla and welcome

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to the podcast. I'm very happy to have you with

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us today. I'm looking forward to learn a lot,

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a lot from you. I'll give you the floor to introduce

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yourself. Thanks, Yasmeer. Look, it's a pleasure

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to be here. I'm Orla and I'm based in Dublin,

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Ireland. I'm married to Dave. We have a cat.

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He's seven kilos, Maine Coon, certainly rules

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the house. 20 koi fish as well. I might talk

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a little bit about that later. I would describe

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myself as still an engineer. I also enjoy being

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active. So for the past 10 years, it's been weightlifting.

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The years before that, I was into mental biking.

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When I was in school, I played basketball and

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also did a bit of ballet and music. So I suppose

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I tried many different things. I'm also passionate

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about working with my hands. So that looks like

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being in the garden or renovating or currently

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in the middle of what I would describe as a 10

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-year plan. I simply just enjoy being busy and

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having things to do. So never a dull moment.

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I cannot wait to deep dive into what you just

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said. But first, can you share with us your definition

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of success, Orla? Definition of success. Wow.

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So I suppose when I think about success, you

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could think about some successful outcomes. They

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might be, you know, you've landed a new job.

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They might be progressing in a career. It might

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be, in my case, building a house or maybe earning

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money. But actually, I kind of think about things

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more simply. I often find I've got less control

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of those long term pieces. So I tend to focus

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closer to home. So for me, my definition is simply,

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did I achieve what I set out to do and what did

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I learn? And more so, what did I learn about

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myself in that moment? Right. And I apply that

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to the small things. So that might look like,

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how did I show up today in work? Did I show up

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as I intended? Maybe did I get everything out

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of the gym session this morning that I wanted

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to achieve? Am I showing up for supporting my

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family or friends or even looking after myself

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in the way I want to? So I think those little

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wins for me are really more important. And then

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I can focus or let the bigger things just tend

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to happen. I focus on the little stuff. And for

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me, I think being focused on success and those

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little things, it's more rewarding. Otherwise,

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there's going to be large gaps in your life for

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you. May not feel successful. So that's probably

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how I think about it. Learning, learning about

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yourself, showing up for yourself, showing up

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for others and much more. I love this definition.

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Thank you so much, Orla. Would you say you're

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driven by values and routine? Yeah, I'm driven

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by values. I'm driven by routine. I'm driven

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by process. So I like to break things down. What

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is it? I have a view of where I want to be or

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where I want to get to, but I break that down

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into kind of meaningful pieces. So it means I'm

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clear on what's important, what I enjoy, how

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I want to show up. It means I can also be my

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authentic self, right? A very important word

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that everyone will maybe reference. But I think

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you've got to reflect and spend some time thinking

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about that, thinking about your values. So that's

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often how that shows up and plays out when you

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think about what success looks like. Am I being

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true to me? You can ask yourself some questions

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such as, am I being true to myself? Are the actions,

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activities I'm doing aligned with what I aspire

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to do and be? Or are you able to do this every

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day or every month? Oh, for sure. Like I think

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when you focus on the small things, it's much

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easier to do. Like I said, if it's, you know,

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looking at the next career. Or where do you want

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to be in five years? I actually never know the

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answer to that question. I never have. I don't

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like that question. I prefer to think about what

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do I enjoy? What am I doing right now? I tend

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to live in the moment, to make decisions in the

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moment. And that's kind of how it shows up for

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me. Then you can have more success or more feeling

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of success. Because I think success is a very

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inward thing. It's not outwardly focused. It's

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not based on necessarily always tangible things.

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You can just be, I had a good day and I was really

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successful because I, you know, I was a really

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nice person. I didn't honk my horn because somebody

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cut in front of me in the car. Simple things,

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right? I love what you mentioned right there.

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The fact that you don't have an answer to the

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five -year plan. It puts so much pressure on

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ourselves and even more on the youngest generation.

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who has even less visibility on what the future

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holds for them. 100%. And look, I always admire

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people that have a very clear plan. I've just

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never been that type of person. I'm motivated

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by where I am now and where I want to kind of

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go more short term. Some people will have that

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five -year plan even longer. Great, brilliant,

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but we're all different, right? And I've certainly

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learned to become more comfortable with that.

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the older I'd gotten, for sure. But I did also

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always think that everybody had themselves figured

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out when I was younger. And that's not the case.

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Like, I don't think I have all the answers to

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myself yet. I certainly didn't when I was in

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school, but I probably felt that everybody else

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knows exactly what they want to do and where

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they want to be. And that's not the case. I think

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I've learned that the people I see around me

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constantly, even those who are highly successful,

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don't always have it figured out. They are constantly

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experimenting, changing, trying new things. And

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I think they're, for me, they're the essence

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of what's incredibly important to focus on when

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you're in school in particular. The idea here

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is to consistently experiment, change, try new

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things and take whatever you can learn from those

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things. Orla, can you share a bit more about your

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early teenage years? What was your favorite subject,

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your least favorite subject, the activities you

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were doing, what kind of human you were, what

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shaped you back then? Everything you can share

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with us today. What shaped me back then? It's

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certainly an interesting time of life. At times,

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I don't know if I envy people, and we all go

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through it, right? I think I was definitely quiet

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on the quieter side. Today, the label is introvert.

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I don't think there was labels when I was in

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school, but I was definitely, that would be the

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descriptor. I was studious. I wanted to do well.

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I wanted to be liked, right? So some of those

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really core basic things. Subject wise, I loved

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maths. Probably my favorite subject. My least

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favorite was certainly English. So my brain handled

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figuring things out. asked me to write an essay

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about how I feel about what somebody did or did

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not say in a poem. I just I just really struggled

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with that. But it was interesting. And I'm sure

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we'll touch on it. But I changed schools at one

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point. And English ended up being my best result.

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So, you know, I certainly learned that there

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is, even though things are hard, it doesn't mean

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that you can't necessarily be successful in them

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and you've got to find your ways through it.

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But yeah, like, you know, I've touched on, obviously,

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spent a lot of time being active. I have two

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younger brothers. So we just enjoyed being out

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and about at that time of our lives, you know.

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We were playing tennis when Wimbledon was on

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or Roland Garros or cricket when the Ashes were

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on or we were running relays when the Olympics,

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you know, you kind of get it. You're just being

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a kid effectively and just being in that moment.

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But it was interesting. I was presenting at a

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conference the end of last year and someone said

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to me, you know, what would you do if you were

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in my shoes? You know, and they're talking about

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someone who's 25 years younger than me. And I

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said, my world was very different. You know,

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I didn't have a mobile phone. It was, I was early

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into college. Mobile phones then, it was literally

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to send a message home to tell your mom I might

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be a little bit late for dinner. You know, it

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wasn't, you weren't rating people to arrange

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meetups. It was just a very different environment.

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I think I like the simpleness that my childhood

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and early school years would be. I can't imagine,

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as I said, I don't have kids. I have nieces and

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nephews who are that bit younger. But, you know,

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it's difficult. It is difficult to be a teenager

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now from, you know, when I chat to colleagues

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and who have kids of that age, making those decisions

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with the amount of pressure that exists. I found

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the pressure that was in my world hard, but it's

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very different to what exists today. But I think

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some of the principles certainly ring. are the

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same and ring true, right? And do you remember

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why you liked math more than English? I suppose

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how my brain is still today, I'm a problem solver.

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So the logic of it made sense to me. I had some

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good teachers, I had some bad teachers. I had,

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my dad studied math, so he was highly interested

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in helping. us understand, really understand,

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not just to be taught a lesson just to learn

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it, but to truly appreciate and understand maths.

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So I suppose it was many reasons. You know, I

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was good. I could think through it. I had someone

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to help me understand it. I suppose were probably

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the primary reasons why I enjoyed it. And then

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when I enjoyed it, I became good at it, right?

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I think I'm probably the type of person who's

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not naturally good. You know, some people are

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just amazing superstars at everything and you

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look at them. I probably wasn't one of those.

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I had to work hard to do well and be successful

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in something. But I liked the challenge of maths.

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It was logical. I could break things down. I

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could see the progress. I just found the likes

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of English. much harder to grasp the concepts.

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But I think as I progressed through school, I

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started to learn the techniques that helped me

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in how my brain operates and apply it to English

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or other subjects similar to that. There were

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less kind of maths or science -y based. So I

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found my way through it, but I would still say,

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you know, reading an English passage and having

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to ask, you know, and through exam or through...

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job applications you often have to do some types

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of tests I find them still really hard right

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so they are not my natural strength and I will

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have to study I don't enjoy them and I wouldn't

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do them by choice I have to say so I think knowing

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your strengths you always lead with them and

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leverage them so and yeah I think that's probably

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why maths for me as it was always the strongest

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or maths types maths and science type subjects.

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You have an advice here already. Knowing your

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strength and leading with what you're good at.

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I liked your mindset at the time as well, Orla.

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Seeing math as a challenge to raise. I do have

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two questions for you there. What did your dad

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tell you at the time? Any advice? And the second

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question is, what would you tell a teenager to

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start being as interested in math or any other

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class as you were? So it's interesting, like

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I see my niece at the moment not enjoying maths,

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right? And, you know, I've sought to understand

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why. And I think like any subject, it can be

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at times influenced by who's teaching it. It

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could be influenced internally by, oh, I don't

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feel so good when I do this because I find it

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hard and I don't want to put the work in or I

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have this story in my head that everybody else

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is good at it and I'm not. it's not necessarily

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the subject per se it's more what is it you do

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or don't like and connect with and understanding

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that often helps you so if it is for example

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a teacher that's you know you don't connect with

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or don't get a good energy from and doesn't help

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you explain how else can you find a way to figure

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out if you're actually good and could enjoy it

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right i think there's many ways to look at it

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and So I think it's applicable to all subjects.

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It's not just maths, right? Obviously, that's

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been my train through my career. And as I said,

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into being in it, still describing myself as

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an engineer. But I think when someone is truly

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good at something, you have invested time, you've

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understood it, and you are fair on why you enjoy

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it and what you want to get from it. I have a

00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:21.740
story in my head that everyone is good at. X

00:13:21.740 --> 00:13:25.980
or Y class or whatever activity it is, is such

00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:29.820
a common way to think. And it's actually a great

00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:32.200
reminder. Think about it. The only thing you

00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:35.440
can control and you can do and should focus on

00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.879
is actually yourself. So those are fantastic

00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:41.340
points, Orla. And you should ask yourself the

00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:44.299
following question. So what don't you like and

00:13:44.299 --> 00:13:47.179
like about that class? What is the blocker that's

00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:49.600
preventing you from succeeding, from liking it?

00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.940
Is it a teacher who doesn't help you? What can

00:13:52.940 --> 00:13:55.490
you do about it? And you're such a lucky generation.

00:13:55.789 --> 00:13:58.309
You have access to more knowledge than ever.

00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:02.629
So if you're not connecting to a teacher or to

00:14:02.629 --> 00:14:05.870
your classmates or anyone else, go in both and

00:14:05.870 --> 00:14:08.429
beyond and look for the courses online, the YouTube

00:14:08.429 --> 00:14:11.210
videos and anything that can bring you the knowledge

00:14:11.210 --> 00:14:13.590
somewhere else. Yeah. Yeah. I think the first

00:14:13.590 --> 00:14:17.100
question is to answer, do you want it? try to

00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:19.179
be good at something if you're not naturally

00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:21.480
and if you do then you need to do everything

00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:23.860
that you can and I think and back to your original

00:14:23.860 --> 00:14:26.600
question at the start and how can you be successful

00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:29.460
in that particular subject or particular topic

00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:32.639
right it's not just anchored to a individual

00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:35.200
it's not just anchored to are you good at the

00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:38.179
get -go it's there's many components to it but

00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:40.700
I think starting with why do you want to do something

00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:43.340
and if it's because you enjoy it and then you

00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:45.990
know you kind of work from there. If you are

00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:49.049
indeed willing to become good at something, you

00:14:49.049 --> 00:14:51.470
need to do everything that you can to make it

00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:54.649
happen. Well, I do have another question on math.

00:14:54.830 --> 00:14:57.629
You said you like the challenge of it. How did

00:14:57.629 --> 00:15:01.210
you start liking or loving challenging things?

00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.179
I think at home, even though I've two younger

00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.399
brothers, I was the one who was changing the

00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:08.980
light bulb or if the alarm broke, I was fixing

00:15:08.980 --> 00:15:11.019
it. I think there was always something that I

00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:14.799
was taking apart and figuring it out. And so

00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.960
I think that that was just a natural evolution

00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.600
to maths. So it's more that the problem solving,

00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.559
figuring something out is why I think I enjoyed

00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:25.519
maths, why I became good at it is because I was

00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.129
that type of individual that. You know, and simply

00:15:28.129 --> 00:15:30.750
like you flick around with a pen in your hands.

00:15:30.830 --> 00:15:32.669
I was always taking a pen apart and then putting

00:15:32.669 --> 00:15:35.470
it back together again. So I'm curious to understand

00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:37.649
how something works. If something is broken,

00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:41.070
I will seek to see if I can fix it. And that's,

00:15:41.070 --> 00:15:43.990
I suppose, that skill without even knowing it

00:15:43.990 --> 00:15:47.370
as a kid is what I was doing. And then as I started

00:15:47.370 --> 00:15:50.149
to explore subjects, that kind of problem solving

00:15:50.149 --> 00:15:54.870
logic. shows up in maths, right? And as opposed

00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:57.750
to being strong in languages, as an example.

00:15:57.850 --> 00:15:59.850
So that's where I suppose when I think about

00:15:59.850 --> 00:16:02.529
it, my brain is wired in that way to understand

00:16:02.529 --> 00:16:04.909
how something works, why does it work and be

00:16:04.909 --> 00:16:08.509
curious. So I will often, you know, walk into

00:16:08.509 --> 00:16:10.450
a building and think about why is the layout

00:16:10.450 --> 00:16:15.070
the way it is? Or you have to do a process of

00:16:15.070 --> 00:16:18.789
a sign up of a new product. Why do I have to

00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:21.340
follow these steps? There's a better way to kind

00:16:21.340 --> 00:16:24.720
of collect this data as an example. So I'm always

00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.799
questioning and wondering why. It's probably

00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:31.679
more so who I am as an individual. And that started

00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.559
long before maths was a thing, being a teenager,

00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:37.299
right? So it's all about being curious and trying

00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:39.980
to understand your surroundings. And going back

00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:43.840
to sports here, Orla, how did it shape you? I

00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:47.789
liked the energy you feel from... from being

00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:52.350
active and fit and running around. I think it

00:16:52.350 --> 00:16:54.669
was just part of my DNA having two younger brothers

00:16:54.669 --> 00:17:00.250
and as I said we played every type of sport just

00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:03.529
well why not just that's what you do and that's

00:17:03.529 --> 00:17:05.089
what my brothers did and that therefore that's

00:17:05.089 --> 00:17:07.990
what I did and you know I was into more sporty

00:17:07.990 --> 00:17:12.029
things than I was into say reading as an example

00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:17.240
and so it was just what I So I liked following

00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:21.140
sports teams. We were Man Utd soccer fans as

00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:23.559
kids. And as I said, you know, when the Olympics

00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:25.400
were on, we were all about the Olympics. And,

00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:27.900
you know, we grew up watching Linford Christie

00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:31.420
being 100 meter sprinter or, you know, so many

00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:35.920
athletes. And I suppose what I learned is I liked

00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.700
the discipline and routine of practicing something

00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:42.869
and repeating it. Cricket is not necessarily

00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:44.970
a natural thing to say that we played out on

00:17:44.970 --> 00:17:47.369
the road or tennis. But when, as I said, when

00:17:47.369 --> 00:17:50.930
the sport activity was on, it was popular. But

00:17:50.930 --> 00:17:53.950
how to learn how to throw a spin ball was fascinating

00:17:53.950 --> 00:17:56.430
to me because, well, I don't know how to do it.

00:17:56.490 --> 00:17:58.730
Show me how I can do it, how you could do it.

00:17:58.809 --> 00:18:00.990
What does it good look like? And let me keep

00:18:00.990 --> 00:18:04.069
practicing. Similarly, I was left handed. So

00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:06.650
having people show you play tennis who are right

00:18:06.650 --> 00:18:09.029
handed, it was, well, how do I serve if I'm doing

00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:11.640
it the opposite way? So again. I enjoyed that

00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:15.940
process of figuring something out, understanding

00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:18.579
how to do it, and then repeat it and become good

00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:22.099
at it. And I suppose the sport element was, well,

00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.859
it was just what we did as a family. You know,

00:18:24.859 --> 00:18:27.380
what I did with my brothers, we liked doing it

00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:30.539
together. And I was good. You know, it wasn't

00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:34.759
that I, you know, I had to improve always, but

00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:37.319
I found it quite natural to try and kick a ball.

00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:40.980
I found it natural to hit a tennis ball. And

00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:43.960
I found it natural to pitch and put, you know,

00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:46.500
so everything I would have tried just because

00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.380
it, you know, well, my brothers can do it. Therefore,

00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.500
I can do it. Olympians are so inspiring. And

00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:54.940
if you're looking for role models, I would say

00:18:54.940 --> 00:18:58.559
look for the TikTok and Instagram accounts of

00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.940
all those athletes who participated in the Paris

00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:06.599
2024 and find someone that can bring inspiration

00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:10.299
to your everyday life. And I love how you were

00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:13.220
thinking already at that age, Orla, is that if

00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:15.640
your brothers can do it, therefore you can do

00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:19.400
it. So keeping this mindset of there is space

00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:24.339
for me to reach wherever I want to go. You said

00:19:24.339 --> 00:19:27.000
you like the discipline of routine, practicing

00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.299
something and repeating it. What place does discipline

00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:33.380
take in your life? Any advice for our listeners

00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:38.930
who don't have routines or trying to get? I've

00:19:38.930 --> 00:19:41.710
learned to bet myself as I've, you know, reflected,

00:19:41.809 --> 00:19:43.930
as I said, you know, I am an introvert, so I

00:19:43.930 --> 00:19:47.170
do think an awful lot. I do reflect on what I

00:19:47.170 --> 00:19:50.950
enjoy, what I don't and why. And no, if you asked

00:19:50.950 --> 00:19:54.029
me as a teenager, you know, do you like the process

00:19:54.029 --> 00:19:56.089
and the routine? I probably wouldn't have been

00:19:56.089 --> 00:19:57.930
able to articulate that. I probably wouldn't

00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:00.289
have been able to describe that for myself. I

00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:03.829
can look back and say that is. But I think that's

00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:07.200
why. You know, I did try and experiment or try

00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:09.160
many things. I wouldn't say I would use the word

00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:11.160
experiment. I just tried many things when I was

00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:14.200
a kid. Why not? Why shouldn't I? It was, I suppose,

00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:17.359
the mentality. As I've gotten older and looked

00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.180
back, I think what I see and spot the repeating

00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:24.430
things are. I do like discipline, you know, and

00:20:24.430 --> 00:20:27.470
I've had that even when I say I've lost a job,

00:20:27.670 --> 00:20:30.289
I would maintain routine and discipline while

00:20:30.289 --> 00:20:32.490
I'm looking for another job. I would pick up

00:20:32.490 --> 00:20:34.529
a new sport. I will make sure I get up at the

00:20:34.529 --> 00:20:36.369
same time of the day. And, you know, I would

00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:39.509
repeat the same thing. So I'm very routine focused.

00:20:40.130 --> 00:20:43.490
I need to understand who I am and what am I about,

00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:46.509
you know, and try many things. I think that that

00:20:46.509 --> 00:20:49.470
is simply what your job is to do as a teenager.

00:20:49.710 --> 00:20:53.039
There isn't anything else, really. Calling the

00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:55.380
ones who practice any kind of sports, the ones

00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:57.720
who are about to start after listening to this

00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:01.220
episode. It will allow you to learn how capable

00:21:01.220 --> 00:21:04.000
you are to learn something brand new and fail

00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.420
and stand up again. You will realize that you

00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:11.099
can always go above and beyond. You can always

00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:14.359
progress. And you will develop some kind of self

00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.900
-talk where you will just tell yourself you can

00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:21.940
make it. And you will... connect to the challenges

00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:24.839
in your life. Like all I just said now, you're

00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:27.200
able to face that challenge and pick yourself

00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:30.500
up and establish a routine and move forward.

00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.460
I think as I've experimented, I've learned that

00:21:33.460 --> 00:21:35.660
I can try something. What's the worst that can

00:21:35.660 --> 00:21:37.819
happen? I don't like it. I'm not good at it.

00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:40.980
You can call it failed, but you know, I've learned

00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:45.019
through the process and I think that's probably

00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:48.410
the fundamental. where I've gotten the belief

00:21:48.410 --> 00:21:51.670
in myself, right? So that means if somebody asks

00:21:51.670 --> 00:21:54.730
me to lift a heavy weight, I may not be able

00:21:54.730 --> 00:21:56.950
to do that today in the gym, but I believe in

00:21:56.950 --> 00:21:59.650
myself to know that I can incrementally increase

00:21:59.650 --> 00:22:01.849
my weights to try and get there. I may not get

00:22:01.849 --> 00:22:04.089
there, I may not be successful, I may not succeed,

00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:06.970
but I will be successful in my attempt to try

00:22:06.970 --> 00:22:10.569
and get there. Similarly, in something in work,

00:22:10.690 --> 00:22:14.789
I may not have had a topic being asked of me

00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:16.930
before. I mean, I've been asked to kind of solve

00:22:16.930 --> 00:22:19.650
a particular problem before, right? But I back

00:22:19.650 --> 00:22:22.589
myself and that's the backing of myself and that

00:22:22.589 --> 00:22:25.869
belief in myself has come from me trying things.

00:22:26.009 --> 00:22:28.670
But again, that being able to describe that as

00:22:28.670 --> 00:22:30.549
I've only been able to do that as I've gotten

00:22:30.549 --> 00:22:33.750
older. But I think the root of it is I've focused

00:22:33.750 --> 00:22:36.630
on what do I enjoy and just keep doing things

00:22:36.630 --> 00:22:39.630
that I enjoy when I was a teenager into my twenties.

00:22:39.750 --> 00:22:42.369
And that's formed part of me being able to describe.

00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:46.160
who I am, what's important to me, and it's helped

00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.000
me then make decisions. So you're right. There

00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.660
are foundations that you are creating of yourself.

00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.359
You're understanding who you are, what you're

00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:57.839
not. And that's often where confidence for me

00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:00.140
comes from. It's that belief as opposed to I'm

00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:02.099
just born with confidence. I was definitely not

00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:05.559
as a quiet child, as an introvert, but I slowly

00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.180
understood how to have my voice. Where do I have

00:23:08.180 --> 00:23:11.039
my opinions? What's important to me? And that

00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:14.539
has kind of helped guide me. This is incredibly

00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:17.279
powerful, Orla. Sports has empowered you to believe

00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:20.559
in yourself. And if you were not confident, you

00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.119
did believe that you were able to learn and try.

00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:25.880
How would you empower someone who's telling themselves,

00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:30.259
I wish I could be fearless. I wish I could become

00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:32.980
fearless. I want to believe in myself as Mircea

00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:37.140
Orla does. And I want to start thinking about

00:23:37.140 --> 00:23:39.779
what you've been sharing so far, which is what's

00:23:39.779 --> 00:23:44.269
the worst that can happen. I would simply get

00:23:44.269 --> 00:23:46.349
you to ask that question. What's the worst thing

00:23:46.349 --> 00:23:48.730
that can happen? Right. When you look at it,

00:23:48.849 --> 00:23:55.289
there is not largely, you know, huge things that

00:23:55.289 --> 00:23:57.230
are going to change your life by trying something.

00:23:57.730 --> 00:24:00.369
You will figure out, do you like it? Are you

00:24:00.369 --> 00:24:02.549
good at it? Do you ever want to do it again?

00:24:03.190 --> 00:24:05.950
You know, I traveled around New Zealand after

00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:07.630
I finished college and I tried many different

00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:10.609
things, many of them sports related, like I decided

00:24:10.609 --> 00:24:14.119
to jump out of an airplane. Now, if you asked

00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:16.279
me to do it again, I would say never would I

00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:18.720
do that again, right? But I wanted to try it

00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.160
and see. If you asked me to do, so that was a

00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:23.000
skydive, if you asked me to do a bungee jump,

00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:25.880
I am never going to do a bungee jump. I know

00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:28.839
that about myself, that I just had this uncontrollable

00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:31.680
fear of being upside down, whereas jumping out

00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.720
of a plane, I felt I had more control. Logic

00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:36.700
doesn't exist. So how I decide, you know, what

00:24:36.700 --> 00:24:38.460
makes sense to me is going to be completely different

00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:40.730
for somebody else. But I think that fundamental

00:24:40.730 --> 00:24:42.789
question of asking yourself, well, what's the

00:24:42.789 --> 00:24:45.650
worst that can happen? And, you know, when I

00:24:45.650 --> 00:24:47.750
ask that to many people as they're thinking about

00:24:47.750 --> 00:24:50.150
many decisions, what's the worst thing that could

00:24:50.150 --> 00:24:52.750
happen? And often you find it's the fear of trying

00:24:52.750 --> 00:24:55.190
it. But when you break it down and think about

00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:57.769
it, well, actually, it's not actually rooted

00:24:57.769 --> 00:24:59.670
on anything. I might be embarrassed. I might

00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:02.470
fall over. I might make, you know, people might

00:25:02.470 --> 00:25:05.630
make fun of me. But so what? So what? Right.

00:25:05.670 --> 00:25:08.779
I think you at least you try. And I think you're

00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:11.660
better off trying something than saying, and

00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:13.720
that's where often people talk about regrets.

00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:16.559
You know, do you have regrets? I actually would

00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:18.599
describe that I don't have regrets in life because

00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:21.920
I focus on what's right, what's my decision right

00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.619
now. I'll probably make a different decision

00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:26.019
if you ask me the same question in a year's time,

00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:28.619
but that's okay, right? There's no right or wrong

00:25:28.619 --> 00:25:31.440
answer in anything that we're doing. You know,

00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:32.779
when you think about we haven't got everything

00:25:32.779 --> 00:25:35.839
figured out and you're fluid in that way, trying

00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:37.809
something. That's the worst that can happen.

00:25:38.829 --> 00:25:41.589
Self -talk is so important. So just keep repeating

00:25:41.589 --> 00:25:44.009
this sentence to yourself. What's the worst thing

00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:47.789
that can happen? And keep moving forward. Orla,

00:25:47.809 --> 00:25:50.829
you did mention that you needed to change school

00:25:50.829 --> 00:25:54.170
at some point. You might be listening and seeing

00:25:54.170 --> 00:25:56.309
the same change in your life or it might be coming

00:25:56.309 --> 00:25:59.809
to you. So Orla, how did it impact you? Any learnings,

00:25:59.809 --> 00:26:01.869
takeaways from that experience that you can share

00:26:01.869 --> 00:26:06.900
with us? Yeah, so in Ireland we have two state

00:26:06.900 --> 00:26:09.940
exams so one after three years and then the other

00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:13.819
one is usually after two but when I finished

00:26:13.819 --> 00:26:16.380
the first state exam that year they offered what

00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:18.759
was called a transition year so it was a non

00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:21.279
-curriculum non -exam year and I jumped at it

00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:23.099
so there was only 30 people in my school out

00:26:23.099 --> 00:26:25.299
of a couple of hundred who decided to do it so

00:26:25.299 --> 00:26:27.359
all my friends went on and only 30 people that

00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:30.599
I knew stayed to do this extra year before we

00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:32.579
started to prepare for the final two -year exam

00:26:32.579 --> 00:26:36.349
program. people thought, you know, I was crazy.

00:26:36.470 --> 00:26:38.450
I was like, well, you know, what's the worst

00:26:38.450 --> 00:26:40.690
that can happen? It's just another year in school.

00:26:40.730 --> 00:26:42.769
It's a different type of subjects. It's, I kind

00:26:42.769 --> 00:26:44.690
of get to explore different subjects. I, you

00:26:44.690 --> 00:26:46.210
know, there's less pressure because there's no

00:26:46.210 --> 00:26:49.130
exams at the end of the year. And it helped me,

00:26:49.150 --> 00:26:51.150
I think, just have another year to grow up and

00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:54.019
learn a bit about myself. So when I came out

00:26:54.019 --> 00:26:56.519
of that, I then joined the year that was behind

00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:58.900
me as we started to prepare for state exams.

00:26:58.980 --> 00:27:01.720
So I was with a whole new cohort of individuals

00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:04.079
who I hadn't gone through the previous years

00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:06.759
of school with. And I'd learned a bit about myself,

00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:09.240
right? And I'd learned about, well, some subjects

00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:11.680
I want to really excel at. I thought about maybe

00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.559
what is it I want to do after school. I thought

00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:17.420
about engineering. I thought about architecture.

00:27:18.569 --> 00:27:21.049
And I suppose the pivotal moment for me was I

00:27:21.049 --> 00:27:22.970
decided actually to leave the school. I'd kind

00:27:22.970 --> 00:27:27.569
of had enough of just school, uniforms, schedule

00:27:27.569 --> 00:27:29.450
that you couldn't control. I wanted to be a bit

00:27:29.450 --> 00:27:32.930
more grown up. So I decided to change schools

00:27:32.930 --> 00:27:35.230
that had a bit more flexibility for my final

00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:38.549
year. I was questioned certainly by a number

00:27:38.549 --> 00:27:40.789
of teachers. You're crazy to make these changes.

00:27:41.029 --> 00:27:44.130
And I suppose what I found is I just found my

00:27:44.130 --> 00:27:47.490
voice. I found what was. I was able to articulate

00:27:47.490 --> 00:27:50.349
why I wanted to go. I was able to have a clear

00:27:50.349 --> 00:27:52.670
view of these are the reasons and these are my

00:27:52.670 --> 00:27:56.609
reasons. And I went and did that. And I think

00:27:56.609 --> 00:27:59.450
it was the start of me, as I would describe it,

00:27:59.490 --> 00:28:02.289
as having my voice and learning to kind of think

00:28:02.289 --> 00:28:04.289
about what's important and making those decisions

00:28:04.289 --> 00:28:07.990
for myself. Not about, you know, often we look

00:28:07.990 --> 00:28:09.869
at, well, what are your friends doing? Where

00:28:09.869 --> 00:28:13.289
are they going? What are other opinions? I started

00:28:13.289 --> 00:28:15.809
to move away from that. I don't think I was ever

00:28:15.809 --> 00:28:17.869
very good at doing the same thing that everyone

00:28:17.869 --> 00:28:20.890
else is doing, I'll be honest. But at that point,

00:28:20.910 --> 00:28:24.190
I was very clear. I wanted to do what was right

00:28:24.190 --> 00:28:27.390
for me. So that was a change of school. I had

00:28:27.390 --> 00:28:30.910
to commute into the city. Busy time because obviously

00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:33.410
you're preparing for exams. So it was a bit of

00:28:33.410 --> 00:28:35.950
a risk. But for me, it felt like a calculated

00:28:35.950 --> 00:28:38.309
risk. Again, when you think about what's the

00:28:38.309 --> 00:28:40.650
worst that could happen, maybe it's not the right

00:28:40.650 --> 00:28:44.119
decision. But what would it mean? Maybe I could

00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:46.319
repeat my exams and just spend another year again,

00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:50.319
but not a big deal, right? I think it was right

00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:52.480
for me and it did work out for me in the end.

00:28:53.299 --> 00:28:56.119
There is so much pressure for everyone to finish

00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:59.839
school as fast as possible. Do not retake a year

00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:02.779
with some kind of shame that comes with it if

00:29:02.779 --> 00:29:06.329
you actually retake a year. But we don't know

00:29:06.329 --> 00:29:08.970
ourselves yet, our aspirations, our goals. So

00:29:08.970 --> 00:29:12.230
it's absolutely fine to not take the same road

00:29:12.230 --> 00:29:15.750
as everyone else. Orla, when it comes to your

00:29:15.750 --> 00:29:19.849
studies, how did you make the decision to study

00:29:19.849 --> 00:29:23.009
engineering? What was your thought process? Yeah,

00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:25.009
like I mentioned, it was engineering or architecture.

00:29:25.230 --> 00:29:29.609
So two very different type paths, right? I suppose

00:29:29.609 --> 00:29:33.069
how I decided on engineering, I looked at...

00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:35.819
It was a four -year undergraduate program. I

00:29:35.819 --> 00:29:37.400
looked at the subjects that I would be studying

00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:39.460
because you're going to spend 40 hours a week

00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:42.599
for four years. It's a pretty intense course.

00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:45.259
So you'd want to really, really like a lot of

00:29:45.259 --> 00:29:47.220
the courses. There were some things on the curriculum.

00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:49.299
I had to do chemistry, I think, in my first year.

00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.059
I really struggled with chemistry, didn't like

00:29:51.059 --> 00:29:54.640
it. But out of the majority, I felt, OK, I can

00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:57.779
get behind it. I'm good at it. If I'm not good,

00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:00.420
I will get help. And that's what I did. So I

00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:03.279
think I looked at the subjects. I decided also

00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.460
my logical brain kicked in. I wanted to go to

00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:07.700
Trinity College in Dublin. I liked the feel of

00:30:07.700 --> 00:30:11.500
the centre location in the city centre, old buildings.

00:30:11.579 --> 00:30:14.619
I just liked the connection that I got to it.

00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:17.740
But also the real logical was and it was much

00:30:17.740 --> 00:30:20.019
closer to home. So my commute was I was able

00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:22.799
to stay at home and living at home. It was very

00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:25.900
costly to move out. So there was logic, but also

00:30:25.900 --> 00:30:29.279
what do I enjoy and like? And there probably

00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:32.339
wasn't huge, there was variations of engineering

00:30:32.339 --> 00:30:35.099
that I looked at, whether I would study. And

00:30:35.099 --> 00:30:37.359
actually what I did was I picked Trinity because

00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:39.440
also they had two years of general engineering.

00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:42.599
So I got to explore civil engineering, mechanical

00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:44.799
engineering, computer engineering. I got to explore

00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:46.460
all of them and then I had to make a decision.

00:30:46.660 --> 00:30:50.069
So I got an entry point in. But I then I had

00:30:50.069 --> 00:30:51.990
another two years to figure out actually what

00:30:51.990 --> 00:30:53.930
type of engineering. And that's when I specialized

00:30:53.930 --> 00:30:56.809
in mechanical and manufacturing. And I just helped.

00:30:56.890 --> 00:30:58.950
I found that helpful. So I wasn't committing

00:30:58.950 --> 00:31:01.849
to a particular one off from the get go, because

00:31:01.849 --> 00:31:05.750
how do you know at 17, 18, what type of engineer

00:31:05.750 --> 00:31:09.230
you want to be? But also engineering, I suppose

00:31:09.230 --> 00:31:13.190
what attracted me to it is it's the type of qualification

00:31:13.190 --> 00:31:17.210
you could do many things. So I looked at successful

00:31:17.210 --> 00:31:21.779
people. that were around me or in Ireland, a

00:31:21.779 --> 00:31:23.740
lot of them were engineers. There was engineers

00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:25.380
and accountants were the two things. And I was

00:31:25.380 --> 00:31:27.279
like, I can't do accounting. I would just be,

00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.640
you know, just not my thing. Engineering, problem

00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:33.279
solving. So that's kind of, there was a bit of

00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:35.279
logic, but a lot of what do I enjoy? Because

00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:38.359
I said 40 hours a week for four years. And actually

00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:40.779
I stayed on to do a postgrad. So I stayed on

00:31:40.779 --> 00:31:43.539
to do a PhD. So I spent another four years after

00:31:43.539 --> 00:31:45.380
those. So it was eight years in total in Trinity.

00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:47.859
Again. I felt I'm going to be working forever

00:31:47.859 --> 00:31:51.339
more. And I do feel like that in my 40s, I still

00:31:51.339 --> 00:31:54.059
work forever more. So what was another four years

00:31:54.059 --> 00:31:56.700
out to just, you know, learn a bit more and explore

00:31:56.700 --> 00:32:00.319
and have some more life experiences. So that's

00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:03.019
probably how I decided and kind of made decisions

00:32:03.019 --> 00:32:06.940
throughout uni as well. So what would your advice

00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:09.539
be to someone who does not have an ecosystem

00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:12.799
presenting what success could potentially mean

00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:16.940
for them? Yeah, like I think everyone has to

00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:19.480
follow their own path. Some people will decide

00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.119
university is not for me. I want to get into

00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:24.440
doing a trade. I want to be a plumber. I want

00:32:24.440 --> 00:32:28.779
to be a hairdresser. Others will be, you know,

00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:31.319
it can be everything and anything. And I think

00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:34.460
all of that is OK. But I think you need to do

00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:37.000
it with intent and purpose to figure out and

00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.700
be true to what you want to do. And I want to

00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:42.019
also say if you try something and go, I don't

00:32:42.019 --> 00:32:44.630
like it. there is no problem changing it right

00:32:44.630 --> 00:32:46.490
i would have had many friends and colleagues

00:32:46.490 --> 00:32:49.890
who and we are all continually inventing and

00:32:49.890 --> 00:32:52.670
reinventing ourselves like there's research out

00:32:52.670 --> 00:32:54.309
there that will talk about the skills that we

00:32:54.309 --> 00:32:57.650
have today in five years time only 50 of them

00:32:57.650 --> 00:33:00.210
are relevant now that that time frame can be

00:33:00.210 --> 00:33:03.910
changing the more ai as an example comes in right

00:33:03.910 --> 00:33:08.220
so It kind of sometimes doesn't really matter.

00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:11.119
It's more about actually what are you doing and

00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:13.819
how are you understanding about yourself and

00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:16.279
how are you growing as an individual? That's

00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:18.519
what's most important. For some people, that's

00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:21.759
going to take time. For me, I'm definitely slow,

00:33:21.880 --> 00:33:25.000
slow burner on some of that. I need to mull it

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:27.420
over and think through it. Others will have themselves

00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:30.099
figured out or others will have highs and lows

00:33:30.099 --> 00:33:32.380
and kind of constantly change. All of that is

00:33:32.380 --> 00:33:35.230
OK. But I think you can't be looking at what

00:33:35.230 --> 00:33:37.269
are others doing? What are your friends doing?

00:33:37.410 --> 00:33:39.549
I think you need to start to think about what

00:33:39.549 --> 00:33:43.130
is it you want to do and work through that and

00:33:43.130 --> 00:33:45.170
be constantly working through that because we

00:33:45.170 --> 00:33:47.630
all are. As I said before, we don't have the

00:33:47.630 --> 00:33:50.809
answers. Nobody really does. We're just figuring

00:33:50.809 --> 00:33:55.970
it out and trying and experimenting. Everyone

00:33:55.970 --> 00:34:00.170
used to experiment is still experimenting and

00:34:00.170 --> 00:34:03.180
will still experiment. What we invite you to

00:34:03.180 --> 00:34:06.779
do is to lead the curiosity in looking for opportunities

00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:09.659
and looking for whatever works for you, what

00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:13.000
could interest you. It's starting to explore,

00:34:13.219 --> 00:34:18.300
to experiment, to find what works. Any advice

00:34:18.300 --> 00:34:22.360
you remember receiving at the time? I don't know

00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:25.940
if there's anything that, you know, stood out

00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:28.480
on that journey I just probably described because

00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:32.329
it's long, right? There's definitely moments

00:34:32.329 --> 00:34:35.070
of, you know, I would have been used to be very

00:34:35.070 --> 00:34:38.210
nervous going into exams. My dad used to share

00:34:38.210 --> 00:34:40.010
with me, you know, don't lose your head when

00:34:40.010 --> 00:34:42.789
everyone else around you was doing that. And

00:34:42.789 --> 00:34:45.070
I had a difficult moment in university where

00:34:45.070 --> 00:34:48.389
I actually couldn't write anymore. And I had

00:34:48.389 --> 00:34:50.389
an issue with my hand after a couple of injuries

00:34:50.389 --> 00:34:53.429
from playing basketball. So I had to be in a

00:34:53.429 --> 00:34:57.159
room on my own to do my exam. then I didn't have

00:34:57.159 --> 00:34:59.400
my dad's advice of looking around those around

00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:02.019
me because I was now on my own and I was in my

00:35:02.019 --> 00:35:05.480
own head. So I had to learn and think about,

00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:09.320
well, I'm here stuck. What do I do? So it's back

00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:12.679
to kind of, I suppose my logic helps me to back

00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:16.500
myself and work through. I often speak with coaches

00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:19.239
who help me, managers who help me, and people

00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:21.500
often describe, Orla, you're actually coaching

00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:24.719
yourself. I tend to do that a lot. I tend to

00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:28.079
ask myself the questions and reflect internally

00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:31.179
about what those answers might be and mull them

00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:35.579
over and think about it. So there's many, many

00:35:35.579 --> 00:35:39.940
components to that. What you just described is

00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:44.239
self -talk and it's incredibly important. And

00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.780
for you who are listening to us, if you want

00:35:46.780 --> 00:35:50.280
to actually have visuals of how self -talk looks

00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:54.579
like. Check out last year's Olympics. Some of

00:35:54.579 --> 00:35:58.239
the footage of athletes starting to get ready

00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:01.280
for a run, for a jump. You'll see them talk to

00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:04.440
themselves. You can jump. You have prepared for

00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:08.679
this. You can do it. It's just a race. You've

00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:11.300
prepared for this your whole life. Or any kind

00:36:11.300 --> 00:36:14.079
of sentences. You just have to re -watch it.

00:36:14.739 --> 00:36:18.780
And looking at this example of Orla's. They have

00:36:18.780 --> 00:36:21.780
been doing it for years. Some of them have been

00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:25.039
training for decades, if not more, and they still

00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:28.260
need this self -talk. And here we should learn

00:36:28.260 --> 00:36:31.159
from them. We need the self -talk in our day

00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:33.119
-to -day when something challenging is about

00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:36.719
to take over or starts. Yeah, no, and I often,

00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:41.000
you know, I chat to athletes. I connect with

00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:43.139
them. I spend some time helping the Irish women's

00:36:43.139 --> 00:36:45.099
rugby team as they were coming together a couple

00:36:45.099 --> 00:36:48.690
of years ago. So it's... It's fascinating what

00:36:48.690 --> 00:36:52.329
sports athletes, men and women have to go through

00:36:52.329 --> 00:36:55.170
to be the top of their discipline. And they are

00:36:55.170 --> 00:36:58.210
the tiny, tiny percentage to be where they are.

00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:02.820
And we all as mere mortals can't all be Olympic

00:37:02.820 --> 00:37:05.880
athletes, but we can learn a lot from that discipline

00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:07.860
and that routine. And you will often hear them

00:37:07.860 --> 00:37:10.900
talk about, they don't think about the four year

00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:13.440
goal. They think about, again, breaking things

00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:15.360
down. What are the things they can focus on the

00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:17.639
here and now? They very much live in that moment.

00:37:17.940 --> 00:37:20.460
You often hear athletes talking about how to

00:37:20.460 --> 00:37:22.460
get over a disappointment, how to learn from

00:37:22.460 --> 00:37:25.079
it, not to ride the highs and not to ride the

00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:28.139
lows. They're incredibly. valuable lessons right

00:37:28.139 --> 00:37:30.119
and they're not coming out of those they're not

00:37:30.119 --> 00:37:31.820
creating those lessons those lessons haven't

00:37:31.820 --> 00:37:34.420
been learned over time and because they're not

00:37:34.420 --> 00:37:37.019
helpful they 100 % are they fine -tuned their

00:37:37.019 --> 00:37:40.300
art so I think for us you know again mere mortals

00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:43.079
to be able to look and see I'm definitely not

00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:45.719
I'd love to have been reborn to be able to be

00:37:45.719 --> 00:37:48.079
an Olympic athlete I'd love to have you know

00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:51.000
somewhere had that. coach maybe that spotted

00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:54.360
some opportunity but what i've been able to do

00:37:54.360 --> 00:37:57.519
is well i i you know i may not be that athlete

00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:01.239
but i can find my path to be the best me that

00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:04.219
i can possibly be and what i back is that i can

00:38:04.219 --> 00:38:07.440
push i can you know and simply when i'm in the

00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:09.840
gym often what i need to do is turn my head off

00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:12.300
because my head will go can't can't lift this

00:38:12.300 --> 00:38:15.389
weight can't do another rep too tired All the

00:38:15.389 --> 00:38:17.409
things that come into your head about, you know,

00:38:17.409 --> 00:38:21.590
busy life, work is hard, doesn't matter. You

00:38:21.590 --> 00:38:23.389
turn that brain off, you actually are physically

00:38:23.389 --> 00:38:26.150
able to do things. So when you stress test yourself,

00:38:26.369 --> 00:38:29.190
you're physically and mentally able to do an

00:38:29.190 --> 00:38:32.130
awful lot more than you think. It's just what's

00:38:32.130 --> 00:38:35.289
that inner story saying I can't. But if you ask

00:38:35.289 --> 00:38:37.590
kind of again back to the, you know, what's the

00:38:37.590 --> 00:38:40.030
worst thing that can happen or let me just not

00:38:40.030 --> 00:38:42.809
overthink it, I'm going to try. I had to learn

00:38:42.809 --> 00:38:46.030
that on the bike an awful lot I tried to do some

00:38:46.030 --> 00:38:48.690
downhill races again I wasn't very good but it

00:38:48.690 --> 00:38:51.710
meant I was looking at these rock faces trying

00:38:51.710 --> 00:38:54.190
to figure out how am I going to ride down them

00:38:54.190 --> 00:38:57.329
and it was literally turn the brain off what's

00:38:57.329 --> 00:38:59.710
the worst can happen okay you could argue bad

00:38:59.710 --> 00:39:03.110
things could happen but I am, you know, I am

00:39:03.110 --> 00:39:05.489
actually capable of doing this. It's actually

00:39:05.489 --> 00:39:07.469
my brain is telling me. I'm not putting myself

00:39:07.469 --> 00:39:09.929
in a position of trying to do something that

00:39:09.929 --> 00:39:12.710
I'm not doing. But, you know, I progressed through

00:39:12.710 --> 00:39:14.989
that. I learned, I used to build little jumps

00:39:14.989 --> 00:39:17.469
to help me learn how to jump and get the jumps

00:39:17.469 --> 00:39:19.530
higher and higher. You know, so again, the kind

00:39:19.530 --> 00:39:22.929
of practice makes perfect. But I think I find

00:39:22.929 --> 00:39:25.789
that fascinating that what's our limiting factor?

00:39:26.309 --> 00:39:28.809
What is it we're not capable of doing? And what

00:39:28.809 --> 00:39:30.909
is it we think we're not capable of doing? I

00:39:30.909 --> 00:39:34.400
think. actually we are capable a lot more than

00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:37.079
we think and i think that's across the board

00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:40.500
at every age at every stage of our lives and

00:39:40.500 --> 00:39:42.380
if you have that as you know in your teenage

00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:47.579
years well you know how much pressure that can

00:39:47.579 --> 00:39:50.360
relief have how much you know power that can

00:39:50.360 --> 00:39:53.179
give you and you're only at the beginning of

00:39:53.179 --> 00:39:55.440
this journey and you know who knows what it could

00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:57.719
be maybe you could be the next olympic athlete

00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:01.500
Maybe you could be an astronaut in space. Anything

00:40:01.500 --> 00:40:04.340
is actually possible. But I think if you lead

00:40:04.340 --> 00:40:07.440
with that excitement and possibility, wow, like,

00:40:07.500 --> 00:40:11.699
you know, sky's the limit, really. You are capable

00:40:11.699 --> 00:40:15.760
of much more than you think. And the sky is the

00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:20.380
limit. And this translates perfectly to your

00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:22.809
studies. You have to put the work in to understand

00:40:22.809 --> 00:40:26.170
a concept in any class and that you will master

00:40:26.170 --> 00:40:28.949
that class and then you will ace the exam. And

00:40:28.949 --> 00:40:32.530
there is no doubt that you will manage any upcoming

00:40:32.530 --> 00:40:35.829
exam and challenge within those classes. And

00:40:35.829 --> 00:40:39.250
it will take a lot of work. And think about it.

00:40:39.309 --> 00:40:42.289
The athletes are putting so much work into preparing

00:40:42.289 --> 00:40:46.530
for a game. So try to put as much work as possible

00:40:46.530 --> 00:40:50.199
to prepare for an exam. Yeah. Yeah. And also

00:40:50.199 --> 00:40:53.059
I think, look, exams while you're preparing for

00:40:53.059 --> 00:40:55.300
them, and it's easy for me to say, you know,

00:40:55.300 --> 00:40:58.480
many, many years later, but they're not the end

00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:00.599
of the world, right? The pressure that we do

00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:02.780
put on ourselves. So, yeah, me looking back,

00:41:02.980 --> 00:41:06.800
it would be, look, just continue to be you. You

00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:10.599
know, you're okay as you are. I would also kind

00:41:10.599 --> 00:41:13.719
of, you know, say not everybody has it all figured

00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:16.760
out. And I think they're important things to

00:41:16.760 --> 00:41:20.840
remind ourselves on. But by not trying, I think

00:41:20.840 --> 00:41:24.019
that's the worst thing that you could do. Especially

00:41:24.019 --> 00:41:28.719
in teenage years, there's no commitments, there's

00:41:28.719 --> 00:41:31.199
no restrictions. There's some restrictions in

00:41:31.199 --> 00:41:34.320
life, but there's not restrictions as you become

00:41:34.320 --> 00:41:38.420
older and have families or whatever. And I think

00:41:38.420 --> 00:41:41.730
it's a perfect time to... to experiment and try

00:41:41.730 --> 00:41:44.210
and see what you like, see what you don't like.

00:41:44.570 --> 00:41:46.949
And again, what's the worst that can happen?

00:41:47.170 --> 00:41:49.389
Trying to know yourself, trying to understand

00:41:49.389 --> 00:41:52.190
yourself, trying to identify what drives you

00:41:52.190 --> 00:41:55.929
and to more or less code Orla. Is it problem solving?

00:41:56.150 --> 00:42:01.230
Is it following an engineer path? We almost wrapped

00:42:01.230 --> 00:42:03.909
up on your high school teenage years. I just

00:42:03.909 --> 00:42:06.630
want to chat a bit more about it to understand

00:42:06.630 --> 00:42:09.659
how are your grades? How did you manage to go

00:42:09.659 --> 00:42:11.559
to Trinity where you were brilliant students

00:42:11.559 --> 00:42:15.659
in high school to make it to this degree? So

00:42:15.659 --> 00:42:17.880
I wouldn't describe I was a brilliant student

00:42:17.880 --> 00:42:21.360
in teenage years or even into college or even

00:42:21.360 --> 00:42:24.719
into postgrad or even now. I don't think I'm

00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:27.920
naturally the type who was brilliant right from

00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:32.039
the get -go. I think so certainly as I went through

00:42:32.039 --> 00:42:33.920
school and the same as I went through the four

00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:36.599
years of engineering, I got better each time.

00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:39.579
I got better as the years went on. So my best

00:42:39.579 --> 00:42:45.260
results were in my finals in college. But that

00:42:45.260 --> 00:42:48.139
was based on failures and on the way. No, I didn't

00:42:48.139 --> 00:42:51.420
fail an exam. I got some low grades that just

00:42:51.420 --> 00:42:53.960
on the tip of I nearly failed, but I didn't.

00:42:53.960 --> 00:42:56.440
I think that was always my goal, not to have

00:42:56.440 --> 00:43:00.690
to spend my summer repeating an exam. Not the

00:43:00.690 --> 00:43:02.570
worst thing that happened, but I just found I

00:43:02.570 --> 00:43:05.349
would like that. That's what I'm aiming is not

00:43:05.349 --> 00:43:09.570
if I'm not good at a particular subject, my minimum

00:43:09.570 --> 00:43:12.789
standard I'm setting myself is just pass it.

00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:15.159
Just get through it so I don't have to do this

00:43:15.159 --> 00:43:18.079
again in the summer. And I used my summer holidays.

00:43:18.500 --> 00:43:20.940
But what I was then able to do was, OK, I've

00:43:20.940 --> 00:43:22.719
learned a bit more. I've learned a bit more.

00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:25.440
Some of my subjects changed as I went from second

00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:27.219
year into third year. So some of them started

00:43:27.219 --> 00:43:29.659
again for third year. Fourth year in engineering.

00:43:30.159 --> 00:43:33.780
But I was constantly fine tuning. How do I tend

00:43:33.780 --> 00:43:36.980
40 hours? How do I manage tutorials, labs? What

00:43:36.980 --> 00:43:39.480
is my kind of my process through that? Learning

00:43:39.480 --> 00:43:42.219
more as I went head away, learn faster, head

00:43:42.219 --> 00:43:45.949
away. regurgitate repeat remember understand

00:43:45.949 --> 00:43:48.730
because it is very intense right and there's

00:43:48.730 --> 00:43:50.789
many courses that are very intensive to learn

00:43:50.789 --> 00:43:54.530
a lot and prepare for exams so no absolutely

00:43:54.530 --> 00:43:59.369
i improved as i went along i was not a student

00:43:59.369 --> 00:44:02.710
from from from the beginning you don't need to

00:44:02.710 --> 00:44:06.170
be brilliant you need to be ready to go to the

00:44:06.170 --> 00:44:09.530
next level and work towards it and if you think

00:44:09.530 --> 00:44:12.210
that you're not good enough still go for it.

00:44:12.309 --> 00:44:15.769
You never know what can happen and what the worst

00:44:15.769 --> 00:44:18.170
can happen, right? Well, what's your recommendation

00:44:18.170 --> 00:44:22.110
here? Would you recommend students to just apply

00:44:22.110 --> 00:44:24.949
and check if the path could be a fit, focusing

00:44:24.949 --> 00:44:29.050
on passing, not necessarily excelling? Would

00:44:29.050 --> 00:44:31.829
it be focusing on discovering what they like

00:44:31.829 --> 00:44:35.090
the most, what are the interests, instead of

00:44:35.090 --> 00:44:38.929
getting the best, best grades? Well, it's what

00:44:38.929 --> 00:44:41.690
worked for me when I wasn't good at something.

00:44:41.909 --> 00:44:45.050
It didn't naturally click. Chemistry was definitely

00:44:45.050 --> 00:44:48.650
an example of that. I didn't understand it, didn't

00:44:48.650 --> 00:44:53.349
like it. I probably had a negative story that

00:44:53.349 --> 00:44:55.369
I was telling myself about it because it's not,

00:44:55.369 --> 00:44:59.650
in theory, it's not hard. I was doing many subjects

00:44:59.650 --> 00:45:02.829
that would be at the same, let's say, level as

00:45:02.829 --> 00:45:06.329
it. So that was my way through it. I'm not saying

00:45:06.329 --> 00:45:08.289
that that's everyone just now needs to go and

00:45:08.289 --> 00:45:10.940
focus on passing. as a bare minimum, I think

00:45:10.940 --> 00:45:13.300
that would be a shame. But that was my technique

00:45:13.300 --> 00:45:16.119
to handle where I had subjects that I wasn't

00:45:16.119 --> 00:45:18.239
naturally strong at, right? I think what you've

00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:21.579
got to do is figure out and understand how the

00:45:21.579 --> 00:45:23.420
system works, which is you've got tutorials,

00:45:23.800 --> 00:45:25.920
you've got probably lab work and you've got assignments

00:45:25.920 --> 00:45:28.840
and all of it equates to your final end year

00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:31.659
result. Usually that's kind of how it works.

00:45:31.699 --> 00:45:33.360
There might be slight differences in different

00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:36.159
courses, different universities, different subjects.

00:45:36.760 --> 00:45:39.219
By and large, you need to understand what is

00:45:39.219 --> 00:45:42.280
expected of you to get through this course, to

00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:44.860
get the grades that you want, right? I think

00:45:44.860 --> 00:45:48.119
we all intend to go and pick a course to get

00:45:48.119 --> 00:45:51.119
through it. We don't go in to fail it. I think

00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:53.579
that's just a waste of time. And so I think most

00:45:53.579 --> 00:45:55.559
people, their intent is to get through this,

00:45:55.599 --> 00:45:58.019
to get a good result. So then you need to figure

00:45:58.019 --> 00:46:00.300
out what does that mean? So where do you need

00:46:00.300 --> 00:46:02.639
to pay attention? So for example, if in engineering,

00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:04.760
they had to get us to write essays, which thankfully

00:46:04.760 --> 00:46:07.210
they didn't. I knew I was going to be, that was

00:46:07.210 --> 00:46:08.889
going to be a hard one, right? But in engineering,

00:46:09.030 --> 00:46:10.809
we didn't. What I said, there was subjects like

00:46:10.809 --> 00:46:13.429
chemistry, which I didn't get. So I had to find

00:46:13.429 --> 00:46:16.170
my way. So I think you will, as you think through

00:46:16.170 --> 00:46:18.670
maybe what course you want to go for, you're

00:46:18.670 --> 00:46:20.409
thinking about the subjects that you will study,

00:46:20.530 --> 00:46:22.630
where are you going to be good at? I don't know.

00:46:22.670 --> 00:46:24.550
I think it's unrealistic to say everybody is

00:46:24.550 --> 00:46:26.920
good at everything. We're just human, right?

00:46:27.940 --> 00:46:30.579
People might around you think, oh, I have this

00:46:30.579 --> 00:46:32.760
figured out. It's easy. The course is easy. And

00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:34.260
you're thinking going home every evening going,

00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:36.880
this is not easy. This is really hard. It doesn't

00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:39.039
matter what other people think. It doesn't matter.

00:46:39.380 --> 00:46:41.360
I think you need to pay attention to the story

00:46:41.360 --> 00:46:44.079
you're telling yourself and why. Maybe the story

00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:46.719
is, well, you know, I don't like it. Well, have

00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:48.659
you actually put some time and effort into it?

00:46:48.719 --> 00:46:51.289
Maybe you need to adjust your study. guide and

00:46:51.289 --> 00:46:53.289
say okay the amount of hours you're spending

00:46:53.289 --> 00:46:55.070
on this particular subject maybe you need to

00:46:55.070 --> 00:46:56.949
think about how am I scored at the end of the

00:46:56.949 --> 00:46:59.510
year maybe it's assessments actually where I

00:46:59.510 --> 00:47:01.710
can pick up some of my points as an example so

00:47:01.710 --> 00:47:05.250
I think it's just to figure out the system that

00:47:05.250 --> 00:47:07.409
you're within and then what are your techniques

00:47:07.409 --> 00:47:11.190
you can't just go along and it'll all be fine

00:47:11.190 --> 00:47:13.550
you also can't just look at everybody else and

00:47:13.550 --> 00:47:16.329
do what they're doing you are an individual you

00:47:16.329 --> 00:47:19.230
are unique you have your own strengths You need

00:47:19.230 --> 00:47:21.409
to figure out what's your plan to get through

00:47:21.409 --> 00:47:23.030
it and be successful. And again, that's back

00:47:23.030 --> 00:47:26.570
to the little steps of, you know, did I get through

00:47:26.570 --> 00:47:29.590
this week? Did I get the extra hours I wanted

00:47:29.590 --> 00:47:32.750
to in chemistry? In my example, what is your

00:47:32.750 --> 00:47:36.510
goal? What are you trying to achieve and succeed

00:47:36.510 --> 00:47:39.250
in? And how are you actually doing that? I think

00:47:39.250 --> 00:47:41.070
they're the important questions to ask yourself.

00:47:41.369 --> 00:47:44.230
Are you setting yourself up for success? Or are

00:47:44.230 --> 00:47:46.789
you just sitting back and going, I'm not good

00:47:46.789 --> 00:47:49.969
at this. That's it. It's fine. And to be fair,

00:47:49.969 --> 00:47:51.989
I would have had friends in college who did that.

00:47:52.130 --> 00:47:55.550
And what happened? They probably usually failed

00:47:55.550 --> 00:47:58.210
those subjects. They then had to spend the summer.

00:47:58.829 --> 00:48:01.730
And they were bright people, right? They weren't

00:48:01.730 --> 00:48:03.489
capable. They just didn't put the effort in.

00:48:03.550 --> 00:48:04.929
And they had to spend their summer. And that

00:48:04.929 --> 00:48:07.570
was my non -negotiable. This is a tough course,

00:48:07.590 --> 00:48:10.329
many hours. I don't want to keep doing this all

00:48:10.329 --> 00:48:12.269
summer. I want the summer off and just do something

00:48:12.269 --> 00:48:16.139
fun. So that's how I made sure it. It worked

00:48:16.139 --> 00:48:20.699
out the way I wanted it to work out. I could

00:48:20.699 --> 00:48:24.519
not agree more. Focus on your learning. Focus

00:48:24.519 --> 00:48:29.059
on your learning strategy and find your own way.

00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:31.920
Try different options, test them and see what

00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:34.199
works for you. And it might be different from

00:48:34.199 --> 00:48:36.980
the one class to another. And it might be different

00:48:36.980 --> 00:48:39.340
from the person that's sitting next to you, even

00:48:39.340 --> 00:48:43.059
if it's your closest friend or the person you've

00:48:43.059 --> 00:48:46.340
known your whole life. You are unique. So don't

00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:48.860
expect that the approach that the person has,

00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:52.079
the person who has been sitting next to you and

00:48:52.079 --> 00:48:55.219
going through all those years together can work

00:48:55.219 --> 00:48:58.159
for you. You have to find your own way. You have

00:48:58.159 --> 00:49:02.280
to identify your own learning process. Find what

00:49:02.280 --> 00:49:04.980
works for you and stay consistent. Stay, stay

00:49:04.980 --> 00:49:07.460
consistent in your approach. Goes back to the

00:49:07.460 --> 00:49:10.179
sport approach, you know, of repeating consistently

00:49:10.179 --> 00:49:13.179
to become better. And thank you all again for

00:49:13.179 --> 00:49:16.380
the great reminder. And yes. It is unrealistic

00:49:16.380 --> 00:49:19.079
to say that everybody is great at everything.

00:49:19.260 --> 00:49:23.739
You can only do the best you can. But, but, but,

00:49:23.739 --> 00:49:27.480
but, do pay attention to the story you tell yourself.

00:49:28.280 --> 00:49:31.739
As all I rightfully said, when you say, I don't

00:49:31.739 --> 00:49:34.500
like it, I'm not good at it, try to understand

00:49:34.500 --> 00:49:37.940
why. Is it the teaching style of the person who's

00:49:37.940 --> 00:49:41.340
been teaching you your English class or any other

00:49:41.340 --> 00:49:44.559
class? Is it your lack of understanding? Don't

00:49:44.559 --> 00:49:48.630
stop there. Try to understand why, why are you

00:49:48.630 --> 00:49:52.329
telling this to yourself? Orla, during your studies,

00:49:52.409 --> 00:49:55.730
did you have any inspiring teachers? Someone

00:49:55.730 --> 00:49:59.969
who impacted you somehow? I think I was probably

00:49:59.969 --> 00:50:03.889
in awe of all professors and lecturers in university.

00:50:04.030 --> 00:50:05.610
I think it was, I thought it was fascinating

00:50:05.610 --> 00:50:10.110
that they could spend often decades in their

00:50:10.110 --> 00:50:13.929
field, had a passion to... I would say mostly

00:50:13.929 --> 00:50:17.889
had a passion to educate others. And there was

00:50:17.889 --> 00:50:21.050
still so much more that their areas could be

00:50:21.050 --> 00:50:23.590
researched in. I thought researching, you know,

00:50:23.590 --> 00:50:26.190
that kind of discipline was fascinating that

00:50:26.190 --> 00:50:29.210
we don't know everything and things can advance.

00:50:29.670 --> 00:50:33.150
And so I probably held them on high regard, all

00:50:33.150 --> 00:50:37.110
professors. And I didn't necessarily have a plan.

00:50:37.579 --> 00:50:41.219
to stay on and do a post -grad. When I finished

00:50:41.219 --> 00:50:44.619
my finals, I went to Chicago for the summer on

00:50:44.619 --> 00:50:48.420
a J1, worked in a coffee shop, selling an internet

00:50:48.420 --> 00:50:51.500
cafe, selling coffee. I never drank coffee. I'm

00:50:51.500 --> 00:50:54.599
sure I made the worst coffee in the world. But

00:50:54.599 --> 00:50:58.280
it was great fun. It was about a gang of us living

00:50:58.280 --> 00:51:00.139
in a house, you know, typical, why don't you

00:51:00.139 --> 00:51:02.519
do Irish, going to the summer for the States.

00:51:02.579 --> 00:51:05.159
I came back. thought about oh I have to write

00:51:05.159 --> 00:51:07.380
a CV I don't I don't really want to write a CV

00:51:07.380 --> 00:51:09.780
went in to see my professor of my final year

00:51:09.780 --> 00:51:11.820
project and he said would you consider staying

00:51:11.820 --> 00:51:16.880
on to do master's or a PhD and I was like that's

00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:19.440
not a bad thing and I think I liked the fact

00:51:19.440 --> 00:51:23.480
that he asked and I think that rings true in

00:51:23.480 --> 00:51:26.280
my career even now when someone says actually

00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:28.900
I think you could be good at helping me solve

00:51:28.900 --> 00:51:32.340
this I like that I like that my ability to do

00:51:32.340 --> 00:51:36.880
something is seen by others. I get satisfaction

00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:40.260
and reward from that. And so I decided, yeah,

00:51:40.340 --> 00:51:44.000
why not? I'll be working forever more. I was

00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:48.599
given a student's stipend, so I got some money,

00:51:48.679 --> 00:51:52.380
eventually got a scholarship. And I thought this

00:51:52.380 --> 00:51:54.719
was great, you know, to be able to do that. So

00:51:54.719 --> 00:51:59.260
I think all lecturers I felt held in high regard.

00:52:00.429 --> 00:52:02.929
particularly my supervisor, from final year into

00:52:02.929 --> 00:52:07.389
my postgrad. Would you have signed up for postgrad

00:52:07.389 --> 00:52:09.769
without your supervisor's guidance, suggestion

00:52:09.769 --> 00:52:12.670
there? Probably not. No, I don't think it was

00:52:12.670 --> 00:52:21.090
something on my mind. I don't know if we were,

00:52:21.090 --> 00:52:24.710
you know, doing our final year, if it was something

00:52:24.710 --> 00:52:27.679
that was talked to us about enough. There was

00:52:27.679 --> 00:52:29.519
obviously postgrads who were around us. They

00:52:29.519 --> 00:52:31.599
did tutorials with the undergrads. They were

00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:34.480
in the labs. So we were around them, but it was

00:52:34.480 --> 00:52:38.179
never, I wasn't sure what needed to be done to

00:52:38.179 --> 00:52:44.960
be, to study, to do a PhD or a master's. I probably

00:52:44.960 --> 00:52:46.539
didn't fully understand the difference between

00:52:46.539 --> 00:52:50.960
taught master's and research master's. But no,

00:52:51.099 --> 00:52:53.420
I don't think I would have thought about it.

00:52:53.480 --> 00:52:55.340
I probably would have gone off and have to write

00:52:55.340 --> 00:52:59.880
a horrible CV, you know, and I didn't have huge,

00:53:00.019 --> 00:53:03.059
I didn't do work experience during college the

00:53:03.059 --> 00:53:06.800
way a lot of people would, you know, go for internships.

00:53:07.179 --> 00:53:11.559
My, during college summer holidays was, well,

00:53:11.659 --> 00:53:13.139
I went to Chicago to work in an international

00:53:13.139 --> 00:53:17.179
cafe. I worked in Germany one summer to making

00:53:17.179 --> 00:53:23.030
beds. You know, they are not skills necessarily

00:53:23.030 --> 00:53:25.909
that you would say big consulting houses would

00:53:25.909 --> 00:53:28.150
or engineering companies would go. It's a great

00:53:28.150 --> 00:53:30.230
person who's done an internship somewhere. And,

00:53:30.269 --> 00:53:32.610
you know, so I often find it fascinating when

00:53:32.610 --> 00:53:34.869
people in college talk about internships that,

00:53:34.909 --> 00:53:38.429
you know, I worked in the bookshop, local bookshop

00:53:38.429 --> 00:53:41.489
when I finished my state exams. You know, it

00:53:41.489 --> 00:53:44.329
was very basic. It wasn't about what am I building

00:53:44.329 --> 00:53:47.570
for my CV. I didn't know how to write a CV when

00:53:47.570 --> 00:53:50.159
I finished college, really. So no, I think I

00:53:50.159 --> 00:53:53.539
wouldn't have pursued that unless I'd got in

00:53:53.539 --> 00:53:55.800
that day. I had it in my mind. I don't really

00:53:55.800 --> 00:53:57.940
want her to deceive me. And then when he suggested,

00:53:58.239 --> 00:54:01.280
what do you think about it? And I said, why not?

00:54:01.460 --> 00:54:03.280
I think I kind of really decided on the spot

00:54:03.280 --> 00:54:04.920
or I came home and told my parents. And I was

00:54:04.920 --> 00:54:07.119
like, I think I'm going to go and do postcard.

00:54:08.360 --> 00:54:11.000
If you can identify a trusted advisor, someone

00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:13.460
who can slightly guide you when you're not sure

00:54:13.460 --> 00:54:15.920
where to go next, do reach out to them. And it

00:54:15.920 --> 00:54:19.840
can be a teacher. the friend of a friend, someone

00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:23.000
slightly older, or someone who graduated from

00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:26.099
your program. And right before that, try to understand

00:54:26.099 --> 00:54:28.659
what you like, what you dislike, so that the

00:54:28.659 --> 00:54:32.019
person can get you best. Or like you said, that

00:54:32.019 --> 00:54:34.039
you still consider yourself as an engineer. Is

00:54:34.039 --> 00:54:37.480
that a state of mind or a way of thinking? Yeah,

00:54:37.480 --> 00:54:39.980
absolutely. State of mind by thinking, I just,

00:54:40.079 --> 00:54:42.940
there's not many words I connect to. I probably,

00:54:42.980 --> 00:54:44.960
I would use that more often than anything else.

00:54:45.179 --> 00:54:47.820
Introvert is a difficult word. I use it typically

00:54:47.820 --> 00:54:51.599
because people, it helps other people as opposed

00:54:51.599 --> 00:54:54.440
to helping me. So I think people, when they hear

00:54:54.440 --> 00:54:56.300
that word, they can go, oh, actually somebody

00:54:56.300 --> 00:55:00.019
can be successful or can lead, you know, at one

00:55:00.019 --> 00:55:02.460
point I led 150 people in my career, right? So

00:55:02.460 --> 00:55:05.480
you can be an introvert. and be a successful

00:55:05.480 --> 00:55:08.840
leader in in large company and so if that label

00:55:08.840 --> 00:55:11.179
i use to help others it's it's not necessarily

00:55:11.179 --> 00:55:13.199
a helpful label for me i think the only other

00:55:13.199 --> 00:55:16.380
label i would use is engineer it's just a word

00:55:16.380 --> 00:55:19.480
that i enjoy i connect to and it's interesting

00:55:19.480 --> 00:55:22.340
my husband will you know he's also an engineer

00:55:22.340 --> 00:55:25.199
but and we talk about kind of computer science

00:55:25.199 --> 00:55:28.280
world and software engineers and i feel very

00:55:28.280 --> 00:55:31.420
differently about it i think The problem solving

00:55:31.420 --> 00:55:34.380
of what I did in engineering and college has

00:55:34.380 --> 00:55:37.400
stood to me through every career. And I've had

00:55:37.400 --> 00:55:40.280
many industries, many different companies, and

00:55:40.280 --> 00:55:43.079
it's just breaking a problem down into pieces

00:55:43.079 --> 00:55:46.159
and how to put things back together. That is

00:55:46.159 --> 00:55:49.480
the essence of who I was as a kid based on what

00:55:49.480 --> 00:55:51.920
I studied in school through college and just

00:55:51.920 --> 00:55:54.519
who I am as an individual. So when you think

00:55:54.519 --> 00:55:57.840
about the beginning of how I am as a kid and

00:55:57.840 --> 00:56:00.599
how I am now. It doesn't matter the path between

00:56:00.599 --> 00:56:04.440
it. What's common is I solve problems. I break

00:56:04.440 --> 00:56:07.079
things down and I figure it out. And that's just,

00:56:07.099 --> 00:56:10.119
that's just me. That's the essence of me as a

00:56:10.119 --> 00:56:12.960
person. And it'll come across in everything that

00:56:12.960 --> 00:56:16.460
I do, whether it is in the gym, whether I'm out

00:56:16.460 --> 00:56:19.139
in the garden and I'm, you know, renovating or

00:56:19.139 --> 00:56:21.599
I'm building a concrete or a block wall or I'm

00:56:21.599 --> 00:56:25.280
laying concrete. It's all logic through, through

00:56:25.280 --> 00:56:28.320
kind of, and I, and I just. I enjoy that. I get

00:56:28.320 --> 00:56:30.980
great satisfaction from figuring something out

00:56:30.980 --> 00:56:33.400
and being able to do it. And it could be the

00:56:33.400 --> 00:56:36.059
simplest things of seeing smooth concrete. To

00:56:36.059 --> 00:56:38.679
me, it's just fascinating that I've had to get

00:56:38.679 --> 00:56:40.300
all the levels right. I've had to figure out

00:56:40.300 --> 00:56:42.219
what the mix is. I'm not doing it all on my own.

00:56:42.280 --> 00:56:44.610
I'm doing it with my husband. You know, and I

00:56:44.610 --> 00:56:46.329
find that then you look back at the weekend and

00:56:46.329 --> 00:56:48.849
go, that's great. You know, and you go into work

00:56:48.849 --> 00:56:50.329
the next day and people ask, well, how was your

00:56:50.329 --> 00:56:52.550
weekend? And I'm thinking, how do I just tell

00:56:52.550 --> 00:56:54.610
people that I, you know, lifted five bags of

00:56:54.610 --> 00:56:58.170
cement and made concrete and got joy out of seeing

00:56:58.170 --> 00:57:01.409
it nice and smooth at the end of the day? But

00:57:01.409 --> 00:57:04.889
that's, I think it's just, I've gotten very comfortable

00:57:04.889 --> 00:57:07.789
with who I am, what's important to me. And it

00:57:07.789 --> 00:57:11.269
just then becomes, it shines through in everything

00:57:11.269 --> 00:57:13.820
that you do. Right. And then it just makes your

00:57:13.820 --> 00:57:16.400
decisions, your life. It's just you're just being

00:57:16.400 --> 00:57:19.219
you. You're being your authentic self. And there's

00:57:19.219 --> 00:57:22.380
no other way to be. Could not agree more. Thank

00:57:22.380 --> 00:57:25.219
you, Orla. So let's deep dive into your career

00:57:25.219 --> 00:57:28.400
path. So you started as an engineer and then

00:57:28.400 --> 00:57:31.260
you move into a consultant role in finance. Can

00:57:31.260 --> 00:57:34.679
you tell us about Booth? So when I finally then

00:57:34.679 --> 00:57:36.679
came out of college, so after eight years, I

00:57:36.679 --> 00:57:40.500
was like, I better use this engineering and try

00:57:40.500 --> 00:57:43.139
something. I knew I would never just always stay

00:57:43.139 --> 00:57:45.679
in engineering. So that was never a thing that

00:57:45.679 --> 00:57:48.239
I felt I had to always do. I knew I would try

00:57:48.239 --> 00:57:50.780
it and that there would be many fields. I felt

00:57:50.780 --> 00:57:52.900
I was not limited. And that was part of the choice

00:57:52.900 --> 00:57:55.320
of engineering and also mechanical engineering.

00:57:55.880 --> 00:57:57.739
But there I went, I went off and tried it. I

00:57:57.739 --> 00:58:00.300
was making diamonds that are on cutting tools

00:58:00.300 --> 00:58:03.570
called synthetic diamonds. Not the shiny, nice

00:58:03.570 --> 00:58:06.369
diamonds that you see on engagement rings. This

00:58:06.369 --> 00:58:08.230
is the type of diamond that looks like a grain

00:58:08.230 --> 00:58:12.070
of sand on your fingernails. That was a hard

00:58:12.070 --> 00:58:16.869
job. I was the only female engineer. It's an

00:58:16.869 --> 00:58:19.590
environment where it's a plant, it's a factory.

00:58:19.889 --> 00:58:22.929
You've hard hat safety boots. You don't see daylight.

00:58:23.289 --> 00:58:26.190
You know, there's no windows. And you're working

00:58:26.190 --> 00:58:28.670
with operators who've been there for 40 plus

00:58:28.670 --> 00:58:31.570
years. I am the young engineer who's coming into

00:58:31.570 --> 00:58:33.670
an experiment and asked me to do things different

00:58:33.670 --> 00:58:37.190
and differently. And it was fascinating to, for

00:58:37.190 --> 00:58:40.030
me, how to build relationships with people. And

00:58:40.030 --> 00:58:42.409
actually I did that as I shared, oh, you know,

00:58:42.429 --> 00:58:43.730
people ask, what did you do for the weekend?

00:58:43.869 --> 00:58:45.989
I was at a bike race or I was on the bike or

00:58:45.989 --> 00:58:48.489
I was traveling over to the UK. And you just

00:58:48.489 --> 00:58:51.389
start to make connections with people. So I started

00:58:51.389 --> 00:58:53.409
to make connections really quickly with people

00:58:53.409 --> 00:58:56.789
by just being myself and just knowing that I

00:58:56.789 --> 00:58:59.679
was being really a pain in people's. behind because

00:58:59.679 --> 00:59:03.079
I was maybe increasing their process time you

00:59:03.079 --> 00:59:05.860
know by 2x and they just didn't like having to

00:59:05.860 --> 00:59:09.059
do that and I get it right and so it was hard

00:59:09.059 --> 00:59:12.539
I had some hard moments and this I'm always grateful

00:59:12.539 --> 00:59:14.579
for the first boss that I had in there because

00:59:14.579 --> 00:59:18.179
it's the lesson I always share with people um

00:59:18.179 --> 00:59:22.159
and he introduced me to some to a summer intern

00:59:22.159 --> 00:59:24.679
and said this is Orla she's relatively new you

00:59:24.679 --> 00:59:27.719
can learn from her mistakes oh So how do you

00:59:27.719 --> 00:59:30.280
manage those kind of situations? So I started

00:59:30.280 --> 00:59:33.559
to learn again as an individual how to handle

00:59:33.559 --> 00:59:36.340
difficult moments, how to speak up, what was

00:59:36.340 --> 00:59:39.900
my voice, how to handle where I felt that people

00:59:39.900 --> 00:59:43.980
had misunderstood me, hadn't read me correctly.

00:59:44.380 --> 00:59:47.800
And I think it was highly empowering while really

00:59:47.800 --> 00:59:51.340
difficult. And again, I know I always use it

00:59:51.340 --> 00:59:56.059
as my example. But it helped me understand and

00:59:56.059 --> 00:59:58.179
again question, well, someone's made a statement

00:59:58.179 --> 01:00:00.059
about me. It's actually true and I need to go

01:00:00.059 --> 01:00:01.960
off and think about it. But then it helped me

01:00:01.960 --> 01:00:03.699
think about how do I actually deal with this

01:00:03.699 --> 01:00:05.800
difficult moment? Because look, life is hard.

01:00:06.679 --> 01:00:08.460
You're always going to have difficult moments.

01:00:08.539 --> 01:00:10.320
You're going to have difficult people. You're

01:00:10.320 --> 01:00:12.679
going to have people who misread you, misunderstand

01:00:12.679 --> 01:00:15.579
you. And I think, again, back to the more that

01:00:15.579 --> 01:00:17.599
you understand yourself, the easier it is to

01:00:17.599 --> 01:00:19.579
actually, well, do you know what? thanks for

01:00:19.579 --> 01:00:21.639
that call out but I think you've gotten me wrong

01:00:21.639 --> 01:00:23.860
and here are my reasons why here is my original

01:00:23.860 --> 01:00:26.219
tent and what I said or what I did or whatever

01:00:26.219 --> 01:00:29.380
the situation is so I learned to again for my

01:00:29.380 --> 01:00:32.760
voice to kind of come through and to your question

01:00:32.760 --> 01:00:35.699
of why change well it was a it was a difficult

01:00:35.699 --> 01:00:37.940
time in manufacturing in Ireland the plant actually

01:00:37.940 --> 01:00:41.639
was going through strike action so you know I

01:00:41.639 --> 01:00:45.119
felt look there's many places I could be working

01:00:45.119 --> 01:00:47.530
do I want to work in somewhere that you know,

01:00:47.530 --> 01:00:49.809
is going to be difficult, continue to be difficult

01:00:49.809 --> 01:00:52.250
in a hard moment. So I just said, look, time

01:00:52.250 --> 01:00:56.090
is now to move on. And I think I'm probably driven

01:00:56.090 --> 01:01:00.090
a lot by when I get bored, I make changes. I

01:01:00.090 --> 01:01:02.469
probably got bored a little bit there too. And

01:01:02.469 --> 01:01:07.110
so I, yeah, I decided and I moved into kind of

01:01:07.110 --> 01:01:09.409
financial world. So completely different industry.

01:01:09.710 --> 01:01:11.829
Did question whether it was the right thing for

01:01:11.829 --> 01:01:14.769
my CV. You know, I've only been a short period

01:01:14.769 --> 01:01:18.150
of time, but look. I've jumped a couple of times

01:01:18.150 --> 01:01:19.849
to different industries and many different companies.

01:01:20.329 --> 01:01:22.889
It's always an interesting talking point when

01:01:22.889 --> 01:01:26.250
I talk to people about, you know, next role.

01:01:26.489 --> 01:01:28.829
They're often curious to wonder why. But I think

01:01:28.829 --> 01:01:31.730
I've got a story that I'm interested in. Why

01:01:31.730 --> 01:01:35.110
not? I'm not bound to a particular industry.

01:01:35.510 --> 01:01:37.789
Actually, I've found strength from being able

01:01:37.789 --> 01:01:40.309
to demonstrate that I can work in many industries

01:01:40.309 --> 01:01:44.579
as opposed to I'm only in one place. And I think

01:01:44.579 --> 01:01:47.400
that is a unique skill that I can bring versus

01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:50.360
others who may not have to reinvent themselves

01:01:50.360 --> 01:01:53.719
many times. You underlined something so, so important,

01:01:53.980 --> 01:01:57.099
which was understanding yourself allows you to

01:01:57.099 --> 01:02:00.360
speak out. So Anna, for the people who are listening

01:02:00.360 --> 01:02:03.840
to us and who are still looking for their voice,

01:02:04.059 --> 01:02:07.239
how do you proceed to find it? Did you have a

01:02:07.239 --> 01:02:10.500
mentor? What did you learn from him or her? I

01:02:10.500 --> 01:02:13.119
did have a mentor. So that example I talked about,

01:02:13.219 --> 01:02:16.019
I brought that up to the MD of the company and

01:02:16.019 --> 01:02:19.400
I did have a mentor as all new engineers into

01:02:19.400 --> 01:02:22.980
the company did. It helped. I think it helped

01:02:22.980 --> 01:02:26.639
to talk the situation out. But what I quickly

01:02:26.639 --> 01:02:30.800
learned was not much is going to change. So it's

01:02:30.800 --> 01:02:34.699
great to have somebody to talk it out. And I

01:02:34.699 --> 01:02:36.460
suppose it's where I've learned that the culture

01:02:36.460 --> 01:02:38.800
of where you work and the environment that you

01:02:38.800 --> 01:02:41.380
work is incredibly important. And that stands

01:02:41.380 --> 01:02:43.559
back to, can you be your authentic self as well?

01:02:43.619 --> 01:02:45.579
So they're kind of two, my two non -negotiables

01:02:45.579 --> 01:02:47.920
when I'm looking for somewhere is, can I be my

01:02:47.920 --> 01:02:50.760
authentic self? And, you know, what is the environment,

01:02:50.940 --> 01:02:52.980
the culture of somewhere that you will work?

01:02:53.239 --> 01:02:55.400
I need it to bring out the best in me. I need

01:02:55.400 --> 01:02:57.699
to bring out the best in others. So yes, it's

01:02:57.699 --> 01:03:00.579
great to have mentors, but if somewhere isn't

01:03:00.579 --> 01:03:05.019
necessarily right. And it'll never change no

01:03:05.019 --> 01:03:07.920
matter how many mentors you have. And I think

01:03:07.920 --> 01:03:10.099
what you do, mentors help you to get clear on

01:03:10.099 --> 01:03:12.820
you as opposed to necessarily anything else.

01:03:12.840 --> 01:03:15.559
So that was kind of how I approached it. But

01:03:15.559 --> 01:03:18.280
yeah, I've always had support systems around

01:03:18.280 --> 01:03:20.760
me. Sometimes they've made a difference, sometimes

01:03:20.760 --> 01:03:23.340
not. But I think it's always back to backing

01:03:23.340 --> 01:03:26.840
myself and figuring my way through it. Thank

01:03:26.840 --> 01:03:29.280
you. And what advice would you give someone who's

01:03:29.280 --> 01:03:32.139
trying to change sectors and facing challenges,

01:03:32.500 --> 01:03:35.380
pushbacks from hiring team, not understanding

01:03:35.380 --> 01:03:39.340
those changes? So I suppose I've tried to make

01:03:39.340 --> 01:03:43.360
sure that my jumps, so my changes or my changes

01:03:43.360 --> 01:03:47.780
of role are not so spiky. Let's say, right, that

01:03:47.780 --> 01:03:49.960
they appear. Oh, it looks like after six months

01:03:49.960 --> 01:03:52.519
off, she went again. Six months off, she went

01:03:52.519 --> 01:03:56.539
again. So when I read CVs as I hire and have

01:03:56.539 --> 01:04:00.119
hired over the last three years, there can always

01:04:00.119 --> 01:04:02.820
be a story behind something. But I think you

01:04:02.820 --> 01:04:05.500
want to see progression. You want to see a bit

01:04:05.500 --> 01:04:08.219
of longevity. Maybe it's promotion within a company.

01:04:08.659 --> 01:04:10.659
Maybe it's different titles. Maybe it's different

01:04:10.659 --> 01:04:12.460
experiences, different initiatives you've worked

01:04:12.460 --> 01:04:15.320
with. You want to see depth of experience. So

01:04:15.320 --> 01:04:17.139
that's one thing I would have made sure and I

01:04:17.139 --> 01:04:22.119
still would do that I don't, you know, if situations

01:04:22.119 --> 01:04:25.280
arise that there is a short hop, that's fine.

01:04:25.639 --> 01:04:29.599
But so typically I would, I would try and not

01:04:29.599 --> 01:04:33.940
make that, make that not the case. And I think

01:04:33.940 --> 01:04:38.820
then I, I've been clear as I described those

01:04:38.820 --> 01:04:42.440
who don't know me, the reasons why, what was

01:04:42.440 --> 01:04:46.789
I, why was I leaving? So was I seeking bigger

01:04:46.789 --> 01:04:50.510
scope? Was I, you know, role had plateaued. There

01:04:50.510 --> 01:04:52.829
was no promotion was going to take, you know,

01:04:52.829 --> 01:04:55.690
long time. And they're part of my stories, right,

01:04:55.789 --> 01:04:57.869
in reasons why I've left. Or I was looking for,

01:04:57.889 --> 01:05:01.090
you know, just different problems to solve. And

01:05:01.090 --> 01:05:03.530
I could do the same things again and again, but

01:05:03.530 --> 01:05:06.769
I just wanted a new challenge. So I think because

01:05:06.769 --> 01:05:09.289
I've made those decisions intentionally, purposely,

01:05:09.670 --> 01:05:14.219
I'm able to tell that story. But it is fascinating.

01:05:14.820 --> 01:05:18.679
I would say 99 % of the time there is very curiosity

01:05:18.679 --> 01:05:20.920
about, well, you've worked in many places, many

01:05:20.920 --> 01:05:23.480
different industries. Why is that the case? So

01:05:23.480 --> 01:05:26.699
I think that is probably more so on the unusual

01:05:26.699 --> 01:05:29.800
side versus, I think people change roles a lot.

01:05:30.300 --> 01:05:34.579
I am, through my career, I haven't become, and

01:05:34.579 --> 01:05:36.579
sometimes that can be difficult. I'm not a subject

01:05:36.579 --> 01:05:41.269
matter expert on one thing, right? I can solve

01:05:41.269 --> 01:05:44.090
many problems, but it means I'm seeking to understand

01:05:44.090 --> 01:05:47.630
what problems an employer is looking to solve.

01:05:47.769 --> 01:05:49.929
And therefore, that sounds interesting. Haven't

01:05:49.929 --> 01:05:52.230
done that before. I could do that. Right. But

01:05:52.230 --> 01:05:53.769
you then have to convince somebody who doesn't

01:05:53.769 --> 01:05:56.110
know you. And obviously, the more senior you

01:05:56.110 --> 01:05:58.849
get, you rely on networks and introductions and

01:05:58.849 --> 01:06:00.530
people vouching for you to say, well, actually,

01:06:00.650 --> 01:06:02.949
Orla would be a great person to do this. She

01:06:02.949 --> 01:06:05.170
may not have done exactly that, but she will

01:06:05.170 --> 01:06:09.079
figure that out and get that right for you. But

01:06:09.079 --> 01:06:11.380
I'm in a different stage in career. So I think

01:06:11.380 --> 01:06:15.860
it's back to, you know, I watch not having jumps

01:06:15.860 --> 01:06:18.559
very quickly, not to say that you can't, but

01:06:18.559 --> 01:06:20.920
I think having intentional steps and having a

01:06:20.920 --> 01:06:24.460
clear reason why you left somewhere and why you

01:06:24.460 --> 01:06:26.500
joined another company or the different stages

01:06:26.500 --> 01:06:29.300
of your career, I think are important because

01:06:29.300 --> 01:06:33.760
you will be asked forevermore, not on every step,

01:06:33.860 --> 01:06:36.519
but to be able to articulate. how you've made

01:06:36.519 --> 01:06:38.300
those decisions right which means you need to

01:06:38.300 --> 01:06:40.039
understand yourself back as what we described

01:06:40.039 --> 01:06:42.820
so it's no different than picking a subject picking

01:06:42.820 --> 01:06:46.139
a university course or a path after school whatever

01:06:46.139 --> 01:06:49.159
that may be you need to be clear on why it is

01:06:49.159 --> 01:06:51.260
otherwise you won't stick with it and then you

01:06:51.260 --> 01:06:53.360
won't be able to tell people why you've made

01:06:53.360 --> 01:06:55.880
that choice and where you want to get to and

01:06:55.880 --> 01:06:58.139
I think as we you go through further in your

01:06:58.139 --> 01:07:01.820
career you need to rely on that voice more so

01:07:01.820 --> 01:07:05.639
than mentors or people helping you managers and

01:07:05.639 --> 01:07:09.400
coaches they are there to facilitate a role but

01:07:09.400 --> 01:07:12.500
actually they're driven by what are you asking

01:07:12.500 --> 01:07:15.900
for so you might say i want to get more experience

01:07:15.900 --> 01:07:19.139
i want to become a people manager okay well that's

01:07:19.139 --> 01:07:21.000
going to take some time so how do we get you

01:07:21.000 --> 01:07:24.059
some exposure to helping people to kind of you

01:07:24.059 --> 01:07:26.559
know mentoring others so you you kind of you

01:07:26.559 --> 01:07:28.360
work towards it but you've got to be able to

01:07:28.360 --> 01:07:31.070
have that voice of what of what you want Similarly,

01:07:31.170 --> 01:07:33.250
what subject you want, why you want it, what

01:07:33.250 --> 01:07:35.829
course you want to do. Being clear on the why

01:07:35.829 --> 01:07:39.070
I think is important. So can you tell us about

01:07:39.070 --> 01:07:42.329
your own next jump in Big Tech? How did your

01:07:42.329 --> 01:07:44.489
success look like there? So it was interesting.

01:07:44.630 --> 01:07:47.949
I didn't necessarily intend to jump out of. So

01:07:47.949 --> 01:07:49.530
I jumped out of engineering into the financial

01:07:49.530 --> 01:07:51.489
world. I didn't intend to jump straight away

01:07:51.489 --> 01:07:53.849
into the tech world, but I was made redundant.

01:07:56.760 --> 01:07:58.980
interview and I stayed focusing on the financial

01:07:58.980 --> 01:08:02.260
sector but this is back in 2008 the financial

01:08:02.260 --> 01:08:05.440
crisis in Ireland so I've gone from you know

01:08:05.440 --> 01:08:08.000
manufacturing that wasn't great then into banking

01:08:08.000 --> 01:08:10.320
finance that wasn't great and I'm saying okay

01:08:10.320 --> 01:08:13.360
I don't really want to jump again but here I

01:08:13.360 --> 01:08:16.399
am and so I did apply for many roles in finance

01:08:16.399 --> 01:08:19.640
didn't get them because I think people also didn't

01:08:19.640 --> 01:08:21.720
understand didn't understand what I could bring.

01:08:22.119 --> 01:08:25.340
and then came across Google and I remember I

01:08:25.340 --> 01:08:27.699
had bought myself because I was into the biking

01:08:27.699 --> 01:08:30.000
I bought myself a little dirt jump bike to learn

01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:33.380
how to bunny hop and I remember telling friends

01:08:33.380 --> 01:08:35.699
as I was learning and they were you know asking

01:08:35.699 --> 01:08:37.720
how are the interviews going and I said oh I

01:08:37.720 --> 01:08:40.239
had one great one it was Google there's no way

01:08:40.239 --> 01:08:44.579
I'm going to get Googled up and I did and it

01:08:44.579 --> 01:08:47.619
was a magical time I think just even getting

01:08:47.619 --> 01:08:50.930
the job the confidence boost that is released

01:08:50.930 --> 01:08:55.489
in me from the day you go in, you do feel, you

01:08:55.489 --> 01:08:58.970
know, just part of this group, very smart people.

01:08:59.229 --> 01:09:01.989
I was definitely not the top bar, but, you know,

01:09:01.989 --> 01:09:04.409
I think you always, for me, I always seek to

01:09:04.409 --> 01:09:08.050
be surrounded by more senior and much smarter

01:09:08.050 --> 01:09:10.310
people. I think you can learn an awful lot. And

01:09:10.310 --> 01:09:13.699
Google was definitely that for me. I was still,

01:09:13.720 --> 01:09:16.220
you know, still very new in my career, you know,

01:09:16.220 --> 01:09:18.739
hadn't had a lot of structure from a career perspective.

01:09:18.920 --> 01:09:25.340
So I found it fascinating. And yeah, it evolved

01:09:25.340 --> 01:09:29.199
to be many different things. And I think the

01:09:29.199 --> 01:09:31.859
opportunities arose, which was really helpful.

01:09:32.180 --> 01:09:35.960
And I had probably, when I look back, I probably

01:09:35.960 --> 01:09:39.119
didn't push myself. to progress my career quick

01:09:39.119 --> 01:09:41.300
and fast enough. But that was my lesson to learn

01:09:41.300 --> 01:09:45.140
over those eight years. I did have progression,

01:09:45.300 --> 01:09:46.979
but again, I think I probably could have done

01:09:46.979 --> 01:09:51.600
it quicker and sooner. So yeah, tech was not

01:09:51.600 --> 01:09:54.640
necessarily by choice. It's where I ended up,

01:09:54.760 --> 01:09:58.880
but really enjoyed the environment, the culture,

01:09:59.020 --> 01:10:01.279
the atmosphere. I think the timing of it was

01:10:01.279 --> 01:10:04.180
just right for me and where it was. So certainly

01:10:04.180 --> 01:10:07.729
a fascinating time. And I, you know, I learned

01:10:07.729 --> 01:10:10.130
a lot again about myself. You know, you surround

01:10:10.130 --> 01:10:13.689
yourself by very smart people. It's always interesting

01:10:13.689 --> 01:10:18.829
to see where your tipping point is. The way you

01:10:18.829 --> 01:10:21.329
share this part of your life, Orla, is very inspiring.

01:10:21.710 --> 01:10:24.529
You put your interests first, learning a new

01:10:24.529 --> 01:10:27.390
skill for one of your passions. So my question

01:10:27.390 --> 01:10:29.729
here is, do you have any advice for anyone who

01:10:29.729 --> 01:10:33.640
tends to go all in for jump hunting? forgetting

01:10:33.640 --> 01:10:36.720
themselves and their interests along the way.

01:10:36.939 --> 01:10:40.359
So I've had two redundancy moments in my career

01:10:40.359 --> 01:10:43.020
so far, and I'll say so far because there's always,

01:10:43.220 --> 01:10:45.819
it can always happen again, unfortunately, right?

01:10:46.659 --> 01:10:53.859
And I've probably kept them very simple. I've

01:10:53.859 --> 01:10:56.979
just done me. And I think it was interesting,

01:10:57.140 --> 01:11:00.199
often people ask you, what course did you do?

01:11:00.560 --> 01:11:03.949
Did you travel? Where did you go? I didn't travel

01:11:03.949 --> 01:11:07.050
anywhere. I didn't do any course. I, you know,

01:11:07.050 --> 01:11:08.949
didn't. I think the other one I got asked was

01:11:08.949 --> 01:11:11.470
like, did you bake clothes? And I'm like, no.

01:11:12.369 --> 01:11:17.229
And I was just, you know, so the first time,

01:11:17.250 --> 01:11:20.250
as I described, got the bike and was learning

01:11:20.250 --> 01:11:22.489
to bunny hop. So that was about six months. Similarly,

01:11:22.670 --> 01:11:25.970
this time, this more recent time was about five

01:11:25.970 --> 01:11:28.670
and a bit months when I, and you had a job, you

01:11:28.670 --> 01:11:31.409
know, halfway maybe through that. But I just.

01:11:31.770 --> 01:11:35.090
I kept things very simple. I think it's a stressful

01:11:35.090 --> 01:11:38.850
time figuring out whether you have employment

01:11:38.850 --> 01:11:42.930
or not to figure out your next role. It takes

01:11:42.930 --> 01:11:46.550
time. Certainly for me, it does. You're trying

01:11:46.550 --> 01:11:48.430
to assess a company. You're trying to assess

01:11:48.430 --> 01:11:50.270
a role. You're trying to assess the individuals

01:11:50.270 --> 01:11:52.270
you're going to work with. And all of that takes

01:11:52.270 --> 01:11:55.090
time, energy. Sometimes you may get it right.

01:11:55.130 --> 01:11:57.710
Sometimes you may not. But I think, you know,

01:11:57.710 --> 01:12:01.500
no career is static. People come and go in organizations.

01:12:01.960 --> 01:12:04.039
You make a decision based on the information

01:12:04.039 --> 01:12:05.939
that you have, which is, you know, when you interview,

01:12:06.020 --> 01:12:08.960
it's quite a short, limited amount of time. And

01:12:08.960 --> 01:12:11.920
then you, you know, as I've done, as I back myself

01:12:11.920 --> 01:12:15.380
to figure out, again, a new industry and new

01:12:15.380 --> 01:12:18.960
sector, new company. And it's not rocket science,

01:12:19.060 --> 01:12:22.300
I suppose, is the story I tell myself. Right.

01:12:22.340 --> 01:12:25.119
And I suppose I feel there's probably very few

01:12:25.119 --> 01:12:28.569
jobs that I couldn't do. I have a brother who's

01:12:28.569 --> 01:12:31.510
a doctor. Okay, I definitely can't do that. 100

01:12:31.510 --> 01:12:34.750
% no, that's the case. But everything else I

01:12:34.750 --> 01:12:38.949
think is probably potentially fair game. So let

01:12:38.949 --> 01:12:41.609
me at least try it is kind of, again, my mentality

01:12:41.609 --> 01:12:45.229
with new jobs. But to kind of the gap moments,

01:12:45.510 --> 01:12:48.710
yeah, I've kept it simple. Keep my routine, keep

01:12:48.710 --> 01:12:51.689
doing what I enjoy and like, which is always

01:12:51.689 --> 01:12:54.409
being something active. And then, you know, you

01:12:54.409 --> 01:12:58.140
do some time. some part of the day head down

01:12:58.140 --> 01:13:01.060
finding your role thinking about next what's

01:13:01.060 --> 01:13:02.739
going on where are you going who are you meeting

01:13:02.739 --> 01:13:06.899
but I remember I was given advice um a couple

01:13:06.899 --> 01:13:08.840
of years ago I should be meeting four people

01:13:08.840 --> 01:13:11.180
a week or four people you need to talk to four

01:13:11.180 --> 01:13:15.800
new people a week I was like why four like and

01:13:15.800 --> 01:13:19.500
like just random people just just make sure you

01:13:19.500 --> 01:13:21.960
fork everyone's like I can't do that like It

01:13:21.960 --> 01:13:23.479
was a few weeks that I talked to people. I was

01:13:23.479 --> 01:13:24.859
just like, I can't talk to people anymore. I

01:13:24.859 --> 01:13:27.819
just need a break. Or, you know, I'd meet somebody

01:13:27.819 --> 01:13:29.939
through a referral, through somebody else, through

01:13:29.939 --> 01:13:32.319
somebody else. And I remember driving home on

01:13:32.319 --> 01:13:35.100
one of those occasions going, how did I get here?

01:13:35.159 --> 01:13:37.640
That was a useless conversation, like useless.

01:13:38.220 --> 01:13:40.600
So you go back to actually, you know, why am

01:13:40.600 --> 01:13:42.680
I meeting someone? What can they potentially

01:13:42.680 --> 01:13:45.020
unlock for me? So rather than getting carried

01:13:45.020 --> 01:13:48.560
away with the phase or fad of, are you traveling?

01:13:48.659 --> 01:13:50.479
Are you doing loads? Are you going to take a

01:13:50.479 --> 01:13:52.619
year out? You know, no, my intention is to keep

01:13:52.619 --> 01:13:55.840
working and to work again quickly because actually

01:13:55.840 --> 01:13:58.699
I would like to retire at a reasonable age and

01:13:58.699 --> 01:14:03.039
just not get lost in the process of what people

01:14:03.039 --> 01:14:04.899
are telling me and figure out actually, you know,

01:14:04.899 --> 01:14:07.020
four is just nonsense. I can't do four people,

01:14:07.119 --> 01:14:10.819
you know. It's hard work trying to find something

01:14:10.819 --> 01:14:13.100
new. Whatever number I come up with, it's not

01:14:13.100 --> 01:14:14.920
going to be a predefined number. It's going to

01:14:14.920 --> 01:14:18.380
be based on what's right. So again, it's back

01:14:18.380 --> 01:14:21.020
to me doing me, figuring out my way through it.

01:14:21.619 --> 01:14:24.439
I've done that through the jobs. I'm in the non

01:14:24.439 --> 01:14:28.159
-job moment, right, when there is a gap. This

01:14:28.159 --> 01:14:30.920
is inspiring. You stood up for yourself and said

01:14:30.920 --> 01:14:33.300
that that was not working for you. Would you

01:14:33.300 --> 01:14:35.340
say that it's your way to practice resiliency

01:14:35.340 --> 01:14:39.250
somehow? during those difficult times when you're

01:14:39.250 --> 01:14:43.409
facing redundancy for example yeah yeah i think

01:14:43.409 --> 01:14:46.829
backing myself being resilient you know figuring

01:14:46.829 --> 01:14:50.550
things out it's uh it's always i'm always at

01:14:50.550 --> 01:14:53.210
my best when i do things in it in the way that

01:14:53.210 --> 01:14:56.409
leverage my best as opposed to i get wound up

01:14:56.409 --> 01:14:57.970
and this is what i should be doing or this is

01:14:57.970 --> 01:15:00.430
what everybody else is doing none of that actually

01:15:00.430 --> 01:15:04.390
matters because if i try and do the other way

01:15:04.390 --> 01:15:07.329
it's just not going to work right so it's getting

01:15:07.329 --> 01:15:10.930
clear again on on the e and doing it my way now

01:15:10.930 --> 01:15:12.729
that's not to say look I'm going to be rogue

01:15:12.729 --> 01:15:16.890
and you know go crazy but it's being true to

01:15:16.890 --> 01:15:19.270
myself and finding my path through which it takes

01:15:19.270 --> 01:15:22.029
me six months seven months to ten months to find

01:15:22.029 --> 01:15:25.010
a new job well that's just the way it is if it's

01:15:25.010 --> 01:15:26.750
you know I'm in a job trying to figure out the

01:15:26.750 --> 01:15:29.640
next one whatever amount of time it is, it is

01:15:29.640 --> 01:15:31.939
okay, whatever number of interviews. Similarly,

01:15:32.020 --> 01:15:34.340
if I, you know, had decided to change courses,

01:15:34.600 --> 01:15:39.199
equally that was okay. So I think our decisions

01:15:39.199 --> 01:15:44.399
are unique to us in those moments in time. And

01:15:44.399 --> 01:15:46.819
do you have any advice for the one who wants

01:15:46.819 --> 01:15:49.960
to go into tech and have no idea where to start?

01:15:50.039 --> 01:15:51.939
They don't know what their required skills are.

01:15:52.399 --> 01:15:54.800
I listened to a fascinating talk last week in

01:15:54.800 --> 01:15:59.260
work where we had a career week. And it was a

01:15:59.260 --> 01:16:01.800
woman from the US. She came in to talk about

01:16:01.800 --> 01:16:04.140
all the different technologies that exist. And

01:16:04.140 --> 01:16:05.640
she's like, you're never going to figure them

01:16:05.640 --> 01:16:07.100
all out. You're never going to know them all.

01:16:07.560 --> 01:16:09.659
You just need to figure out maybe what are the

01:16:09.659 --> 01:16:11.600
ones that are important to you. But what she

01:16:11.600 --> 01:16:13.279
did talk about is actually how do you get focus

01:16:13.279 --> 01:16:17.199
time on yourself and how do you be creative?

01:16:17.399 --> 01:16:19.239
And I think that's a fascinating way to think

01:16:19.239 --> 01:16:22.659
about the future is to balance we are always

01:16:22.659 --> 01:16:25.939
on. right so the stats she shared is about between

01:16:25.939 --> 01:16:28.439
every 6 and 11 minutes we're being distracted

01:16:28.439 --> 01:16:30.880
by something in our life and it's usually technology

01:16:30.880 --> 01:16:34.439
right and when you do get distracted it takes

01:16:34.439 --> 01:16:37.359
you 23 minutes to get back into the activity

01:16:37.359 --> 01:16:39.520
that you're actually doing so think about that

01:16:39.520 --> 01:16:42.079
right and there's a stat out there that says

01:16:42.079 --> 01:16:44.779
approximately 2600 times in a day you're going

01:16:44.779 --> 01:16:47.920
to get distracted and when you get distracted

01:16:47.920 --> 01:16:49.939
it's almost like you get this endorphin rush

01:16:49.939 --> 01:16:52.100
and it's like you're you know, you're seeking

01:16:52.100 --> 01:16:54.779
this kind of next thing. So we have a really

01:16:54.779 --> 01:16:57.800
bad habit in society now of being constantly

01:16:57.800 --> 01:17:01.380
busy, constantly always on. And I think that

01:17:01.380 --> 01:17:03.960
is going to become harder no matter what career

01:17:03.960 --> 01:17:07.380
you're in, what sector, what industry. So it's

01:17:07.380 --> 01:17:11.699
how do you get clear on, again, how do you want

01:17:11.699 --> 01:17:14.500
to show up, right? And another example that this

01:17:14.500 --> 01:17:16.960
individual shared last week is, say, for example,

01:17:16.960 --> 01:17:19.159
do you want to use an AI tool to help you manage

01:17:19.159 --> 01:17:23.039
your calendar? Depending on what tool, what AI

01:17:23.039 --> 01:17:26.300
tool you use, AI tools are built as we know on,

01:17:26.380 --> 01:17:28.100
you know, they're trained and they learn and

01:17:28.100 --> 01:17:31.439
they're built on the methodology that the builder

01:17:31.439 --> 01:17:34.539
wants you to have. So it might be large focus

01:17:34.539 --> 01:17:38.640
blocks of time. Another AI provider on your calendar

01:17:38.640 --> 01:17:41.380
might be actually give you loads of breaks between

01:17:41.380 --> 01:17:45.659
meetings. What one is you versus what the AI

01:17:45.659 --> 01:17:48.460
developer has decided this is what they want

01:17:48.460 --> 01:17:52.810
to build, right? I think unless we have the risk

01:17:52.810 --> 01:17:54.989
of losing our true identity, our true selves,

01:17:55.090 --> 01:17:57.689
just because it's next tool, next thing, next

01:17:57.689 --> 01:18:00.770
thing, right? So it's, again, for me, I think

01:18:00.770 --> 01:18:04.130
no matter what industry you are in, skills need

01:18:04.130 --> 01:18:07.189
to constantly be fine -tuned and evolved, irregardless

01:18:07.189 --> 01:18:09.890
of sector, irregardless of if we're in this AI

01:18:09.890 --> 01:18:12.109
world or not. We should be doing that and always

01:18:12.109 --> 01:18:14.250
doing that. That doesn't mean we need to be...

01:18:14.619 --> 01:18:17.039
you know absolutely obsessive about what course

01:18:17.039 --> 01:18:19.000
are you learning what are you doing I think you

01:18:19.000 --> 01:18:21.819
can equally evolve yourself you know as what

01:18:21.819 --> 01:18:27.140
I've described um today it's not based on I would

01:18:27.140 --> 01:18:29.880
call active learning right I'm reflecting on

01:18:29.880 --> 01:18:33.520
life experiences and I think being acutely tuned

01:18:33.520 --> 01:18:36.539
into how you are as an individual how do you

01:18:36.539 --> 01:18:39.460
feel in a particular moment? Why did you react

01:18:39.460 --> 01:18:42.880
the way you reacted? What do you enjoy? What

01:18:42.880 --> 01:18:45.819
do you want to do more or less of? That's not

01:18:45.819 --> 01:18:48.439
based on an AI tool or a particular skill, right?

01:18:49.159 --> 01:18:51.560
And I think having that true sense will help

01:18:51.560 --> 01:18:54.300
you determine maybe it is the tech industry.

01:18:55.220 --> 01:18:57.159
What will the tech industry look like in five

01:18:57.159 --> 01:18:59.640
years time? Who knows? What will any industry

01:18:59.640 --> 01:19:02.800
or sector look like? Who knows, right? So they're

01:19:02.800 --> 01:19:05.779
all unknowns that you can control versus what

01:19:05.779 --> 01:19:09.260
you can control is who are you, what do you enjoy

01:19:09.260 --> 01:19:12.640
as an individual, where are you good at? And

01:19:12.640 --> 01:19:15.380
what you need to be good at will constantly change

01:19:15.380 --> 01:19:17.880
a lot of, but you need to have that appetite

01:19:17.880 --> 01:19:20.180
and that willingness. It was interesting, I was

01:19:20.180 --> 01:19:24.800
at a couple of weeks ago, a cloud summit. It

01:19:24.800 --> 01:19:28.420
was actually in Google, a Google AI summit actually.

01:19:29.520 --> 01:19:31.739
There was a panel and there was university lecturers

01:19:31.739 --> 01:19:35.100
on the panel as well as industry experts. And

01:19:35.100 --> 01:19:37.260
they were asked about what skills will be needed

01:19:37.260 --> 01:19:40.220
into the future. And it's not what we all taught

01:19:40.220 --> 01:19:42.699
in the audience, technology, tech skills. It's

01:19:42.699 --> 01:19:45.199
actually being able to handle change and ambiguity.

01:19:46.079 --> 01:19:49.819
So what you will need in the go forward is, shit,

01:19:49.819 --> 01:19:51.779
it's going to change. Shit's going to happen.

01:19:52.319 --> 01:19:55.020
World's not great. Something is, life is hard.

01:19:55.500 --> 01:19:58.560
It's being able to. to live through those moments

01:19:58.560 --> 01:20:01.159
is actually what's going to stand to you. And

01:20:01.159 --> 01:20:03.159
we saw a lot of that through the likes of COVID,

01:20:03.279 --> 01:20:05.600
right? Difficult moment, difficult time in society.

01:20:06.579 --> 01:20:09.699
So many examples where, you know, like nieces

01:20:09.699 --> 01:20:11.960
and nephews who were born during that time and

01:20:11.960 --> 01:20:14.420
seeing the differences in how they interact in

01:20:14.420 --> 01:20:17.600
the world, right? But I think it's being able

01:20:17.600 --> 01:20:20.420
to handle those skills of change, ambiguity,

01:20:20.520 --> 01:20:24.340
is what will see you through no matter what happens

01:20:24.340 --> 01:20:29.369
in life. So seize opportunities for you to constantly

01:20:29.369 --> 01:20:32.470
have to adapt, to raise a new challenge, to embrace

01:20:32.470 --> 01:20:37.649
ambiguity and move towards the skills that the

01:20:37.649 --> 01:20:40.010
job market, that our environment is asking from

01:20:40.010 --> 01:20:44.510
us. Going back to sports now, Orla, can you tell

01:20:44.510 --> 01:20:46.289
us a little bit more about your involvement in

01:20:46.289 --> 01:20:49.489
Parkit? Yeah, so I'm a couple of years in to

01:20:49.489 --> 01:20:52.550
be on the board of Parkit. And so Parkit is a...

01:20:52.729 --> 01:20:55.149
not -for -profit organization where it brings

01:20:55.149 --> 01:20:57.810
resistance training to local parks so we have

01:20:57.810 --> 01:21:01.029
seven locations around dublin so these are free

01:21:01.029 --> 01:21:04.270
and and the idea is the world health organization

01:21:04.270 --> 01:21:08.069
not only recommends cardiovascular activity but

01:21:08.069 --> 01:21:11.130
also weight training activity and it's been hugely

01:21:11.130 --> 01:21:16.029
important for people as they grow old and to

01:21:16.029 --> 01:21:19.609
maintain muscle mass and there's so many um known

01:21:19.609 --> 01:21:22.329
implications by the improvements they can have

01:21:22.329 --> 01:21:25.449
so the idea with park it is to remove some of

01:21:25.449 --> 01:21:28.170
those barriers so financial barriers is one as

01:21:28.170 --> 01:21:31.090
an example so there is it's community -based

01:21:31.090 --> 01:21:34.590
it's in a local park and which means you just

01:21:34.590 --> 01:21:37.510
sign up to attend and there's instructors that

01:21:37.510 --> 01:21:42.390
lead the the session and so i think it As I started

01:21:42.390 --> 01:21:45.010
to think about, you know, what I enjoy, what

01:21:45.010 --> 01:21:46.750
I like, I was like, okay, there's a definite

01:21:46.750 --> 01:21:49.890
trend of fitness being active and technology,

01:21:50.029 --> 01:21:51.989
right, and how technology advances our lives

01:21:51.989 --> 01:21:54.909
or improves our lives. And both of those statements

01:21:54.909 --> 01:21:58.130
are very broad, but it meant I, you know, as

01:21:58.130 --> 01:21:59.670
I look to kind of, well, what else could I get

01:21:59.670 --> 01:22:02.890
involved in? Not necessarily something that I'm

01:22:02.890 --> 01:22:06.470
paid to do. How can I, you know, help others

01:22:06.470 --> 01:22:11.000
was kind of my motivator. And it's where I landed

01:22:11.000 --> 01:22:13.359
on with Parkit and I was fortunate then to be

01:22:13.359 --> 01:22:16.479
selected onto the board. So look, it's, you know,

01:22:16.479 --> 01:22:19.279
it's still very early days in terms of seven

01:22:19.279 --> 01:22:21.699
locations. It's got an aspiration and a lot of

01:22:21.699 --> 01:22:24.359
viewers, listeners may have heard of Parkrun,

01:22:24.520 --> 01:22:28.680
which is similar in that there are 5K runs that

01:22:28.680 --> 01:22:31.020
are actually many locations around the world.

01:22:31.279 --> 01:22:34.220
And so the idea is to try and build that. How

01:22:34.220 --> 01:22:36.720
do you develop the business case to be able to

01:22:36.720 --> 01:22:39.119
scale it and grow it? How do you make sure that

01:22:39.119 --> 01:22:42.000
you maintain the culture, the connection, the

01:22:42.000 --> 01:22:44.859
importance of the weight training element? So

01:22:44.859 --> 01:22:48.439
yeah, it's just, I suppose, in a way to give

01:22:48.439 --> 01:22:53.079
back, to help, you know, to develop the business

01:22:53.079 --> 01:22:56.439
model and see where it can potentially go. Can

01:22:56.439 --> 01:22:58.859
I just give you the floor to try to convince

01:22:58.859 --> 01:23:01.819
anyone who's listening to us who has never practiced

01:23:01.819 --> 01:23:05.029
any sport or doesn't have a routine? or doesn't

01:23:05.029 --> 01:23:07.170
think about making it a priority, well, what

01:23:07.170 --> 01:23:10.449
should they know? Well, I nearly seek to be understanding

01:23:10.449 --> 01:23:14.909
someone's reason for not doing any type of fitness

01:23:14.909 --> 01:23:18.489
activity, right? I would seek to understand why

01:23:18.489 --> 01:23:20.810
is there no activity in your life? Because look,

01:23:20.850 --> 01:23:23.510
there's so much research out there. You know,

01:23:23.529 --> 01:23:25.789
it's the connection with nature. It's the physical

01:23:25.789 --> 01:23:29.329
improvements in our lives. in the well -being

01:23:29.329 --> 01:23:32.630
it's connecting with other people the social

01:23:32.630 --> 01:23:34.890
side of things there's so many ways that sports

01:23:34.890 --> 01:23:37.670
you know connect playing on the team development

01:23:37.670 --> 01:23:41.270
and you know like from from kids at such a young

01:23:41.270 --> 01:23:44.569
age to be active and into sports and music and

01:23:44.569 --> 01:23:46.470
arts I think all of that is incredibly important

01:23:46.470 --> 01:23:50.630
it's always frustrating that as people become

01:23:50.630 --> 01:23:53.010
you know that bit older into teenage years especially

01:23:53.010 --> 01:23:56.369
girls lose that connection I'm not encouraged

01:23:56.369 --> 01:23:59.020
to continue that I wish I was probably encouraged

01:23:59.020 --> 01:24:04.060
to continue to play more. I had a gap in that

01:24:04.060 --> 01:24:06.420
when I was in college years, I didn't play any

01:24:06.420 --> 01:24:08.140
sport. I would have gone to the gym to train,

01:24:08.180 --> 01:24:10.420
but I wouldn't have played any sport. And I think

01:24:10.420 --> 01:24:13.779
that was a miss. So I think it would be seeking

01:24:13.779 --> 01:24:16.260
to understand why people don't want to invest

01:24:16.260 --> 01:24:20.100
in being active of any type. And then just seeing

01:24:20.100 --> 01:24:22.460
with them, you know, there's got to be something

01:24:22.460 --> 01:24:25.180
that they could benefit in their lives from.

01:24:25.819 --> 01:24:30.029
I think just the... the satisfaction, the return

01:24:30.029 --> 01:24:33.430
and investment is just so important. And, you

01:24:33.430 --> 01:24:35.590
know, we spend so much of our lives indoors,

01:24:35.729 --> 01:24:40.729
working, studying. There's much more to life

01:24:40.729 --> 01:24:44.529
than in just that, right? So for me, being active

01:24:44.529 --> 01:24:48.090
in sport plays a huge part of it. And I know

01:24:48.090 --> 01:24:50.949
I'm not even doing it justice in how I'm describing

01:24:50.949 --> 01:24:53.069
it. There's a lot more experts out there that

01:24:53.069 --> 01:24:56.289
will tell you all the reasons why you should

01:24:56.289 --> 01:24:59.369
be active. Hopefully, you are as inspired as

01:24:59.369 --> 01:25:02.350
I am. So start somewhere, wherever you can, whenever

01:25:02.350 --> 01:25:06.010
you can. Daily, weekly, monthly. Stay consistent.

01:25:06.689 --> 01:25:08.729
We're almost reaching the end of the episode.

01:25:09.050 --> 01:25:11.949
So Orla, let's deep dive into your current role

01:25:11.949 --> 01:25:14.689
now. Can you tell us about your role, the people

01:25:14.689 --> 01:25:17.289
you're managing, and everything that's around

01:25:17.289 --> 01:25:20.380
your responsibilities? So I'm with Flutter Entertainment,

01:25:20.840 --> 01:25:23.779
which is a parent company of some of the largest

01:25:23.779 --> 01:25:27.460
scaling and daily brands across the globe. And

01:25:27.460 --> 01:25:30.640
I've been with them since January of last year.

01:25:30.739 --> 01:25:33.840
So actually, I'm not leading people. So where

01:25:33.840 --> 01:25:38.600
I previously was in leading 150 people, I'm now

01:25:38.600 --> 01:25:41.460
not leading. I'm leading myself and I. That's

01:25:41.460 --> 01:25:43.970
not to say I'm not working. with people across

01:25:43.970 --> 01:25:45.909
the board, right? So I don't work in isolation

01:25:45.909 --> 01:25:49.630
by any stretch. And I'm actually enjoying the

01:25:49.630 --> 01:25:51.850
change. I'm actually enjoying change of industry,

01:25:52.029 --> 01:25:55.510
change of role. And I'm focusing on how we can

01:25:55.510 --> 01:25:59.210
build a collaborative marketing strategy across

01:25:59.210 --> 01:26:01.569
the brands that run in what's called a federating

01:26:01.569 --> 01:26:03.670
model. So each of our brands are like individual

01:26:03.670 --> 01:26:07.850
companies, their own P &Ls, their own CEOs. But

01:26:07.850 --> 01:26:09.970
we've got similar problems and challenges across

01:26:09.970 --> 01:26:12.760
the marketing space. So obviously what my background

01:26:12.760 --> 01:26:16.840
in the likes of Google and Meta has helped me

01:26:16.840 --> 01:26:18.640
kind of think about some of these spaces and

01:26:18.640 --> 01:26:21.520
kind of common problems. So again, back to common

01:26:21.520 --> 01:26:23.979
problems, breaking things down, figuring out

01:26:23.979 --> 01:26:26.000
what we want to do and put it back together again.

01:26:26.279 --> 01:26:28.460
And part of it is the journey that you bring

01:26:28.460 --> 01:26:30.659
people through. I really enjoy that, right? So

01:26:30.659 --> 01:26:33.460
where is the concept we want to get to? Where

01:26:33.460 --> 01:26:36.060
is the future's end state? What could this be?

01:26:36.640 --> 01:26:39.020
How do we push beyond where we are today? I find

01:26:39.020 --> 01:26:41.560
those things fascinating. Again, back to evolving,

01:26:41.659 --> 01:26:43.739
changing. Where are we going next? What could

01:26:43.739 --> 01:26:47.180
it be? And how do you then bring people through

01:26:47.180 --> 01:26:50.000
it? We may be successful. We may not. Some of

01:26:50.000 --> 01:26:51.619
these problems may not be things that we end

01:26:51.619 --> 01:26:55.239
up solving. But what I enjoy is the process of

01:26:55.239 --> 01:26:58.100
going through that, you know, a very methodical

01:26:58.100 --> 01:27:00.840
process of what is it we want to do? Can we do

01:27:00.840 --> 01:27:03.890
it? And were we successful? And even successful

01:27:03.890 --> 01:27:06.069
outcomes can be, actually, we figured out we

01:27:06.069 --> 01:27:07.729
don't need to do this because we've learned a

01:27:07.729 --> 01:27:10.630
lot through it and we've determined this is where

01:27:10.630 --> 01:27:12.649
we don't need to get to. But you've answered

01:27:12.649 --> 01:27:17.829
that question. So culture is constant within

01:27:17.829 --> 01:27:21.270
that, but it's constantly evolving, which I like,

01:27:21.270 --> 01:27:24.149
right? It's changing, always new, meeting many

01:27:24.149 --> 01:27:25.710
different people from many different walks of

01:27:25.710 --> 01:27:28.090
life, which I really enjoy as well, collaborating

01:27:28.090 --> 01:27:31.600
with very different. backgrounds diverse perspectives

01:27:31.600 --> 01:27:35.119
people who you know don't look and feel like

01:27:35.119 --> 01:27:37.500
me because i think that's really important and

01:27:37.500 --> 01:27:40.100
i will have a perspective but others will have

01:27:40.100 --> 01:27:41.779
something different they can bring to the table

01:27:41.779 --> 01:27:44.779
and i really like that intersection of different

01:27:44.779 --> 01:27:48.319
opinions so we're almost reaching the end of

01:27:48.319 --> 01:27:52.020
the episode i do have a question which is out

01:27:52.020 --> 01:27:57.439
of curiosity do you know what made an individual

01:27:57.439 --> 01:28:00.220
contributor you managed or a manager you managed

01:28:00.220 --> 01:28:05.979
successful? Did they have specific habits, traits,

01:28:06.220 --> 01:28:11.420
something that we can learn from? I think those

01:28:11.420 --> 01:28:14.600
that have been successful have led with curiosity,

01:28:14.880 --> 01:28:19.880
have sought to understand what is their area

01:28:19.880 --> 01:28:22.460
of responsibility. Often people get very distracted

01:28:22.460 --> 01:28:24.640
by, oh, I want the next shiny thing. Can I have

01:28:24.640 --> 01:28:26.899
that over there, please? Whereas actually what

01:28:26.899 --> 01:28:29.800
you need to do is show impact through what is

01:28:29.800 --> 01:28:32.579
your job? What are you being asked to do? Then

01:28:32.579 --> 01:28:35.939
you get license to say, oh, that thing over there,

01:28:36.000 --> 01:28:38.079
I've demonstrated what I'm doing is great. I'm

01:28:38.079 --> 01:28:42.479
on target. I've got an open control, dot, dot,

01:28:42.479 --> 01:28:45.220
dot. Now can I have something else next? So not

01:28:45.220 --> 01:28:49.739
being, I suppose, impatient and get your area

01:28:49.739 --> 01:28:52.779
of responsibility really nailed and your job,

01:28:52.859 --> 01:28:56.480
what is expected of you to be very clear. um

01:28:56.480 --> 01:29:00.220
and then being I suppose curious to where we

01:29:00.220 --> 01:29:04.159
I always enjoy working with those who go okay

01:29:04.159 --> 01:29:06.600
I can see where you want me to go I can see where

01:29:06.600 --> 01:29:08.220
you want us to get to actually have you thought

01:29:08.220 --> 01:29:10.119
about this is this is what the possibilities

01:29:10.119 --> 01:29:14.180
are so even push the boundaries and be rather

01:29:14.180 --> 01:29:16.899
than coming with don't like that that's a problem

01:29:16.899 --> 01:29:20.100
actually coming with that's really exciting and

01:29:20.100 --> 01:29:22.479
here is how I would build on it so Sometimes

01:29:22.479 --> 01:29:24.600
it can be the language you use, the terminology

01:29:24.600 --> 01:29:28.260
you use, but often it can be the mindset of that

01:29:28.260 --> 01:29:31.220
positive reinforcement, how to kind of evolve

01:29:31.220 --> 01:29:33.859
what we're doing as opposed to don't like it,

01:29:33.939 --> 01:29:36.920
don't want to be it, but not helping to figure

01:29:36.920 --> 01:29:39.899
out a way, right? I think especially as you lead

01:29:39.899 --> 01:29:43.319
people, you want people to be pushing you, but

01:29:43.319 --> 01:29:46.359
you equally want them to be doing it in the right

01:29:46.359 --> 01:29:50.199
way, I suppose. Lead with curiosity and push

01:29:50.199 --> 01:29:54.020
the boundaries. Thank you a lot. So we are reaching

01:29:54.020 --> 01:29:56.800
the last question. So what's your last advice

01:29:56.800 --> 01:29:59.739
looking back? I know you shared a lot, but what

01:29:59.739 --> 01:30:02.539
is your last advice? Look, I think it's kind

01:30:02.539 --> 01:30:05.020
of what we touched on throughout the talk where,

01:30:05.159 --> 01:30:10.720
you know, get clear on yourself and invest the

01:30:10.720 --> 01:30:14.460
time in understanding yourself. Go easy on yourself.

01:30:14.520 --> 01:30:19.439
I think nobody has anything right or wrong all

01:30:19.439 --> 01:30:21.880
of the time. you're trying to be curious and

01:30:21.880 --> 01:30:25.319
figure it out look to experiment and you know

01:30:25.319 --> 01:30:29.239
decisions you make now will you know not be life

01:30:29.239 --> 01:30:32.119
-ending they will not you know you can always

01:30:32.119 --> 01:30:34.680
course correct something as you your careers

01:30:34.680 --> 01:30:37.739
will always evolve you will always evolve as

01:30:37.739 --> 01:30:40.279
an individual so i think it's it's more just

01:30:40.279 --> 01:30:44.130
experiment and and see you know, this is the

01:30:44.130 --> 01:30:46.649
time now to try. I also think you can experiment

01:30:46.649 --> 01:30:49.090
throughout your career. And I talk to individuals

01:30:49.090 --> 01:30:51.069
about that a lot. You don't need to change a

01:30:51.069 --> 01:30:52.609
company. You don't need to change your role to

01:30:52.609 --> 01:30:54.329
experiment. You can experiment where you are.

01:30:54.770 --> 01:30:58.329
But I think if you start with that mindset, it

01:30:58.329 --> 01:31:02.470
makes things a lot easier, right? It opens a

01:31:02.470 --> 01:31:06.569
lot more doors than close them. Thank you, Orla.

01:31:06.609 --> 01:31:08.310
Thank you for everything you shared with us today.

01:31:08.729 --> 01:31:11.149
If you're listening till now, hopefully you're

01:31:11.149 --> 01:31:14.739
as inspired as I am. Thank you all. Pleasure.

01:31:15.020 --> 01:31:15.460
Thank you.