My Career: I do fabulous every day

Name: Gráinne O’Connor

Age: 53

Lives: Fermoy.

Job title: Designer and Project Management

Salary bracket: €45,000-60,000

Education background: A Loreto, Fermoy, girl who went on to Limerick School of Art & Design, now MTU.

Hobbies: Swimming (pool and sea), planning mini European city breaks. Roller skating and upcycling when the mood takes me. I love living in Fermoy and being part of the community so, on a voluntary bases, I support local groups by using my skills to put on events, by managing their social media pages or coordinating activities.

Describe your job in five words: Creating interesting spaces and places for people.

Describe yourself in five words: Colourful, charismatic, considerate, adventurous and loyal. When people ask me what I do, I say “I do fabulous every day”.

Personality needed for this kind of work? Organised, creative and adaptable.

How long are you doing this job? In one form or another, all of my adult life.

How did you get this job? I did what I needed to do in Loreto Secondary school to secure a place in Limerick School of Art & Design (now LIT). I thoroughly enjoyed my five year college experience and graduated top in my class in Fashion Design. It was here I began to appreciate both my creative and practical skills and the importance of engaging with both. There was no point in coming up with a creative idea or solution without being able to deliver it in a timely manner, within budget and on point to the brief.

Since then, I have focused on keeping both sides of my brain fed, whether that is keeping up to date and embracing technology or feeding my visual sense by exploring cities and keeping connected with other creatives.

When I finished college, after staying on to complete my secondary art teacher training qualification, the recession had hit so jobs were scarce. I nearly emigrated to Australia but instead I set up a workshop space teaching a variety of art and craft based courses.

From there I secured an Art teaching position in Colaiste an Chraoibhin, Fermoy, until I moved to Navan where I completed an Interior Design course while refurbishing a 100 year old Post Office. The economy had improved and I saw the opportunity to move into the commercial and contract interior design sector. A business was born, Insidesign, and I worked on many projects including Credit Unions, golf clubs, offices, restaurants, housing developments and some of the early tenants in East Point Business park in Dublin.

Hectic times, as the design and project management elements moved on to include event coordination such as launches, openings and celebrations. It was at one of these events I organised in Slane Castle that I met Caroline Horgan, MD of Abbeylands Ltd, and that was the start of a great relationship that resulted in the Scatterbox brand and my immersion in all things soft furnishings related for a number of years.

Seventeen years ago, I had my daughter, Clodagh. Then I moved back down to Fermoy and my second daughter, Orla, came along. While they were babies, I continued to work with Abbeylands Ltd, we were trend-setters, embracing hybrid working when there wasn’t even a term for it. I also set up HSE-registered Baking Buddies where I taught children and adults to bake and cook from my own home.

Challenging times certainly, but it was wonderful to have the flexibility with my children while being able to work. I was a better mother for working and my daughters will agree with that today.

Shortly after I divorced the man I had married, I set up Crayon Creative with the backing of my brother Patrick, who runs the incredibly dynamic business, Synchronicity Ltd, from Dublin. I take on an eclectic mix of projects but primarily in the commercial, corporate and community sectors.

Crayon Creative introduced Room Refresh three years ago to cater for the increased demand in the hospitality sector for soft furnishings and this brand is growing steadily, providing Irish-made, bespoke bed runners and cushions to hotels and accommodation providers across the country.

I have a great relationship with Cork County Council through my voluntary work in my home town of Fermoy and I have secured a number of tenders from them through my business. I am currently coordinating Culture Night for them in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland, across the county, which has culminated in over 200 free events taking place on Friday, September 23. No time to rest when that date passes, as I am off to exhibit Room Refresh at the Independent Hotel show in London the following weekend and the fit-out of a hotel bar is also due to commence. Christmas projects are also lighting up. In this business I can be humming Jingle Bells in June and Summer Lovin in January.

Do you need particular qualifications or experience? The most important qualifications are to be able to listen to the client(s), interpret their needs, facilitate delivery, and adapt without panic.

Describe a day at work: Every day starts with the day before’s To Do list and a coffee. My daughters are in 5th year now so the school run is next. Sometimes early brekkie with a pal in Hanna’s on the days I don’t go for an early morning swim.

My main focus at the moment is Culture Night so I will start by creating posts for social media and managing those platforms.

Next it’s on to emails. I am very disciplined about my time on the computer and work in allocated blocks of time so I can maximise the hours during the day and it’s not all taken up with screen time.

It’s important to connect with people in person and with 17 culture hub towns, 15 villages and two islands planning events for Culture Night, I’ll invariably be off to visit one of them during the day.

Between hands-free phone and hot-spots for Zoom calls, I can keep on top of most projects when I’m on the road.

When I get back home, it’s catch up time with my mam and my daughters, the necessary domestic goddess duties, and then invariably back into the office to prepare artwork for brochures, write press releases, and compile the To Do list for the next day.

Sometimes, I jump in the car and join the great crew of Youghal swimmers for an evening dip in the sea.

How many hours do you work a week? I have always had a home-based office and I am on the road a lot so the hours are long. I have learned, however, to embrace the quiet times and use the down time to recharge and connect.

What do you wear to work? My very stylish mam taught me to ‘buy once, buy well’ so my wardrobe has a selection of good basics that are trans-seasonal, lasting, and are generally in black or vibrant solid colour. An A line tunic, a flowy jumpsuit, a V-neck dress, much of which is bought locally in some of the great shops we have in Fermoy. My body shape is hour and a half glass and I’ve learned what I feel good in. When I feel well, I know I can rock the look and my day. Depending on the season, what’s on the agenda and my mood, I layer up with colour, leggings, accessories and a great pair of shoes or boots and a mid size handbag.

Nails are always painted by D Nails, fun earrings and a statement ring... always a ring. I am a red-head by choice not by nature and I dye my own hair. It’s really easy to manage, especially as I get a regular great cut in Marelas and one of the benefits of being totally grey is that the colour takes like a dream. And the finishing touch is lipstick.

My make-up is minimal, a few minutes job, but lipstick is a must. I have one in my handbag, one in my car, another in my office, and a spare in reserve. I have recently rediscovered the electric blue eyeliner and mascara I loved in the ’80s and it’s working again for me now, giving definition to my eyes behind my glasses.

Is your job stressful? How? Rate it on a scale of 1-10: Mainly self-inflicted and can reach a scale of 10, but I have learned that a dip in the sea or a cuppa with a friend, or some time with my daughters and mother can reduce all that very quickly.

Do you work with others or on your own? At the planning and management stage, it is a solo activity, but I can’t do what I do without good relationships with clients, suppliers and contactors. On a project by project basis, I will build the necessary team around me to manage various aspects of a project.

Everyone has their area of expertise and one of mine is knowing when to delegate and where my time is best spent.

When do you plan to retire or give up working? I imagine I will arrange my own funeral so I guess that will be my final project.

Best bits: Being able to manage my own time and getting the opportunity to connect with so many diverse people. No two days are the same and I thrive on wearing many different hats.

Worst bits: Keeping a lid on the little voice in my head.

Advice to those who want your job? Communicate... I can’t stress that enough. Keep people up to date, keep connected with people, keep people around you that will support, listen and have fun with you.