My Weekend: We've recently adopted a four day working week so we've a great work/life balance

Nnenna Claire Akamnonu features in My Weekend

TELL us a little bit about yourself and your work:

I was born in Tralee where we lived for a short time. My family and I then had a brief stint in Offaly, spent my young childhood in Carrigtwohill in Cork, and then finally settled in Clare.

My mother is a Cork woman and my dad is from Nigeria, but they settled in Ireland where my dad set up his own GP practice. After graduating college in Galway, I moved to San Francisco for a year to get an introduction into working life - over there I completed a number of marketing internships which were all hugely beneficial.

I arrived back in Ireland to complete a Masters Degree in Marketing Practice which landed me in Dublin where I continued on in my marketing career. I worked with companies such as ESB and Peninsula.

I’ve now gone full circle back to my Cork roots, and am currently working with Republic of Work on South Mall, where I handle all the marketing fun. 

It’s a really interesting and varied role. Working within a thriving coworking and innovation hub, which is only going from strength to strength since recovering from the impact of covid has been really rewarding.

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night?

This can vary hugely - I do love going out trying new food and new experiences but every once in a while, getting cozy on the couch is definitely the more preferred option. 

Since everything has been reopened I’ve definitely been on the town a lot more!

Lie ins or up with the lark.. which is it for you?

I’m an early bird for sure, ever since I can remember I have been that annoying person who is ready to rock in the morning and has no issues rolling out of bed. Whereas if a movie starts past 9pm on a weekday there is no way I’m staying awake!

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

In Republic of Work, we have recently adopted a four day work week, so our work life balance is in really good shape. 

I find I have enough time to get my work done, and enough time at the weekend to relax and do other life admin. We do have lots of interesting events that sometimes can happen at the weekend, but I don’t mind that as it’s always a team effort!

If money was no object where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you?

For some reason I haven’t been to Italy yet, so I would go to any city there. I particularly like the look of Lake Garda or Lake Como. I love pasta and wine too so it makes sense. I would bring my closest friends as we always have a laugh no matter where we are.

In Clare, the Flaggy Shore has a lovely little beach where it’s great for a dip. There is also a nice walk to do there that has an Ice cream shop along the way which is always a win.

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries?

Yes! I try to head home to Clare at least once a month to see my parents, family and nephews, and love planning trips with friends too.

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

I love yoga and going for dips in the sea. I also get very into sports matches even though I wouldn’t really know all the rules for rugby or football matches.

Entertain or be entertained? If it’s the latter do you have a signature dish?

I love to host people because I love researching and finding fun places to go and nice places to eat/drink. So technically I outsource the hosting!

We have so many places to eat out in Cork - where are your go to spots for coffee/lunch/special meal?

I’m still figuring this out seeing as I’m new to Cork as an adult, but I love Filtr coffee. Cask is amazing for drinks. And Sonflour has really tasty veggie Italian food.

Sunday night comes around too fast.. how do you normally spend it?

Sunday nights are definitely for relaxing. I try to do any little jobs earlier in the day so I can just fully chill by watching some Netflix or cooking some nice food.

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning?

6.20am on the dot! I work early for half of the week so it means I need to wake slightly earlier. My body usually will wake before 7 even without an alarm.