Cork entrepreneur: 'I've realised life is short and I'm going to make the most of it'

“I grew up in Knocknaheeny on the northside of Cork with my family. My mother Mary and my father Anthony and my three sisters, Leanne, Laura, and Niamh.

“I was really lucky with my family, they gave me a lot of love, support and confidence, and especially my mother, like, she was very protective of me.

“The girls would call me ‘the baby Jesus’ as she really prioritised me!

“I came from a good family, my dad worked three jobs and I suppose that’s where I get my work ethic. He worked very hard for us, and my mom looked after us and there was a nice balance growing up.”

After secondary school, Daniel studied accountancy.

“I like numbers, but I really had to work hard in college because I was very easily distracted,” he recalls.

“After college, I got a job in Gurranabraher Credit Union and I worked in multiple different roles there and progressed along in my career with them.

Life and its challenges

“After being offered another role within the Credit Union, I was sick at the time with an extremely rare blood condition for which I was taking immunosuppressive medication, which unfortunately wasn’t working, and I ended up losing quite a bit of weight,” says Daniel.

“I ended up going to London for a second opinion on the medication I was being given, and I was recommended a different medication which started to work for me.”

However, Daniel’s world came crashing down when his wife, Simone, got sick and passed away.

“It got worse for her while my own health was improving,” he says.

“A big conversation I had with her before she passed away was the fact that she was telling me I needed to get help with my ADHD, and that I needed to figure out who I was, and to put supports in place so I could thrive in life.

“I wasn’t sure about getting an ADHD assessment as my understanding of it was that ADHD was the bold kid in the back of the class, and that wasn’t me at all.

“I was struggling emotionally at the time, having been sick myself, and then my wife passing away, and I was trying to look after our child Joey, so there was so much going on.

“I knew I needed to be there emotionally for Joey and myself, and this is what led me on the journey to understanding my own ADHD.”

ADHD Now

Daniel had tried and failed to get an assessment through GPs and private clinics here, and ended up being diagnosed in the UK.

He decided to undertake cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a structured, goal-oriented type of psychotherapy. “I got an ADHD coach to support me, which has totally changed my life,” he says.

“I started working with ADHD Now because I didn’t want people to have the problems I encountered when I was trying to get an assessment myself. And for people to have the ability to access services that would enhance their lives.

“It’s one thing getting a diagnosis, but it’s another thing to understand what to do with that diagnosis.”

He says ADHD Now is going from strength to strength, with offices in Dublin and Cork. “We’ve basically taken what was a two-year process and turned it into a six-week process which is fantastic and something I’m very proud of,” says Daniel. “If I can help people access services and help make them better so they can support themselves for a better life, then that to me is success.”

A different perspective

“I basically realised through my lived experience that life is short, and your life could be turned upside down like that,” says Daniel, who also owns the Old Mill Bakery on the Mallow Road in Cork.

“One of the last things my wife said to me was about how she would do anything to stay here with me and Joey, but that she couldn’t, and she accepted that - she said, ‘I want you both to be happy, make the most of your life’.

“When I live with that, every day I get up and say I’m going to make the most of today.

“When I met my current partner, Melanie, I was able to say to myself that it’s OK to find love again and be OK with it, and to be welcoming to whoever comes into our lives and make the most of life and be grateful.

“And with all that, my whole mindset started to change and I began to think, why can’t I be successful, why can’t I be responsible for people and be the change that’s needed.”

Daniel adds: “Sometimes, the area you’re from might have a stigma to it, and you might think that I don’t belong in some way, but that’s something you must break through.

“My perspective is life is short and I’m going to make the most of my life and help who I can, because my life kind of shifted around from being this self-centred person to now being able do what I can for others, that’s what motivates me.”

The future

Daniel says: “I’m so grateful when I get up in the morning, and for how my life has turned around, and the people that I’ve met along the way, and the support that I’ve been given.

“I’m proud of where I am right now and I’m really passionate about neurodiversity - ADHD and autism.

“I would like to look back at my career and be known as someone that created change and provided access to children and adults into crucial services quicker than they could before, which allowed them to change their life around like myself.”

“If your child has suffered over ADHD or autism, as a parent you just want to know how to help them, and I feel that our company, ADHD Now, is providing people with that opportunity, to be able to help their loved ones and themselves through the access to these vital services.

“I’m really looking forward to spending time with all the people I love, and I’m so grateful to be in a position where I love being around all those people... it’s just good to have a future with people that you love.”

See www.adhdnow.com.