My Weekend: 'There's nothing quite like that Friday feeling'

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work?

My name is Finian Sedgwick, and I’m originally from Kilbrittain in West Cork. I haven’t lived in Ireland for over 14 years now — I’ve been very lucky that life and work have brought me all over the world — but I’m currently based in Melbourne, Australia, with my wife and our two young kids. I’m the co-founder of Black Emerald Single Grain Irish Whiskey, which I’m building alongside Simon Zebo and Ernest Cantillon. Despite living abroad, everything I do is still rooted in home, and Black Emerald is a big part of that: a very modern Irish whiskey with Cork DNA running right through it.

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night?

There’s nothing quite like that Friday feeling — and my four-year-old daughter, Navy, is quick to remind me on Friday mornings that the weekend’s nearly here, because it means more time with Baba. I usually start work very early, so by Friday afternoon I’m done by 2pm or 3pm and we’ll head out as a family — a great playground, something fun and unplanned, maybe a stop for a cheeky afternoon beverage and a bite out, or we’ll head home and make pizzas together. Later that evening, I try to catch up with a mate or two over a pint and a drop of whiskey (Black Emerald if I’ve got some handy), then get home at a decent hour to put my feet up with my wife and squeeze in one of our rare hours of TV. With two small kids, Saturday mornings start early — so I like to ease into the weekend well rested and in good form.

Lie-ins or up with the lark?

Definitely up with the lark. Working from Australia while running businesses in Ireland and the US means my alarm goes off around 5.45am — with one quick tap of the snooze button if I’m lucky — and calls usually start at 6am. Once I’m awake, that’s it; I find it hard to convince myself back to sleep. With a young family, proper lie-ins are a distant memory, but I get a lot of energy from being active and present. I try to do the school run every morning, always sit down for dinner with the family, and fill the rest of the day with work across the businesses — making sure Black Emerald keeps moving forward. If I can squeeze in a gym session or cook something decent, even better. But yes, very much an early bird.

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

I think the world has changed — traditional working hours aren’t really a thing anymore, especially when you’re an entrepreneur. If I’ve an hour free before the kids wake up, or a quiet spell at the end of the night, I’ll usually squeeze a bit of work in. But I try to keep my weekends as sacred as possible. That’s family time, and it’s also when I recharge and reset my head for the week ahead.

Work-life balance is a bit of a myth; it comes in seasons. Some weeks are pure chaos with birthdays, travel, deadlines and everything hitting at once, and other times you hit a nice groove. On those weeks, I protect the weekend fiercely. Filling the cup personally is what allows me to show up professionally — for Black Emerald and everything else I’m building.

If money was no object, where would you head for a weekend city break? And who would you bring?

I’m lucky that work brings me to some incredible places, but if money was no object and I had a proper weekend city break, I’d take the family straight to New York. Mexico City and Paris are high on the list too, but New York still wins. We lived there for seven years and it’s still the best city in the world — full of energy, sunshine in the summer, and some of our closest friends. Living in Australia makes it a pretty ambitious ‘weekend’ trip, but if time and money didn’t matter, that’s where we’d go without hesitation. That said, home is always where the heart is. On a sunny day in West Cork, there’s nowhere else in the world you’d rather be. Getting the kids back there, showing them where I’m from, being by the water and outdoors — that’s still my happiest place.

Closer to home, is there somewhere you go to recharge?

Kinsale is my go-to place to recharge. There’s something about getting a long walk in around the town, dipping in and out of a few shops, grabbing a good coffee, and then heading back out for another stretch along the water. Finishing up in the Bulman or the Spaniard — two of the great pubs in Ireland — is the perfect reset. It’s one of those days that makes the world feel a bit more magical. And if there’s a drop of Black Emerald involved, even better.

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend?

Living in Australia means I don’t get to catch up with family in person — it’s mostly breakfast or bedtime calls across the time zones — but weekends are definitely for friends. It’s important to me that our kids grow up knowing their parents had a social life before we became parents, so we make the effort to see people, whether that’s friends with kids, friends without kids, or heading to an AFL match.

Being from Cork, community and being social are just built into you. When you live abroad and don’t have family down the road, your friends quickly become your family. So we try to prioritise that time, even when everyone’s busy and it takes a bit of co-ordination. It’s good for the kids to see it, and it keeps us grounded too.

Do you get to indulge in any hobbies?

I’m a big sports fan — F1, Everton in the Premier League, and of course Munster and Ireland for rugby. Living on the other side of the world means the match times are usually brutal, so I spend a lot of weekends avoiding spoilers and then watching replays over breakfast. There’s brilliant sport locally too, and if I can get the kids out to something in person, even better — an AFL match, a bit of cricket in the park, anything with a bit of atmosphere.

I used to play more soccer myself but the knees aren’t what they used to be, so these days the gym or the pool is my version of a hobby. It’s a bit of meditation and it keeps me in decent shape to pick up and put down a million things a day with two small kids.

Entertain or be entertained?

I absolutely love to entertain. When we lived in New York — pre-kids — we had people over nearly every weekend. Having people in our space, cooking for them, making drinks, setting the tone… that’s genuinely my happy place. A lot of that love of hospitality and bringing people together is part of what inspired us to start Black Emerald in the first place. Life looks a little different now with two small kids, and hosting isn’t quite the marathon it used to be, but we still love having people over, especially around the holidays. There’s nothing better than controlling the atmosphere yourself — the food, the music, the drinks. That said, I’m equally happy heading down to the local for a dram and letting someone else do the cooking. So a bit of both, but hosting will always be one of my favourite things to do.

Where are your favourite places to eat out in Cork?

I haven’t lived in Cork for a long time, so I’m a bit out of touch with all the brilliant new spots, but I still have a few favourites I always go back to. I love sticking my head into Cask or The Shelbourne on MacCurtain St, and my co-founder owns Sober Lane, so I obviously have a soft spot for that — and The Raven too.

Food-wise, Cork is absolutely buzzing these days. There are so many great options that you really can’t go wrong. I’m hoping to get the family back for a longer stay soon so we can properly explore everything that’s popped up. The city feels more alive and diverse than ever.

How does your Sunday night usually look?

The weekend is really about filling the cup with the family, so Sundays tend to have a nice rhythm. We’ll usually have a big family meal, do the bath-and-bed routine with the kids, and if I can sneak a gym session in earlier in the afternoon, even better.

Once the house is quiet, I use Sunday night to set myself up for the week. I’ll catch up on emails and WhatsApps — all the bits that pile up while you’re chasing small kids around — and get everything organised so Monday doesn’t feel chaotic. If there’s time left over, my wife and I will run through our plans for the week so we’re both grounded heading into it. It makes a big difference starting Monday feeling like you’re in control.

What time does your alarm go off on Monday?

My Monday alarm usually goes at about 5.45am. I get up, get a bit of work done, and start breakfast for the family. My wife normally does the Monday school run, so once everyone’s fed and out the door, I look after our almost-one-year-old for an hour while she’s doing the drop-off and picking up a few bits. When she gets back, that’s when I properly kick off my day and try to go into ‘monk mode’ for a while.

Mondays in Australia are funny because you’re ahead of the world — everyone else is still on Sunday — so it’s a great chance to get on top of things before the week really wakes up.

Anything else you’re up to right now?

Right now, the main focus is driving Black Emerald. It’s flying in Ireland, and we’re just about to open up the US and South African markets, so there’s a huge amount of work going into that next phase of growth. I also run a tech startup in the US called BAXUS, so between the two businesses — and two very young kids — life is full in the best possible way.

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities that have come up, and determined to make both businesses as successful as they can be, while still keeping family front and centre. With the kids being so young, I’m trying to hold onto as much balance and healthy living as possible… even if it’s always work in progress!

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