Meet the Cork woman at the heart of workplace wellbeing

CLODAGH Ryan is flying high. Her start-up company, CRAOI (pronounced ‘kree’), which launched a pilot programme in the second half of 2022 with some very prominent businesses, has just introduced its first client outside of Ireland.

“We feel very excited to on-board this client and to be gaining entry into the Middle Eastern Market,” says Clodagh. “Not many businesses in Saudi Arabia are focused on the wellbeing of their staff. Our client, Nahda Academy, is an international school located in Jeddah who is eager to look after the wellbeing of its teachers and pupils and is proud to be a leader in this space.”

Burn-out and work-related stress have become the buzz words du jour and a huge issue for employees and companies alike.

With the introduction of hybrid and fully remote roles, the business world has become heavily reliant on technology.

“Technology is amazing”, says Clodagh “but screen fatigue is real. Employees can often be sitting in front of a screen for hours on end.”

With CRAOI, Clodagh’s aim is to “use technology for good and make wellbeing accessible for everyone.”

Described as a digital solution to workplace wellbeing, CRAOI combines data and technology to deliver personalised wellbeing support to companies and their employees.

CRAOI is backed by science and powered by a community of expert wellbeing contributors who are collectively on a mission to redesign workplace wellness by preventing work-related stress and burnout.

CRAOI works with companies and managers who truly care about the wellbeing of their employees, to offer their teams a personalised and holistic solution that supports each individual’s needs.

CRAOI empowers users to prioritise their own wellbeing so they can thrive at work, in turn increasing company productivity, morale and the retention of valuable employees.

The initial roll out was a paid pilot partnership with groups of employees from select businesses in Ireland including Morgan McKinley, RDJ, Fenero and BKK.

“We met with their employees every Friday to get their feedback, which was so invaluable, and we were able to incorporate their user experiences into finessing our business model and solution.”

The biggest challenge with any online offering like CRAOI is employee accountability and engagement. CRAOI has been designed to support employees through incentivisation, reminders and recognition.

CRAOI delivers personalised recommended wellbeing content to users across four holistic pillars: movement, mindfulness, nutrition, and happiness.”

“This content has been designed by established wellbeing experts to support employees in busy corporate environments and is available in audio, written and video format, ranging in duration from two minutes to 45 minutes.

“By collecting key insights and feedback directly from users across all offerings, we are bridging the gap between online and offline to truly identify the well-being practices and tools that work best for employees and their companies.”

CRAOI has more than 550 pieces of content incorporated into the solution and allows the user to customise their well-being journey.

Using data analytics to power tailored recommendations, CRAOI feeds suggested content into the dashboard of the individual user, who can then choose to add these to their calendar or not.

Users can also access the ‘All Content’ section of the dashboard and use the filters to find content that resonates with them. Based on their likes or dislikes, users can create a well-being calendar of events into which they can add their specific well-being content choices and track their progress each week.

“You don’t have to take on board any of the recommendations, but they are there to guide you if you are looking for that extra support”, advises Clodagh.

Filtering out things that are not of interest to the user, however, has the added benefit of preventing that inevitable sense of overload that can come when faced with a large choice of content.

“Everyone’s dashboard will be specific to them because everyone’s wellbeing needs are specific to them too.”

The goal with CRAOI is to offer employees access to moments of respite to refocus, renew, revive and reconnect by using options like “walking meditations, guided sleep meditations, yoga, barre, strengthening and mobility classes and educational courses on key topics like ‘managing stress for good’.

Feedback across the pilot study of CRAOI has been really positive.

“Users love the content and really enjoy the look and feel of the platform. But accountability is still a key test and we have taken that on board and are working with our tech team to ensure we provide what the user wants and needs.”

CRAOI’s challenge to the user is to identify a bad habit, change it and build a new one that will help them to unlock their full potential in work and beyond. For it to work, however, there has to be an investment on the part of the employee and company too.

Clodagh’s own wellbeing journey began in her teens when she suffered with panic attacks and crippling anxiety.

“I began practicing yoga and meditation at the time, which I found a huge help.”

Some years later, when she had landed her first job in Australia, she struggled with some personal challenges and found herself suffering from severe depression which lasted for nearly two years.

“Throughout this time, I learned the importance of putting my well-being first and I slowly built myself back up to the healthier end of the well-being spectrum.”

“Life is so busy. People find it hard to find time for themselves. They put their own needs right at the bottom of the pile.

“According to research studies, employees are still struggling. In one such study, of the seven countries analysed, 77% of employees were facing burnout and stress. They are crying out for support.”

Clodagh’s personal journey has shaped and infused CRAOI with authenticity and relevance.

“I come from a family of teachers so was probably expected to go down that same route. Instead, I did a Bachelor of Commerce degree in UCC followed by an internship with KPMG.”

It probably is no surprise to learn entrepreneurship was her favourite module in college. After her internship, Clodagh deferred a work contract with KPMG to go to Korea teaching English. A bold move?

“The pay was great and my attitude at the time was the bigger the culture shock, the better. I wanted to go on an adventure and I can honestly say it was the best decision I have ever made. I fell in love with the country and the people, and made so many amazing new friends.”

Clodagh always had a passion for business and while there, along with her sister and their Korean friend, she established a little event management company for ex-pats.

“We brought groups of expats on fun tours at weekends, and everyone loved getting to experience new things and visit new places that they wouldn’t have known about without the local knowledge.”

Prior to Korea, Clodagh had done some sales and marketing for Irene Twohig and her Educo gym. So, her subsequent move from Korea to Goa in India, to work as the business and marketing manager for an international yoga centre, seemed like an interesting and natural one.

The year before, Clodagh had qualified as a Yoga Teacher in that same yoga centre.

“Living and working in Goa was fabulous. The people were amazing and I made some great friends. By day, I worked in an office and in the evenings, we would do some yoga on the beach and watch the sunset.”

Clodagh was continuing to live an expat’s life and having so much fun, but had the inevitable ‘where am I going?’ epiphany after the season ended.

She made the decision to move to Australia.

“My marketing career took over off from here,” she explains. 

“I landed on my feet. I linked up with a friend from UCC who was leaving her job in Sydney to return home. She recommended me for her job, and that was it. I was sponsored straight away.”

Clodagh then joined the ranks of Rakuten Advertising, a leading Adtech company, part of the larger Rakuten group, which is a major Japanese corporation, like Amazon or Ebay. Her area of speciality was in affiliate marketing.

“It was very niche and I had never heard about affiliate marketing before so I learned from the ground up.

“In my most recent role with them, as global Director for Product Marketing, my team and I were responsible for devising Go to Market strategies and bringing new products and services to market across APAC, EMEA, NA and Brazil. So, I’m excited to be putting everything I learned there to practice, with the rollout of CRAOI.”

Clodagh started out with Rakuten in their Sydney office before relocating with them to London. In 2020, she was gearing up to move to their New York offices to work with their North American team when Covid hit. Her travel plans ground to a halt.

Luckily for Clodagh, while she didn’t actually make it over to NYC to work with her team in person, she was able to smoothly transition from London to Cork and work with them online from the comfort of home.

“I had a great team working with me,” she says.

The pandemic took its toll on the company, and there was a high staff turnover. Clodagh’s team suddenly ended up a team of one.

“I was facing burnout. I had to stand back and navigate my way through it. My mindset was self-care and well-being. I had realised the importance of prioritising my well-being years before and so I had the tools and knowledge to hand that helped me through that potentially very stressful stage in my career.”

It was at this time, that the seeds of CRAOI were sown. Every evening and weekend was spent developing the concept, brainstorming ideas and speaking with target users and clients.

“As I saw potential in growing my business, I was very honest with my employers about my plans, and they gave me three months off, of unpaid leave, to explore it. I was very lucky and extremely grateful to them, as I now had the time to really drive it forward.”

It was during this time that Clodagh secured a place on the New Frontiers phase 2 programme in MTU’s Rubicon centre. The programme has been a brilliant support to CRAOI, and she has learned so much from the community of inspirational founders taking part.

“I not only found my new work tribe, but have made friends for life.”

Clodagh is thrilled to have been invited to take part in phase 3 of the programme and to receive funding support as part of that.

“I feel so lucky, to be honest, and excited with this additional support.”

CRAOI has also been awarded a priming grant from the Cork City Local Enterprise Office (LEO).

“LEO has been amazing. This funding gives us salary support which allows us to bring CRAOI to the next phase of development.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to give back to the Irish economy by creating a business and jobs here. Now I am one step closer to realising this dream.”

The name CRAOI is a doffing of the hat to the Irish word croí, meaning heart: “At CRAOI, we truly believe that employees are at the heart of every single company’s success.”

Without doubt, at the heart of CRAOI’s success is one very impressive Clodagh Ryan.

Next week: Claire Keane, of Second Street Bakeshop.