Born into a family of ten children, to loving parents in Belfast, Ireland in June 1961, I grew up in Limerick, on the banks of the Shannon River. As the fifth child, I acquired early mastery of the operational side of life! The ethos of my family was greatly influenced by a love of nature, public service, and education. By the age of 18, however, feeling suffocated, there was a strong urge to get away and explore the world beyond Ireland’s green shores.
While still at university, I emigrated to Germany. I intended to prove to the world that I could be successful. With initiative, creativity, communication skills and stamina – and some good luck – I began to establish a career in international management and began to build a rewarding livelihood, continuing my education, getting married, raising wonderful children and gaining hands-on experience in Operations, Process Engineering, Organisational Development, Strategy, and Leadership.
By my early forties, despite the trappings of success of a seasoned Senior International Manager in Telecommunications, I began to feel tired of living a life that didn’t really feel like mine. I felt exhausted, lost, unfulfilled, yet saddled with responsibilities and the pride of believing that I simply had to soldier on rather than admit that I may have gotten lost.
It was during this crisis that I came across the importance of the possibility, indeed the necessity, of `living the lives we love,´ which had been so eloquently expressed by the Irish philosopher John O’Donohue in his first book, `Anam Cara´.
In 2003, my world fell apart. In response, I began to really get to know my Self and to take responsibility for my life, through the practice of inventory, amends, self-care, and service. I embarked on the journey of recovery which I resume, in gratitude, every day. The illusion that `I could run the show´ had to be relinquished,. I have been supported on this path by an ensemble of fellow-travellers, gifted coaches, and therapists who have generously shared their insights and have shown me what to do each day to remain healthy and continue to grow. To all of these people I would like to express my heartfelt thanks.
On leaving the corporate environment in 2003, I began my own consulting business, serving SMEs in moving beyond the `start-up´ phase, helping them to establish the leadership capabilities, structures, and processes required in the later phases of the business life cycle.
In 2011, I then joined a global environmental NGO as COO. In this role I designed and executed a new global governance model. This was followed by two years on the ground in Mozambique in the service of the German Development Agency (GIZ), The project involved making compost from the organic waste collected at the local markets every day, and all the educational activities required to raise awareness among the local farmers and the population at large.
On returning from Mozambique, I began a 5-year commitment as the Commercial Director of a new venture within a family-run health care business;, the establishment of a 45-bed residential psychosomatic clinic for trauma and addiction, near Berlin. As the COO with P&L responsibility, my operational responsibilities included the securing of financing, hiring and coordinating a team of 70 staff, marketing, cash-flow management, and day-to-day operations. In October 2021, I began preparing the SoberOasis concept, which opened its doors in September 2022.
In the course of that preparation, I successfully completed an intensive 18-month period of traning as a Certified Positive Intelligence Coach (CPQC) with the Positive Intelligence Institute in San Francisco. PQ is based on the premise that any transformation process, in order to succeed, comprises 20% insights and 80% daily practice. The practice is facilitated by means of an easy-to-use PQ App which helps keep us on the beam as we become mentally fit and then maintain that fitness for the rest of our lives.
Values and Goals
My goal is to live, to the best of my ability, by my deeply held values, hoping that I can do a little better today than yesterday, while being of service to others. Like it or not, we are in the throes of a global transformation. We cannot simply stand idly by and hope that things will remain the same. This presents us with a golden opportunity to shape and be re-shaped by this transformation process, where both challenges and opportunities abound.
The great paradox about healing and growth is that: `In order to keep it, we have to give it away.´ It is in this spirit that I intend to shape the rest of my working life; supporting individuals and organisations in navigating phases of turbulence, transformation, radical change, and renewal, towards improved performance, peace, harmony & better outcomes, – all the while continuing to learn and grow, in the process. I feel privileged to be in a position to do this now.
