Irish Australian Business Awards Peoples Choice 2022

I joined Grays in 2015 as a Business Development Manager. The business sells auction services to the construction, transport, and industrial sectors and is very male dominated.

I am a tenacious hard-working individual and really submerged myself in learning all aspects of the business from the start.

Seven years on I am a member of the Senior Leadership team and am responsible for leading the Victorian and South Australian Industrial Teams.

I have led major sales projects through various sales channels and have developed a solid customer base including many Irish Australian construction businesses, priding myself on building excellent long term professional relationships.

In Feb 2021 I moved to Victoria to take up my current role with COVID Restrictions quickly making business operations quite challenging.

I had to quickly pick up the reigns and learn as I progressed. I was unfamiliar with the local market and the prospective customer base having spent a decade in Brisbane. My strategy was to focus the team on what we could control, ensuring they were supported and growing the business in a uniquely challenging time.

Despite all the obstacles that were thrown, I am very proud of our business achievements and our growth in market share. This was made possible by a testament to hard work, a focused supportive team and unambiguous leadership. I am passionate about leading people and seeing them thrive, I have a strong belief that diversity makes us better.

Foodini is a mobile app that connects the 1 in 3 people with dietary needs to the restaurants and venues that can cater for them. We make dining out with dietary needs easier, faster, safer and more enjoyable!

My name is Dylan McDonnell and I am the Founder and CEO of Foodini. I am from Kerry originally and studied law at UCC before doing a masters in International and European Business Law at Trinity College Dublin. I lived in Dublin for several years where I trained and qualified as a lawyer at Matheson, a top tier corporate law firm. I then specialised in Asset Management and Investment Funds before going in-house with Mercer. When I decided to move to Sydney in 2019, I took up an in-house role with Mercer in Australia.

When I was 10 years old I was diagnosed with coeliac disease, meaning that I have to follow a strict gluten free diet. This has been a massive struggle over the years especially when dining out and has resulted in many negative health consequences. When Covid hit, I decided to see if I could come up with a solution to a problem that affects millions of people globally – eating out with dietary needs.

Following months of research and realising that there was no global solution, I decided to try to create a solution for this global issue – and thus Foodini was born! Foodini is a unique mobile application which allows people to create a dietary profile (40+ diets and allergens to choose from) and the app will show the users which restaurants can cater to them, and exactly what they can and can’t eat on the menu.

Foodini utilises a dietitian led approach to ensure the accuracy of the ingredient and allergen information inputted into the system. We have now developed a unique AI tech solution which allows us to use technology to detect allergens in individual menu items, making our dietitians job much easier and mitigating risk of human error. This approach also allows us to scale at a much quicker pace, meaning we will be Australia wide in the next 6 months.

In a short space of time, we have grown the team to 15 people, and also closed a significant investment round, with investors including global VC funds and professional angel investors. We have enabled tens of thousands of Australians to find meals suitable for them and their loved ones, and also helped thousands of restaurants, cafes and businesses to attract new, loyal customers – thus giving the hospitality industry a much needed boost after a horrific few years.

The service we provide makes a huge difference in the lives of the millions of Aussies with dietary needs, and we are looking forward to expanding into the US and Europe (and Ireland of course) in the very near future. Our vision is to make catering for those with dietary needs the norm, instead of the exception. It brings me a lot of personal satisfaction to be in the process of building a successful and scalable company, whilst making a genuine positive impact on society.

I believe I am a worthy winner as HoverIT is a solution purposely designed to help millions of businesses. The problem - SMEs are getting left behind on Google. Millions of businesses don’t have websites which can be expensive to build and maintain, it is extremely difficult to list on the first page of Google which consumers rarely pass. SEO can also be difficult and expensive to implement, and only 20-40% of online SMEs invest in SEO. Reaching one’s target audience is increasingly difficult.

Consumers want to find products and services nearby, they want to shop in line with their values e.g., Sustainably, ethically, slave free, they want to support local.

THE SOLUTION - AN E-COMMERCE PLATFROM PURPOSELY DESIGNED TO SUPPORT SMEs

• A ‘one stop shop’ offering the search, purchasing, tagging, selling and advertising of products and services
• A platform positioned to replace websites and simplify e-commerce for millions of businesses
• A solution that enables sellers to tag their offering using customer language
• A stand-alone platform which adds immense value to search engines and partner platforms via API integrations

OUR VISION IS FOCUSED ACROSS THREE KEY VERTICALS

1. Local Businesses & SMEs - They stimulate the local economy
2. Consumers - Helping both independent and business consumers to find exactly what they’re looking for and shop as per their values
3. Organisations & Certification Bodies - Those on a mission with a purpose, be it a non-profit cause or community, a certification body or a local market.

OUR UNIQUE FEATURES

1. PRECISION TAGS - ENABLING SELLERS TO REACH THEIR TARGET MARKET MORE EFFECTIVELY

• Sellers tag their offering using a customer’s language “SEO 2.0”
• Buyers find exactly what they’re looking
• Better discovery and overall shopping experience
• Gives local businesses and SMEs a cost-efficient way to increase sales

2. LOCATION TAGS - CREATING ONLINE COMMUNITIES OF SELLERS VIA LOCATION

• Buyers can find and purchase local business products and services on a single platform
• Drives traffic into local businesses though our “Click & Collect” feature
• Increases local business sales, reach and visibility
• Increases business awareness in your town for both locals and tourists

3. VERIFIED TAGS - SHOP IN LINE WITH YOUR VALUES CONFIDENTLY

• HoverIT makes it simple for people to search and shop in a way that aligns with their values
• A dedicated marketplace where buyers can find and purchase certified products from multiple certified partners in one place
• Membership Organisations and Certification Bodies control who can use their exclusive “Verified Tag”

HOVERIT ENABLES THE SALE AND BOOKINGS OF BOTH PRODUCTS AND SERVICES MAKING OUR SOLUTION SUITABLE FOR ALL BUSINESS TYPES

WHY NOW

• The pandemic has accelerated the shift to shopping online
• Consumers want to shop locally and as per their values
• Search engines, SEO and social media platforms are inadequately designed for SMEs trying to sell online
• There are hundreds of millions of SMEs in the world, yet only 10 search result positions on Page 1 of Google

HOVERITS VISION IS THAT NO BUSINESS GETS LEFT BEHIND

“Ever Tried. Ever Failed, No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better.” Samuel Beckett

Realta a Regtech Company, is a product of the power and grá of the Irish diaspora network. By simply being in Australia our Irish roots instantly connected Stephen and I.

My love of all thing’s regulation and compliance and Stephen’s passion for technology and law led us to found Realta Logic in August 2020. Our journey to unlocking the art of the possible, Compliance led Innovation began. A proud Irish led Australian company with a Global vision.

We engaged with CSIRO/Data 61 and their Regtech and Computational Law programme. Our modular architecture built on our proprietary regulatory knowledge graph, a living breathing digital regulatory nervous system for compliance gained attention. We agreed a licence on some of their tech that we had utilised and began to collaborate with Data 61. Data 61 decided to end their Computational Law, Rules as Code and Reg Tech programme. Recognising an opportunity, we approach them and in December 2021 signed an agreement to spin out 15+ years of research and IP to Realta, becoming the sole commercialisation pathway for CSIRO on Regtech project, both for Public and Private entities.

In less than 2 years we have secured the backing of CSIRO, began working with both Federal and State governments on projects and collaborations. One example is a decision support tool for Granting Export Licences of Red Meat to California. Delivering a scalability road map and Digitalisation Framework to encompass more product types and jurisdictions.
We have signed a global partnership deal with Appian, empowering their enterprise software with digital regulations and were their guests at Appian World in Florida in April 2022. We are presenting at Appian APJ and Europe later this year.

We secured a POV with a Multinational architectural engineering firm, building a continuous assurance platform integrating building design and plans for Fire and Safety regulations. We have entered a research collaboration with QUT Law Department, publishing numerous papers and are currently designing a digital law course for 2023. We currently have an ACC grant consideration for 3 years and acceptance to an international conference in Europe on Computational Law. We have already had the honour of representing Australia on global Plenaries on Digital regulations and I have been appointed to the Future of Law Steering committee in the Australasian Computers and Law Society (and I not a lawyer!)

Are we worthy of an award? We did not fit in to any lists, so we started our own, Compliance is not seen as glamorous or sexy, we are ok with that. We are pioneering the true digitisation of regulation and compliance. Managing regulatory change without impacting revenue streams by facilitating the ability to innovate safely for regulated entities. We are changing the narrative, empowering innovators, and reaching for the Stars (Realta is Star in Gaelic)

Emerald Travel is a family business and I am Chris Moloughney, the Managing Director. I have engineered and transformed a small family business in 2003 to a leading SME independent agency in Emerald Travel. A personable and family friendly approach to travel, Emerald Travel’s success has been attributed to the attention to detail of tailored corporate and leisure travel.

Emerald Travel has demonstrated YOY growth with overall revenues increasing. Agents of Emerald Travel take a sense of pride as the experts in travel to Ireland and over the last 19 years have expanded their expertise to incorporate the rest of the world as well. Flights, accommodation, tours and insurance are often the DNA of any agency. Much of this can be replicated from one agency to another. Emerald stands apart from the competition by providing personally escorted tours, developed from the ground up by the experts with the traveler, the family, the customer at the core of it all.

March 2020 was a frightening time for our industry - I really did believe that we would not survive. I remember being upset and scared for our business and my Dad (who has worked side by side with me for19 years) - reminded me that the Irish (our core market) would always need to travel even when times were tough. Yes, they did travel and we were one of the few agencies who did not stop booking clients.

I can sit here now and say that COVID was good to me personally but more importantly to our business. I found my voice during COVID - I learnt that if I needed something I just had to ask and that is why relationships in the industry and the community are so important. I'm extremely proud of myself and our staff for all that we did to get people to and from Ireland, the UK, South Africa at the worst possible times.

The success of our business today is due to the work we did over the last 2 years and the word of mouth, social media has and hard work during 2020 & 2021 has come back to us three fold.

My name is Michael Slowey, I have lived in Melbourne for 12 years, coming here at the age of 19 from Ireland. I currently own 4 successful businesses. I began Custom Clad 10 years ago, whilst living in a hostel, since then it is now one of the most successful cladding companies in the state, with over 80 employees we have completed many large scale commercial projects such as Rod Laver Area.

In 2021 I invested in Micawber Tavern, a Pub/ Restaurant in Belgrave during the height of Covid. After renovations and rebranding of this business it has tripled its revenue and become a highly success venue within the area. I have a passion for business and thrive in the anticipation of succeeding.

I moved to Australia in 2008 after being made redundant from my graduate role at CBRE, Dublin. I arrived by myself, as a bashful 21-year-old, full of dreams and ambition to be a successful property advisor. It took me some time to find my way, and I had many personal and professional hurdles to cross, including networking in a male dominated industry.

A breakthrough for me was becoming involved with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a professional member body which I aspired to be a chartered member of. Predominately a group of expats in a similar position to me, it gave me a community of like-minded professionals, passionate about property, standards and making a difference. I have always been proud of what RICS stands for and the support network it provides around the world. In return for all that the membership has given me, I am an active ambassador of RICS in Australia.

Moving forward 14 years, I am currently Divisional Director of Self Storage Australia and New Zealand at Cushman & Wakefield - one of the largest property firms in the world.

I lead a talented team of valuers nationally, specialising in the unique asset class of self storage. Our team operates as exactly that, a team, or rather, a supportive network where everyone plays to their strengths. As the team’s leader, I see my responsibility as one of guidance and support, to encourage supportive and considerate behaviours, and to help all team members reach their goals and full potential. We are the best at what we do, and we support one another to ensure we all benefit from being blessed with that honour.

A core purpose of mine is to guide and inspire those around me, as has been done for me in the past. As the only female director of Valuations and Advisory across my firm nationally, I have a core passion and purpose to be the best role model I can be to other females, and also to my male colleagues. This is to ensure other women have both the opportunity and desire to take leadership roles at Cushman & Wakefield, and the broader property industry in the future.

Though hard work, being open to guidance and treating colleagues and clients like family, my career has exceeded my own expectations. I would love to have the honour of representing the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce so that I can inspire other young professionals to reach for the stars, regardless of the circumstances, and that kindness, integrity and openness can truly get you everywhere.

I have a career path that makes little sense in first look (and arguably even less with further inspection!).  I am an Architecturally trained professional, who works independently for Construction companies, on mega projects (>$2B). I am also studying for an MBA (part time). Moving into Infrastructure just in time for the current wave of projects has allowed me to work on close to $50B worth of projects.

I have never been drawn to the path most followed, I like to see where problems exist, and find the most efficient / collaborative way to solve them (irrespective of how it usually solved). Rather than the typical approach of “what’s the typical next step”, I work back from the problems that repeat themselves. I remember my first boss starting a project with the statement, “let’s only make new mistakes” - it made little sense to me as a graduate, but I now think of it most weeks.

I am always drawn to the ‘gaps between the silos’, the areas where tensions arise, when the deadline is in sight. Construction has historically hired and promoted the same people (including personality type), and therefore makes the same mistakes. I get in trouble for pointing out the issues in our industries, but I am a firm believer that, the first step to solving a problem, is acknowledging that there is one.

We have some of the best problem solvers of any industry, and I plan to be in the industry, when the 18th century cushiness model of (a) build a prototype, and (b) sell it - embraces the strengths of digital engineering, modularisation, diversity of workforce (at all levels), data analytics, etc.

As the industry furthest behind on innovation / productivity improvements - we are in a position where there are huge wins to be had. I look forward to being in the generation who pushes us into the current day!

Our story dates back to the 1880s in West Cork where our Clonakilty Blackpudding was first made using a secret recipe passed down through the generations in our family butcher shop Edward Twomey’s. Since then, we’ve grown our collection of products to include Whitepudding, Rashers, Sausages and most recently Veggie Pudding.

The demand for our products, created by our loyal Irish expat customer base, opened up opportunities in markets abroad and as a result we entered the UK market in 2012 and then Australia in 2013.

Clonakilty Blackpudding, Whitepudding and Irish Pork Sausages now available in Australia, and are created using the same secret recipes. The secret blend of spices are mixed in Ireland by Colette Twomey the owner, and then sent to Melbourne’s award-winning artisan Butcher Peter G Bouchier, who creates the puddings and sausages to the same specification and using the same traditional methods as they do in Ireland.

Using only premium all natural ingredients with no artificial colours preservatives, flavours or nitrates, and over 80% Australian ingredients sourced from leading producers in Victoria and NSW who share our passion for quality produce and meat, as well as animal welfare and sustainability. Our puddings are healthier and lasts longer than other smallgoods. Usually served as part of a breakfast, the versatile flavour becomes an enhancing ingredient to other dishes and can be combined in fusion cooking as a progressive use of classic ingredients in starters, lunches and main course dishes.

Our ultimate mission is to bring the familiar, welcoming taste of home to Irish families all across Australia.

Leaving a career as Civil Engineer to pursue a business career during covid was a calculated decision. I felt the recruitment of your best assets was too transactional. You get out what you put into people and how you hire them - first impressions last.

That's why BrightSide Consultants was created and from day one a keen focus has been on supporting the Irish & Australian Construction & Engineering Industry, professionals and their careers, but most importantly their personal lives - setting them up for success while driving the business for our valued clients.

Why would BrightSide be a worthy winner of an Irish Australian Business Award?   I feel BrightSide Consultants in the 3 short years of operation has been incredibly innovative, resilient committed to the cause, creating international opportunities for my clients to attract professionals to effectively run their business and thrive, and as a result, build on the reputation and awareness of the life down under for youngs Irish professionals. This is just the beginning of a very big picture to grow the Irish Australian business community fulfilling careers, personal lives, and business ambitions.