Smurfit Speaker Series

Dr. Smurfit joins us for a special bonus episode of the Smurfit Speaker Series. In this wide ranging conversation, we discuss his story and the company he built. From humble beginnings, through years of hard work, we hear about the Smurfit Group's seemingly inexorable growth. There were many challenges faced and overcome, and many deals that continually doubled the size of the business every three to four years. These resulted in the Smurfit Group becoming one of the largest paper and packaging companies in the world.

Prior to her appointment to CEO in 2013, Julie held a number of senior public sector positions, spanning a 30-year career in Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. Julie’s driving ambition is for Irish-owned industry to become a powerhouse of job creation in  Ireland, resulting in rising prosperity in towns and cities all across Ireland. In pursuit of this  objective, Julie is mobilising all Enterprise Ireland resources and harnessing the power of  external stakeholders and partners, into a cohesive effort to build more Irish companies of  international scale. Julie shares the wisdom she has gathered with the Students of Smurfit in the final episode of this semester.

After dropping dead suddenly at the age of 18 while living in Australia, Mark Maxwell was very lucky to come through a week in a coma and survive. He had to give up his dream of a career in sport and embark on a journey to reinvent himself and discover new passions and purpose. This journey brought him through brain damage (which he kept secret), 2 months with limited short-term memory, 9 months of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder and a handful of close brushes with death over the past 7 years.  Mark is the founder of Gradlife which helps recents graduates navigate their next steps. This inspirational chat is a must listen for any young person no matter what your field.

Kingsley is CEO of the Networking Institute. Prior to this he has held a variety of roles including CEO of the Worldwide Ireland funds and CEO of Diaspora Matters. He is a networking expert and we discuss its importance in the world today. Kingsley also shares some tips on how you can improve your networking skills and how these skills will benefit you throughout your life.

Garret has started and scaled 3 successful businesses to date. He has great stories to tell and there are loads of key takeaways too. A must listen for any budding entrepreneur.