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Business Builders

Author: Conor Kearney

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I created Business Builders as a weekly interview series to have honest conversations with business owners, entrepreneurs, and investors about their journeys; their successes, setbacks, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. As a growing business builder myself, I want to learn directly from my guests and share those insights with you. My goal is to provide listeners with practical takeaways, fresh perspectives, and real inspiration to help you on your own path to building and growing a business. 

118 Episodes
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Tom Rowan, founder of Rowan Engineering, shares a grounded and refreshingly honest account of how he built a forensic engineering and environmental consultancy from one customer and no grand plan into a 30-person business working with insurers, public bodies, and major Irish organisations. Rather than chasing hype or overnight success, Tom explains how his ambition evolved gradually — from simply replacing his salary, to hitting €250k, then €1 million, and beyond. Along the way, he reflects ...
After losing his engineering job during the 2008 crash, Daniel Plewman found himself unemployed, on the dole, and unsure what came next. A chance moment — his wife struggling to source quality scrubs from the US — sparked the idea that would eventually become Happythreads, an e-commerce scrubs and healthcare uniform business now operating across Ireland, the UK, France, Spain, Germany and beyond. In this episode, Danny shares how he built Happy Threads from a spare room in Stoneybatter, goin...
Former Paddy Power co-founder Stewart Kenny shares a brutally honest account of how he built — and then left — the world’s biggest betting company. From his father’s influence and early fascination with risk to the creation of Paddy Power’s fearless marketing, Stewart speaks candidly about success, addiction, ethics, and why he ultimately left the industry he helped define. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn: – How Paddy Power became a cultural phenomenon – The marketing mindset that reshaped b...
Niall Jones, co-owner of Anglo Irish Refrigeration, joins host Conor Kearney to share his journey from redundancy to running a €30M+ business. In this episode, Niall gets candid about the personal risks of buying a company, the adrenaline of nonstop growth, and how culture—not spreadsheets—has become his most powerful business tool. If you’re interested in acquisitions, scaling SMEs, or what it really takes to grow a service-heavy business, this is an essential listen.
What can a magician teach us about leadership, resilience, and growth? In this episode of Business Builders Podcast, Ciaran McCormack shares how his early lessons in crowd control and stage presence became the foundations for running one of Ireland and the UK’s most successful retail groups. From balloon animals to Apple, to steering a company through examinership and rebirth, this is a story about creativity, grit, and believing in possibility — even when everything’s on the line. 🎧 In thi...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #94, I interview Sean Mac Fhearraigh, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Assay Genie. Sean shares his journey from academic cancer researcher to successful entrepreneur. We delve ...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #93, I interview Laura Dillon, head of Waterland Private Equity. She elaborates on Waterland's investment strategy, focusing on mature companies with high growth potential, and highlights...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #92, I sit down with Ross Keating, founder of The Lennox Academy, a sales training business that has achieved six-figure monthly revenues within two and a half years. Ross shares his jour...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #91, I interview Laura McDermott, Founder and CEO of Colectivo, a sustainability consultancy. The discussion covers various aspects of Colectivo's services, including advancing sustainabi...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #90, I sit down with Ciaran Marron, founder and CEO of Activ8 Solar Energies. Ciaran shares his incredible journey of starting from a makeshift office in a rented house's back bedroom to ...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #89, I interview Michael Flynn, famously known as Mattress Mick. Michael shares his remarkable journey from growing up in Dublin's Pearse Street, working in a bank, and taking over the fa...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #88, I interview Fionn Barron, co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Tracworx. Fionn shares his experiences from starting a business as a college project to creating a successful compa...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #87, I talk to Stuart McCaul, founder of Ishikawa Technologies. Stuart shares his journey from working in software sales to acquiring and scaling software businesses through Ishikawa Tech...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #86, I interview Greg Clarke, founder and CEO of Digicom, a company specialising in high-end video conferencing and AV technology. Greg shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting from h...
Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. Welcome to Series 10, Episode #85, where I chat to Rachel Bright, a celebrated children's book author and illustrator of such titles as: The Lion InsideThe Koala Who CouldThe StompysaurusAnd many more! To date...
*This episode was originally aired in April 2022* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. This week I caught up with Brian Keegan. Brian was founder and CEO of a global outsourced payroll company called 360 Group which he started from his one bed fla...
*This episode was originally aired in June 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. Welcome back to another exciting chat, this time with Anne Heraty, CEO of CPL Resources PLC, a global talent and recruitment company that she started in 1989. An...
*This episode was originally aired in November 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. I'm thrilled to welcome Dan Hobbs this week, Co-Founder and CEO of Protex, a software company using artificial intelligence to track safety for industrial em...
*This episode was originally aired in May 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. This week I caught up with Pat Caslin. Pat is currently CFO of Exit/Entry and serves as Chairman of Capventus. In this conversation, we do talk about Pat’s career...
*This episode was originally aired in May 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. Welcome back to Season 4 of Irish Business Builders! I'm excited to be back, and share more inspiring conversations with entrepreneurs, creators and thinkers thi...
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