What businessperson do you most admire?
Cemal Ezel, founder and volunteer chief executive of Change Please. It isn’t an easy task to turn a social issue like homelessness into a purpose. But especially turning that purpose into a commercially viable global company commands admiration, with the impact now being rolled out across the UK, US, Australia, France and Ireland.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Solo travel.
How do you unwind?
Sauna and a swim.
How much money is in your wallet?
None.
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The last book you read?
The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté.
What is the best business advice you’ve ever been given?
When I set up my own consultancy working with charities in 2010, Andrew Simpson, my business adviser through the Small Business Start up Scheme, Isle of Man, gave me some advice that has always stayed with me. He said: “Have a good think about how far you want to go before you hit the glass ceiling of work-life balance.” It made me pause and think about what success meant to me and how far I wanted to take my career without compromising my family life.
Who is the most famous person in your contacts list?
Can’t tell you that.
How do you manage your work-life balance?
Work-life balance is a top priority for me. It is one of the reasons I started working for myself in 2010, when my babies were young. I built good habits protecting that balance; they have stayed with me now that I work in the social-enterprise sector.
The last film you watched?
Hamnet. Well deserved Oscar for Jessie Buckley.
What is your favourite possession?
Handwritten letters from my grandad when I first left Bombay in 2002.
What’s your most memorable holiday ever?
Slea Head on the outskirts of Dingle has a very special place in my heart. We always brought good weather with us enjoying the breathtaking scenery and crystal clear waters of Coumeenoole beach.
What social media do you use?
Instagram, LinkedIn.
If money were no object, what would your fantasy purchase be?
Homes by the sea where I could dip my toes in all oceans of the world.
What is the first website you look at every morning?
The Irish Times.
Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Complete early bird. I love my sleep. A day with a nap is a good day.
If you were taoiseach for a day, what would you do?
I’d make the accelerated infrastructure plan a priority, with a particular focus on building more homes for both private and social housing, and especially on getting families out of emergency accommodation and into a home of their own.
What person do you most admire?
My darling husband. He is a complete family man and has an uncanny ability to switch off from the work day which I am working towards. He is a true Dub, who was raised very well. We are lucky to have each other and our gorgeous babies.
What’s your favourite place in Dublin and why?
Dún Laoghaire. Anywhere by the sea is beautiful, but Dún Laoghaire is extra special to me. it’s the first place we’d visit whenever we come over from Isle of Man to visit family. It was the first place in Dublin that I fell in love with.
Anything you would like to plug?
I’d love to plug Change Please Ireland. We are a wholesale coffee company that put 100 per cent of our profits into employment programmes for people at risk of homelessness.
Our aim is to build an ecosystem of businesses coming together to empower people out of homelessness through the power of coffee, support and employment. Businesses can be part of this local impact simply by serving our coffee as part of their offering.
The question I’d like to ask your readers is: what if your cup of coffee could change someone’s life?
