Question Of Taste: Chanelle McCoy

As well as appearing on Dragon’s Den on RTÉ One, Chanelle McCoy’s business interest runs Chanelle Medical, a pharmaceutical company with 350 employees. The 40-year-old grew up in Loughrea, Co Galway, and has two children with her husband, former jockey AP McCoy.

Best recent book you’ve read: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Venre Harnish. I sent it to all the entrepreneurs I invested in.

Best recent film you’ve seen: Lion — it’s unbelievable to think it’s a true story. It’s about a little boy aged five who gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of miles across India, away from his family. He was eventually adopted by a couple in Australia and twenty five years later with the help of Google Earth and vague memories he was able to make his way back to his mother.

Best recent show/exhibition: I love fashion, so Alexander McQueen’s ‘Savage Beauty’ exhibition at the V&A was incredible. He famously said ‘I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress’. He was a genius.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old): Well being a ‘Galway Girl’ myself, I am loving this particular track on Ed Sheeran’s latest album.

First ever piece of music or art or gig that really moved you: For me it was my first Madonna concert!

The best gig or show you’ve ever seen (if you had to pick one!): The O show by Cirque de Soleil in Vegas was standout; and for pure entertainment factor, Robbie Williams at Knebworth was brilliant.

Tell us about your TV viewing: I’m so busy at the moment with work and kids that I don’t really have time to watch TV. Most of what I watch is on playback and I’m finding Catastrophe hilarious; Sharon Horgan is very clever.

Radio listening / podcasts: I love listening to BBC Radio 4, in particular Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young. I also listen to the WIRED podcast whenever I can.

You’re curating your dream festival — what three artists are on the bill, living or dead?

Bagatelle (they played at our wedding!), Van Morrison, Rhianna.

Best celebrity encounter: Having lunch with the Queen of England at Windsor castle and accompanying her to Royal Ascot races for a day was incredible, Also, my nine-year-old daughter Eve’s face when she met Niall Horan from One Direction.

You can portal back to any period of human cultural history or music event — where, when, and why? I would love to go back to the Greek and Roman times as I love the fashion style the ladies wore back then... very elegant and goddess like!

If you look at the worlds of arts and entertainment, is there one business idea that stands out as ‘I wish I’d thought of that’ ?

Spotify, Sonos, Apple Music has changed the world of home entertainment, I would have loved to have been the genius behind one of them.

Do you have any interesting family or ancestors?

I know the best jump jockey that world has ever seen… AP McCoy!

Unsung heroes: AP and I are ambassadors for a small but incredible charity called Tiny Tickers. They are the only charity doing the work they do, Tiny Tickers improve the early detection and care of babies with serious heart conditions. Tiny Tickers go into the community and train sonographers (people in the hospital that scan pregnant mums) to detect heart defects at Mum’s 20 week scan. Early detection is critical. Our little son Archie, who is now 3, had heart surgery at a young age, so this charity is very close to us, and does incredible work. See tinytickers.org

You are queen for a day — what’s your first decree? I would give everyone the opportunity to change jobs for a day, so they could work in the field they’ve always desired to be in.