Workplace Wellbeing: Pursuing a hobby could lead to the ideal career or even starting a business

Following their interests has led four women to set up enterprises that, for now, operate as a side hustle

Aislinn Dunne of smudges.ie has always enjoyed crafting activities such a jewellery making and describes herself as ‘a maker at heart’. Picture: Dylan Vaughan

A love of golf inspired Lucy Condon from Kilkenny to set up her business.

“I’m a 48-year-old Garda sergeant who loves her job,” she says. “But in An Garda Síochána, you can retire after 30 years of service. As someone who likes to keep busy, I recently started planning and decided to build a business to have in place when my time is up.”

Lucy Condon: 'I built my own business to run in my retirement.' Picture: Claire Dunne

The first step in that forward-planning process involved coming up with a business idea. As a long-time golfer who had attended many golfing events, Condon thought there could be a better offering for women.

She says that “the gender split in golf is 80% male and 20% female but that is changing as golf is now one of the fastest growing women’s sports. I saw a gap in the market for women-only overnight golfing events and set up venuegolf.ie to fill it.”

Up to 80 women now attend each of Condon’s events, arriving singly or in groups to tee off for a game of golf, sit down to a gala dinner, listen to after-dinner speakers from the world of golf share their insights into the game, stay overnight, and then have a golf clinic with a professional before going home in the morning.

“I organise everything so that women can focus on enjoying the experience,” she says.

Creativity from the heart

Aislinn Dunne from Callan describes herself as “a maker at heart”. The 42-year-old works in digital strategy and transformation but has always enjoyed crafting activities such as dressmaking and jewellery making in her spare time.

Having surgery last year led her to pursue her passion professionally. “I took time off work to recover, which gave me an opportunity to reevaluate my life,” says Dunne. “I realised I wanted to do more with my creativity.”

She joined a women’s business network and attended one of its events wearing a pair of earrings she had made from hand-painted paper and resin. The compliments she received encouraged her to design more earrings and she now sells her designs on smudges.ie.

“I launched the website in March, and it’s gone so well that I went down to a four-day week in my day job in May,” she says. “I’m excited to see how much bigger it gets.”

Hobby became a book business

Emma Peagram is someone else who turned her hobby into a business. The 45-year-old “bookworm” from Kilkenny moved house last year and realised she had so many books, she didn’t know what to do with them.

“My day job is in the waste business, where I see so many books being thrown out and I couldn’t bear to do that,” she says.

Having always wanted to run her own business, Peagram spotted an entrepreneurial opportunity. She set up dilemmasbooks.net, an online secondhand bookshop with a twist.

Customers can browse and buy books just like they can in any regular bookshop, but they can also buy mystery boxes where they pick a genre, and Peagram chooses a book for them to enjoy.

“The feedback I’ve got from customers is that they love the surprise of it,” she says.

Inclusive social initiatives

Ashling Delaney is a 52-year-old solar energy consultant from Johnstown whose side hustle isn’t based on her hobby, but on her son Joe’s.

“Joe is 27 and has autism,” says Delaney. “He loves music and dancing, but there are very few safe and inclusive places he can go to enjoy them.”

She set up Equal Vibes to provide such places. It’s a social initiative in which she organises discos and facilitates people of all abilities to play musical games or sing, dance and play music on stage.

Since its foundation two years ago, Equal Vibes has worked with schools, businesses, and organisations all over the country.

Delaney has developed a programme in which she works with groups one evening a week for seven weeks, culminating in a stage show.

“I brought people from those shows to perform at festivals and worked with corporate groups. And Joe has come with me to every single event,” she says.

Make hobbies a starting point

Bandon-based career guidance counsellor Róisín Kelleher believes we can all learn a lesson from these women and their side hustles. That lesson is to follow your interests when it comes to your career.

“Whether you’re a young person trying to decide on a career path or an older person who wants to change direction, hobbies can be a great starting point,” she says.

She gives the example of someone interested in sports. Only a few will have the talent and determination required to become professional sportspeople, but more could consider careers in sports psychology, personal training, physiotherapy, or sports journalism.

Róisín Kelleher: Your hobby could one day become your career

Her advice? “Pursue your hobby to see where it takes you. It could develop into a career.”

Terry O’Brien, a career consultant and lecturer at Dublin City University, suggests taking a gradual approach. “Don’t presume that just because you’re passionate about something, everyone else will be too.

“You need to test whether there is demand for the product or service you’re offering and whether people are willing to pay for it,” he says. “Don’t give up the day job until you’ve tested the waters.”

When you’re testing those waters, remain open to adapting to customers’ needs, says O’Brien. “You might have a great business idea, but when you present it to your customers, they might want something slightly different. Try to be flexible in responding to them.”

Terry O'Brien: "If you run your own business, You're the receptionist, the CEO, the salesperson and the marketing person all at once"

Consider taking one of the Start Your Own Business courses offered by Local Enterprise Offices nationwide. O’Brien says: “These can really help people understand the practicalities of getting a business off the ground”.

He warns that many people misunderstand the nature of running their own business, equating being in charge of their own time with having more free time.

“But often running your own business means that instead of having one job, you have many,” he says. “You’re the receptionist, CEO, salesperson, and marketing person all at once. You’ll potentially work more hours, especially at the beginning. This makes it all the more important that you enjoy what you’re doing. Otherwise, you run the risk of burnout.”

However, you don’t have to do everything yourself. It can be worth enlisting a professional for help with aspects you struggle with.

“The likes of a marketing professional can set you straight on everything from how much to charge for your product to how to present it to the public,” says O’Brien.

Entrepreneurs learn as they go

What lessons would our four entrepreneur share from their experience of turning their hobby into a business?

Peagram was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was from an official point of view. “There was just a bit of paperwork to fill out,” she says.

She has struggled with the social media side of things. So has Dunne, who says that “creating content is the biggest challenge. But it’s part of the job. You have to be the face of your business, which means getting comfortable with putting your face out there.”

One of Condon’s takeaways is that “you don’t have to be the best at something to build a business around it. I’m only an average golfer, but I love the game and saw a gap in the golfing market. I’m learning as I go, and I’m enjoying the places the business is bringing the people I’m meeting along the way.”

Delaney encourages others thinking of setting up their own business to “go for it”. “I’ll never have the words ‘if only’ written on my headstone because I’ve tried things. You only live once.”