This Much I Know: Maxine Hyde

Maxine Hyde

I always thought I’d end up in the family business. My mother [Yasmin Hyde, the daughter of Myrtle Allen] started Ballymaloe Foods when I was four and I remember tasting the first product, Ballymaloe relish, and loving it.

I was a shy child and didn’t enjoy primary school. I wasn’t good at spellings or maths and developed a ‘I’m no good at school’ mentality. Thankfully, I loved secondary school with its wide mix of personality types and people from different backgrounds. There were 100 girls in my year alone.

We were real outdoorsy kids. Our dad was a vet and we had ponies from a young age. Our parents didn’t mollycoddle us. We learned to do our own washing and tidying early on.

I trained as a chef and then did commerce in UCC before starting in Ballymaloe Foods in a marketing role.

My biggest challenge so far has been reconciling the fact, in my own head, that I joined a family business and did not ‘work my way up’ to the top in the traditional sense, as so many managers and leaders have had to do in the many podcasts I listen to. But, being my mother’s daughter has certainly been more of a help than a hindrance. I know her so well, and know how she thinks, that there are some things I don’t even have to check with her.

I am extremely hard on myself and am always working on any perceived weaknesses.

The thing that irritates me most about others is over confidence.

My biggest fault is speaking before I think.

Ambition is definitely more important than talent. We regularly take on students for work experience and I try to choose based on their attitudes rather than just their grades.

If I could be someone else for a day I’d be my grandad Ivan Allen because he was so ahead of his time. He was commercially farming fruit and veg in the 1940s.

My idea of misery would be working for a business whose products I dislike.

My idea of bliss is traveling through remote developing countries, like Costa Rica.

I met my husband Ross by chance, at the Galway Races. I do believe in fate - but, I was looking.

The personality trait I most admire is kindness.

My biggest extravagance is doing a weekly shop at NeighbourFood, but they sell such glorious local produce.

I believe in an afterlife, absolutely.

My work life balance is getting better. I’m very organised and good at my to do lists, but am trying to build a team at work so that I can turn off the computer at the weekend. I used to work late into the night, but Covid has slowed things down a little. I used to travel regularly to Dublin, and internationally, but all that has stopped. As a result I’ve been able to commit to things like sea swimming every Wednesday night which is a great way to stay in touch with a group of friends.

My biggest strength is determination.

If I won the Lotto I’d buy a farm in Cork but Ross would buy a house in Portugal, so I’m not sure how that would work out.

The best advice I ever received was from a business advisor who was helping us develop our advertising strategies. He reminded me that we are not all clones of each other. There is a diverse range of personalities and opinions in the world. There is no use getting upset if someone doesn’t think the way you do.

If I could change one thing in our society, I’d get everyone into recycling. I know it’s not always as easy as it may seem, for example, we are changing all our outside packaging to cardboard which is great, but more expensive.

So far life has taught me that everybody thinks differently and responds to situations differently, so we should try to be as understanding as we can.

Maxine Hyde runs Ballymaloe Foods in Little Island, Cork. The company was established 30 years ago by her mother, Yasmin, the daughter of Myrtle Allen.