Rachel reveals her recipe for success

Celebrity chef Rachel Allen yesterday told young people to trust their instincts if they wanted to be successful in business.

The TV presenter and author also revealed she was thrown out of her home economics class in secondary school in Dublin, but that didn’t stop her from following her dream.

Addressing the Young Entrepreneur Programme Blue Sky Day, in Tralee, Co Kerry, she had plenty of homespun advice for an audience of 600 students.

“You need to excel.” she said. “Be first into work in the morning and last out in the evening.

“You need to be constantly open to new ideas to find your calling in life and then you need to focus on what makes you happy.

“Trust your instincts. Don’t follow your friends. It’s okay to follow your own path. I couldn’t work so hard if I didn’t love what I do.”

Ms Allen, who studied at Ballymaloe Cookery School, also said she once lacked confidence. “I learnt to put it to the back of my mind that people were watching me and they were just there to learn how to cook and not to find something wrong with me.”

She then gave her top tip to students considering a business career: “Remember people’s names. Look into their eyes and smile.”

Entrepreneurs at the gathering included Cully & Sully co-founder Colum O’Sullivan; Netwatch founder David Walsh; Glenilen Farm founder Alan Kingston; and Secret Millionaire star Jim Breen, the founder of Tri Grand Prix and Pulse Learning.

One star of the show was Harry Moran, 13, from Cork, who last year became the world’s youngest app designer. His game Pizza-Bot was a top seller on the Apple App store last year.

He told students he began his programming career at the age of 12 with Coder Dojo before producing PizzaBot, top-selling game on the Apple App Store for three weeks in 2011.

“My mum didn’t understand what coding was all about initially but now she gets it. She had to sign the contract to allow PizzaBot to be sold on the Apple App store,” he said.

Harry is working onseveral games, including Robot Run, which will be out before Christmas.

YEP was founded in 2007 and more than 3,000 students have since taken part in the year-long programme, studying the skills of entrepreneurship.