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Noreen Doyle established The Irish Biltong Company in 2015 with her husband John. Previously, the pair launched a wholesale meat company together in Kildare which continues to be their core business. After coming across biltong which is traditionally of South African origin, they felt the air dried and spiced meat snack would be a good fit for their skill set and believed that there was a gap in the Irish market for a healthier, meat based treat.   Noreen spoke to Peter about the difficulties of launching an unconventional product, getting their brand in front of a wider audience by partnering with Irish rugby stars and the challenges of being a woman working in a predominantly male industry.  

Chupi Sweetman is the founder of luxury jewellery company Chupi. She began her career in fashion and was scouted at the age of 21 by Topshop, becoming the youngest designer ever hired in the company‘s history. She eventually decided that the world of fast fashion was not for her and realised that she wanted to use her design skills to make beautiful jewellery that would last multiple lifetimes.   Chupi sat down with Peter to talk about her fascinating career to date, her 'quarter life crisis' and even her own engagement. Most importantly, she discusses in depth the huge step she made in swapping a high-powered career in fashion for something much, much closer to her heart.

Derval O‘Rourke is the founder of Derval.ie and a former champion hurdler. With two cookbooks and a stint with Munster rugby under her belt after her retirement from athletics in 2014, Derval set up digital health resource Derval.ie and subsequently brought former marketing director at the Kilkenny Group, Greg O’Gorman on board as a business partner.   Derval talked Peter through the novel business model at the heart of Derval.ie, the star names from the world of athletics like Asafa Powell and Lolo Jones she’s now working with and the sense of freedom leaving her old career behind gave her. She also spoke at length about her long standing fascination with business, the importance of education and how she and her business partner Greg knew next to nothing about each other when they started out on this journey.

Swap Options is the brand new entrepreneurs podcast from the Business Post. Over five episodes, host Peter O’Dwyer learns about the power of change as leaders from the worlds of elite sport, hospitality, retail and design tell him why they traded one successful career for another and what it was really like setting up their own business. You’ll hear their origin stories, the successes and failures of being a first-time business owner and what’s next for some of the country’s most exciting SMEs.