My Chartered Journey so far

I’m sharing my chartered accountancy journey so far and my future as part of the profession for two reasons:

1)     To enter the ‘Young Chartered Star’ competition to represent Chartered Accountants Ireland and Chartered Accountants Worldwide at the One Young World Summit in London this October and

2)     I’m genuinely passionate about the chartered accountancy profession and the positive impact it has on society on the basis that when we can trust the information we have and the structures we put in place, we can achieve more. Being a chartered accountant enables that confidence. I hope my story inspires others to pursue the profession or if already part of it, to be brave in their careers.

I grew up in a coastal village in Co. Waterford and have one sibling, also a chartered accountant. My parents both had their own businesses that were very much integrated into our daily lives. I can remember going to the accountant with my mother and being intrigued by the way he would interpret the numbers and offer a different perspective. While my mother, an incredibly shrewd businesswoman would be focused on sales and cash, he would talk about margins, working capital and inventory management. I was fascinated by this wonderful skill the accountant possessed and could see from a young age the value it could add to decision making. My Grandmother lived with us. As a young widow with six children she moved from Co. Carlow to Co. Waterford in the 70’s and bought the grocery store and post office in our village. She was a truly inspirational, strong, astute and glamorous lady and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.

Accountancy wasn’t an option in my school for Leaving Certificate but I selected Business and Economics knowing that it was the path I wanted to take. I graduated from UCC in 2006 with a BSc in Finance and secured a training contract with PwC in the assurance department. Studying to become a chartered accountant while training with PwC meant 4.5 intense years of long hours with national and international travel, weekend lectures, lots of study and exams. It was a tough but amazing experience and it was hugely enjoyable to share the journey with like-minded professionals in a fast-paced environment. I was afforded many great opportunities including international assignments and a secondment to PwC New York. I’m still in close contact with the team at PwC, now as a client. During my time at PwC I married my ever-supportive husband, a fellow accountant.

Given that it was in the height of the recession in 2010, I hadn’t considered leaving PwC when an opportunity presented via a colleague to join a relatively early stage pharmaceutical company. I was instantly inspired by the co-founders of EirGen Pharma (‘EirGen’) in Waterford when I met them and the rest of the management team. I was fascinated by their entrepreneurial journey so far and knew there was something special about the team and the company and I was excited to join as management accountant. It was at EirGen that I learned about fundraising and corporate finance under the guidance of a brilliant mentor. I also had the opportunity to do some volunteer work with Junior Achievement Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed teaching my students about the benefits of education and entrepreneurship. I was extremely fortunate to give birth to three baby boys and complete my MBA at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in 2015 during my time at EirGen in an encouraging and forward-thinking environment. As part of the MBA programme I participated in an international study trip to China which was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the country’s business and cultural landscape. I progressed to Head of finance and I managed the various transactions and due diligence processes that led to EirGen’s sale to OPKO Health Inc, a Miami based multinational in 2015. At that point I was on the senior leadership team and managing the Finance and IT functions in a SOX regulated environment.

A few months post acquisition of EirGen, a colleague and I began talking about setting up our own pharmaceutical company. We spent two years working on the business plan by night and at weekends and we secured our first funding round before leaving our jobs at EirGen in December 2017 to incorporate Shorla Pharma (‘Shorla’) in January 2018.

Shorla is a speciality pharmaceutical company based in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary developing innovative therapies in the oncology space with a focus on unmet needs. We have a particular interest in women’s and paediatric health. The company is currently in the research and development phase and will bring commercial products to global markets. We are a driven and compassionate company with the patients’ needs at the heart of our innovation guided by our vision of delivering more effective, less toxic therapies to those in need. My business partner, Orlaith Ryan and I are like-minded individuals with a complementary skillset. So far, our Shorla journey has been a very rewarding experience, while not without its challenges no different to any start up company. We have travelled to many countries including India and the US from Philadelphia to North Carolina to San Francisco to name a few places and have met some incredibly inspiring people along the way. We were part of the Irish delegation on the Select USA investment summit to Washington DC in June 2018 which allowed us make connections and explore opportunities in the US and we are members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland. We won the best start-up category in Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition 2019 for Tipperary.  

I like to think that I’m not what you might consider your stereotypical accountant, I don’t take myself too seriously and I like to let my personality show and have the ‘craic’ along the way! I love to travel with my family and enjoy keeping fit by going to the gym and running with friends and I like to read or listen to a podcast if I have free time.

My future as part of the profession

I recently secured a place on the competitive MIT/Harvard Medical School healthcare innovation bootcamp in Boston this June. In my capacity as Chartered Accountant and Entrepreneur, I am looking forward to joining a global community of innovators passionate about solving healthcare related problems and other innovation challenges.

I was delighted recently to be invited to join the Board of Directors of Irish Rule of Law International, an initiative dedicated to promoting the rule of law in developing countries around the world by harnessing the skills of Irish lawyers in using the law as a means of tackling global injustice and empowering all people to live in a society free from inequality, corruption and conflict. I will be the first non-lawyer to join the board and I look forward to using my skills as a Chartered Accountant to enable positive advancement.

The promotion of equality is something that I am passionate about and in particular gender balance. I was delighted to support UCD’s #balanceforbetter campaign recently in celebration of international women’s day. I strongly believe that the world will be balanced and will operate optimally when power is shared equally between women and men; amongst couples, within companies and across countries.

I am determined to inspire my young sons and demonstrate the meaning of equality to them. I hope to instil a love of learning and continuous improvement in them and I want to show them that by using the skills we have acquired and the opportunities that we have achieved, we can create positive changes in society and make the world a better place in which to live.

It would be a huge privilege to be afforded the opportunity to use my voice as an Ambassador for Chartered Accountants as part of the International Chartered Accountants Worldwide delegation at the One Young World Summit. It would allow me to expand my global network to enable knowledge sharing and make progress on global issues.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Become part of the Chartered Accountants Worldwide network and help make a real impact in the world. Find out more about becoming a chartered accountant at: https://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Prospective-Students