Happy International Women's Day! Today in the School of Business at Maynooth University we celebrate the strong females we have taught and are teaching. We want to take this opportunity today to celebrate 15 fabulous females who are leading by example and these women represent the wider community of females. Thank you all! If you know these females and wish to celebrate with them, add a message to our social media posts (throughout the day) to celebrate with them.
My name is Margaret Hanlon and I am a BBs Marketing graduate from Maynooth University. As someone who really didn’t enjoy secondary school, Maynooth University completely changed my perspective on education and how enjoyable it could be. Since graduating in 2016 from MU, I’ve complete a Dual Masters Degree in International Management from Northeastern University in Boston & DCU and most recently gained my Certificate in Digital Marketing from UCLA in Los Angeles.
After finishing up my Masters in 2017 I went straight into my first job as eCommerce Executive at Unilever Ireland. Since then, I’ve had multiple roles across the business both in Ireland and the UK, with my current role being part of the Global team, meaning I work with teams all across the world. As Global Beauty & Personal Care eCommerce Assistant I get to work on lots of different projects from test & trial initiatives on Amazon Europe to Sustainability work within Beauty & Personal Care in Asia.
Studying Marketing and MU set the foundation for each role I’ve had since graduating and I would not be where I am in my career today without the support of my Professors and Lecturers at Maynooth University.
Since graduation I have been fortunate to work for many established brands such as Calor and Lily O'Brien's. My current position as Marketing Executive is now based in Kilkenny with MERLYN, UK and Ireland's premium shower enclosure supplier.
My role involves communicating the brand and its values to our various stakeholders and introduce them to new products. Over the past 12 months we have been on a digital journey, increasing our presence online and helping our customers bring the MERLYN brand to their own digital platforms. The marketing landscape has changed dramatically since the global pandemic with digital marketing becoming a pillar in how we engage, communicate and sell online.
In my spare time, I enjoy running, yoga and camogie. I am president of the CCAO which is the committee involved with third level camogie. Unfortunately we are at a halt now due to current guidelines but we hope to return to play later in 2021 and continue to highlight the strong and resilient players within our third level institutions who are leading the way for women's sport.
“Having studied business for my undergraduate at Maynooth and working with Jameson Irish Whiskey for over 6 fantastic years I decided to return to education and complete a masters in Sustainability four years ago. The decision was based mainly on my passion for the topic and also where I see the industry going. During my masters I had the opportunity to work with three excellent international organisations, The Food and Agriculture Association of the UN (FAO), Sainsbury’s and Amazon, all teaching me something different about the the sustainability challenges facing both the industry and society. I’ve been with Kerry in my current role almost 18 months and during that time we launched our new sustainability strategy ‘Beyond the Horizon’ where we’ve outlined our ambition of providing sustainable nutrition to over 2 billion people by 2030. My current role gives me hope for the future that the climate crisis is being taken very seriously and the big players are aware of their responsibility and are acting accordingly. In a personal capacity, during the latest lockdown I decided to start a side project on Instagram to bring Sustainability information to a wider audience, demystify the topic and hopefully stimulate constructive discussion, it’s called ‘The Conscious Citizen’ and it’s been going great so far, it keeps me busy and allows me channel my passion into a really positive project!”
Sandra McGarrell
Productivity Programs Manager | Salesforce
After finishing my undergraduate degree, I developed a strong passion for Marketing, and was eager to learn more. I decided to complete a Masters in ‘Strategic Marketing’ in the School of Business at Maynooth University in 2020. During this time, I had the opportunity of working on some amazing projects with real life clients. This gave me a real insight into the corporate world and what I should expect going forward. As well as this, we had the option of completing a work placement in the final semester of the masters. Earning a place in the placement class was very competitive. After securing my position in this class, my next big challenge became, securing work placement in a global pandemic.
After applying to over 80 job advertisements, I began to think outside the box and turned to my network. One of the clients in the Marketing Consulting module was Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF is a non-profit organization, which provides life-saving health services in over 70 countries. I reached out to the head of fundraising and volunteered as a digital marketing assistant. After my work placement, I was promoted as a full-time supporter services assistant. In more business-like terms, my role is heavily focused on CRM (customer relationship management). Seven months later I am still here and I’m loving it.
This year I also took on the role as a member of the Industry Advisory Council for the School of Business, I am absolutely honoured to be working alongside such experienced professionals from many different industries.
I look forward to what the future holds as I remain openminded, and welcome opportunities with open arms. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”- Eleanor Roosevelt.
Just two months after finishing up my time at Maynooth University in 2019, I began my placement on the Bord Bia International Graduate Programme. Combining an MSc. in Global Business Practice along with 23 months of industrial placement in a Bord Bia office, the programme felt like the perfect next step for me and has been an incredible kick-starter for my career in business. The education element of the programme has allowed me to further my knowledge of international business, learning from world class educators at UCD Michael Smurfit Business Graduate School.
My industrial placement has seen me join the Communications team at Bord Bia HQ in Dublin. Coming from a background of English and Business Marketing, this placement could not have been better suited to me. My role involves content creation for social media, writing and disseminating publicity material, and engaging in media relations. I’ve had the opportunity to be part of some really exciting projects, from the 2019 Food and Drink Awards, to 2020’s #BloomAtHome digital campaign. I’ve also been encouraged to pursue passion projects of mine – for example, I interview colleagues for a weekly ‘Working From Home Life’ internal newsletter, circulating what they have learned and tips they can share. As well as this, last year, my fellow International Grads and I volunteered at the non-profit enterprise Food Cloud and raised over €4,000 for their cause.
My time in Bord Bia has prepared me for real-world opportunities and challenges, and with the programme coming to a close this summer, I am excited to start the next chapter of my career in marketing.
Role - Brand Manager
The Beauty Buddy is a female led, beauty tech, start up. Our app ‘Beauty Buddy’ lets you search for or scan the barcode of a beauty or cosmetic product to see all the relevant information including reviews and ratings. You can also leave your own reviews, add products to your virtual makeup bag and follow friends to have a peek inside their makeup bag.
Once you leave 10 reviews you can join our Sampling Squad. We send you free products for you to use and review. You also get to meet the brand via a live video event.
My main role as brand manager is to connect with Brands, find the right contacts and connect with them to build a relationship, onboard them and then manage that account. Once they sign up for our monthly sampling subscription, I ensure their product data is added to our database and kick off the sampling campaign. This involves co-ordinating the packaging of the samples, creation of marketing content for our social platforms including blogs, discount codes and videos, all relevant to the brand and ultimately running the live virtual events. After each campaign I generated a report for the Brand which showcases the effectiveness of the campaign.
The Beauty Buddy currently has a seed funding round open for €1million. According to research by All Raise, only 15% of venture capital funding is allocated to female founders. While this makes fundraising tougher for our female led company, we believe we will close this round by the summer.
We are taking part in the Accelerator Academy in the UK. This is a 12 week programme to help revenue generating startups validate every segment of their business and become investor-ready. We will pitch to a room full of investors at the end of the 12 weeks. The co-founders invited me to attend this programme with them. This is one of the key benefits of working with a start-up, while you have a role you have the freedom to get involved with so many other elements of the business. I find it has been a fantastic way for me to learn and working so closely with everyone on the team in an open and transparent culture is refreshing and gives me a real sense of purpose.
Since graduating, I moved to London and have worked in various tech companies including LinkedIn, Dropbox and most recently GitLab. I have continued learning and focused on getting certified in marketing tools like Marketo, LeanData etc. At the time of getting my MCE in Marketo, I was one of 42 people in London with it!
If you are a new grad or about to be, then I would easily say that continuing to learn and always asking questions definitely keeps me moving forward. If you have the option, then I also recommend the work placement year during your degree- it kickstarted my career!"
After completing my undergraduate degree, B.A. Business (Marketing) & English at Maynooth University, I knew I wanted to further my marketing knowledge and skills. Immediately after graduating from my undergraduate degree, I undertook my masters degree at Maynooth University which only reinforced my interest in marketing! As part of my M.Sc. Strategic Marketing, I completed my dissertation on sustainability as a current trend in 2020. I thoroughly enjoyed the research process from beginning to end. I am now delighted to be on the teaching side of academia, currently working as a University Tutor for the School of Business at Maynooth University, getting to discuss my passion with students who share my interest in the area. I am also grateful to be surrounded by inspirational colleagues while looking forward and planning my career!
