S3E6: Jane McCooey and her Band of Sisters.

02/28/23 • 58 min

Jane McCooey thrives when she’s bringing people together to solve a problem, to the benefit of all.
When Jane, from County Armagh in Ireland, is confronted with obstacles, she’s not afraid to reach out for help, and her first port of call is often to tap into the familiar power of sisterhood.
Before you know it, she’s fallen in with a band of sisters. She’s done this repeatedly–sports being a prime example–and more recently in the world of work.
Why there, you ask?
Because, you could say, men and women are separated by a common workplace, and maybe that needs to be looked at.
Along this most ancient of human fault lines, Jane has gotten into her stride tackling the seemingly inherent assumptions in the division of labor between men and women. And one aspect of work is leadership, which of late often begs the question: “who gets to lead?”
And the answer, too often, is “not a woman.”
So last year, 2022, Jane, an attorney by profession, founded a vibrant group named Women With Ambition.
When Jane seeks to create positive change, she does it from within. Her initial goal for Women With Ambition is to nurture positive change from within women themselves. And Women With Ambition seeks to create changes in men too, also from within, by fostering open conversation and recruiting allies.
Jane is a uniter, not a divider.
Some links of note from Jane's story:

Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too!
For technical reasons we weren't able to give a shout out this month to the Celtic Irish American Academy, but we'll be sure to give them one next month. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
Thank you to our sponsor, the Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group. Pay a visit to one of their great restaurants.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio mixing.

Previous Episode

S3E5: Niall O'Leary–A Life By, And Of, Design.

Niall O'Leary is best known as a performer of Irish dance in the New York area, and further afield. A lesser known fact about Niall is that he also has his own Manhattan-based architecture practice.
The amazing thing about Niall is how he has managed to satisfy his innate need to create and design in these two very disparate disciplines. To him there is barely a difference between them. Maybe every young person should be trained to think like Niall, so when they are asked what they want to be when they grow up, they'll transcend the usual labels and actually be able to distill what it is will actually make them happy! Wouldn't that make for an interesting world? And, case in point, Niall himself is a happy fellow, as anyone who knows him will attest. He's also a gifted musician.
Visit Niall's website at NiallOLeary.com.
Niall's alma mater: University College Dublin.
Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too! Likewise, a thanks to Niall for providing his music for this episode, including sounds of his dancing and spoon playing!
Check out the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
Thank you to our sponsor, the Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group. Pay a visit to one of their great restaurants.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio mixing.

Next Episode

S3E7: Corina Galvin, Quiet Influencing

Corina Galvin calls County Mayo in Ireland her home. She's also been a New Yorker for almost three decades. And she has accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles along the way. That's because her job in event planning and management puts her constantly up in the air, traveling all over the globe, meeting some significant influencers in the process.
This job, the only career of her working life, also allows her to divide her down time nicely between Ireland and New York, keeping her connections to her siblings, all in the west of Ireland, and her mother, in a very healthy place. Thus, despite her long stint as an emigrant, she is not perceived as the one over in America by her loved ones at home. She spends more time with her family than friends she has in Dublin and London can manage.
But New York is very much her second home, a place where she has put down some serious community roots.
In her day job she has met many famous people, and if you're famous you're an influencer these days.
Corina is an influencer who is not famous, even among the Irish of New York. That's because she exerts her positive influence much more quietly.
Let's call her style 'quiet influencing'.
Many do not know the pivotal role she has played in the inception and development of major Irish community organizations in New York.
Which organizations? Have a listen and you'll find out.
You'll also get to know that hers was a military family, something less common in Ireland than the US. Her late father was a United Nations Peacekeeper, and her childhood included a Cyprus adventure when he was stationed there.
Some links of note from Corina's story:

Thanks to Purple-Planet for Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too! There's also some music from our previous centerpiece Niall O'Leary.
Take a moment to learn more about the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.
Thank you to our sponsor, the Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group. Pay a visit to one of their great restaurants.
A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio mixing. Most recently Lochlainn has worked on As I Remember It: Bertie Ahern & The Good Friday Agreement.
There's one side story that arose from our conversation with Corina, and you can read more about it here.