Next Gen Fem

In episode 15 we had the pleasure of chatting to Anne Griffin. Anne is the Irish No. 1 best-selling author for her debut novel ‘When All Is Said’, and she was also awarded Newcomer of the Year at 2019s Book Awards.

Anne explores and shares the journey she went through – and how she wouldn’t change a thing about it – starting with a BA in History in UCD, then after college she worked for over 8 years in Waterstones bookstore, where her love for books flourished. That’s not where her writing career started though, in the years that followed Anne acquired qualifications in Community & Youth Work, Accounts Technician and lastly in 2015 a MA in Creative Writing. But we’ll leave all the story telling to Anne in the new episode of Next Gen Fem.

We’re excited for you to hear our 15th episode, I hope you enjoy.

Anne's Book:

This episode of Next Gen Fem is supported by FameLab.

In episode 13 we are joined by Rena Buckley. Rena runs and owns her own chartered physio clinic in Macroom, has won a total of 18 All-Ireland county medals between football and camogie, not to mention the numerous other All-Ireland medals that she has won with her football and camogie clubs as well. She is also the only person so far to captain her county football and camogie team to All-Ireland titles. And that’s just to name a few things, the list goes on.

It’s refreshing to listen to Rena as she talks about her journey balancing two sporting disciplines at the highest level as she also pursues a career in becoming a physio. Rena is as humble as they come.

All this and more in this next instalment of Next Gen Fem.

We’re excited for you to hear our 13th episode, I hope you enjoy.

Follow Rena:

In episode 12 we speak with MEP Maria Walsh. Born in Boston to 2 Irish parents, Maria was actually raised in Shrule, County Mayo. After college, Maria moved back to America to experience the ‘New York’ lifestyle but soon found it wasn’t for her. An opportunity presented itself to move to Philadelphia, which became a home away from home. It was here that her unexpected journey began to winning the 2014 Rose of Tralee, which resulted in her balancing life between Ireland and Philadelphia as the International Rose. After her ambassadorial year of being the International Rose she made the decision to move back to Ireland to make the most of the momentum.

Maria takes us on this journey and more as she shares with us how she pursued the prospect of becoming an MEP.

All this and more in this next instalment of Next Gen Fem.

We’re excited for you to hear our 12th episode, I hope you enjoy.

Follow MEP Maria Walsh:

This episode of Next Gen Fem is supported by FameLab:

In episode 10 of Next Gen Fem, we speak with award winning international rugby player, Michelle Claffey, or Claff as we know her. Claff talks us through her journey of overcoming not 1 but 2 ACL injuries to represent her country on the International Rugby stage. As well as explaining the importance of having an open and honest path of communication with her colleagues when it came to her rugby career. Claff also speaks to us about making the decision to become her a teacher, which is something she has always wanted to do. If not now, when?

All this and more in this next instalment of Next Gen Fem.

We’re excited for you to hear our 10th episode, I hope you enjoy.

Michelle Claffey:

You’ve probably been wondering, what’s happened to Next Gen Fem? We’re still here! Next Gen Fem have just been on a bit of a hiatus the last few months because of work commitments and personal priorities. At the end of day, myself and Fiona still have work and other responsibilities outside of NGF but we’re finally back with a brand new episode.

In episode 9 of Next Gen Fem, which we recorded back in August of last year, we spoke to Aine Gallagher. Aine is a comedian & sociologist currently residing in Berlin where she is taking the time to develop her stand-up acts, while proving to herself and her family that being a comedian is a viable and sustainable career.

Starting off as an Occupational Therapist, Aine never felt the career suited her and always felt like there was something missing until she found herself in the comedy scene via Bright Club in Galway. Aine recounts the struggle of pushing through that Irish conservative mindset that pursuing a career in the creative or performance arts isn’t just a hobby but something that is worth pursuing.

Follow Aine:

In this week’s episode of Next Gen Fem, myself and Fi Malone have the pleasure of speaking to former Irish International soccer player, Karen Duggan, awarded WNL Senior Player of the year in 2016.

After years of playing soccer from a young age, Karen shares her story of breaking onto the Irish starting 11, all while searching for a career that suited her passion for soccer and goal of representing her country. 

She also shares being a part of the Irish team that stood up against the FAI in 2017, requesting better facilities and treatment of the female players.

Although a strong subject matter, this episode is not without its laughs. 

We’re excited for you to hear our 7th episode, I hope you enjoy.

Karen Duggan:

In our new episode of Next Gen Fem, myself and Fi Malone speak to science communicator, clinical mentor and medical doctor, Ana Panigassi.

Ana takes us on a rollercoaster of a journey, as she recounts her life growing up in Brazil – where she pursued a career as a doctor, joined the military, got married and sadly divorced, and in middle of everything contracted a virus that rendered her temporally paraplegic and on a long road to recovery.

After a moment of serendipity and an opportunity for a career change presented itself, Ana was on her way to Ireland, where she now resides. We’ll let her fill in the blanks, of which will be sure to keep you on your toes. 

We’re excited for you to hear our sixth episode, I hope you enjoy.

We're back again with another exciting episode of Next Gen Fem. On episode 4 we speak to artist and creative entrepreneur Aisling Kearney-Burke about her journey of pursuing a career in Art - from powering through art college to opening her own business - this new episode is sure to make you laugh and inspire you to never give up on your dreams. 

Check out what Aisling is up to:

Episode 3, can you believe it? We are overwhelmed with the response and interest in our podcast and although it's been a bit of gap since our last episode, we are very excited to bring you our third episode in season 1 of the Next Gen Fem podcast. 

In this episode myself and Fi Malone speak to Louise Loughlin, a personal trainer, founder and owner of the Female Athlete Body project i.e. the FAB project, and outdoor swimming enthusiast, among other things. 

Louise takes us a rollercoaster of an adventure as she shares with us her journey to get to where she is now by making a big decision to take time away from mainstream life goals – like buying a house, marriage and kids – instead she decided to travel and experience what the world outside Ireland has to offer, opening her life to unimaginable experiences. Which ultimately helped empower herself to become the badass woman she is now.

How to find Louise: