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Gráinne Kelliher is CEO of Airfield Estate in Dundrum, Co Dublin: a 38-acre working farm with ornamental and food gardens, a restaurant and an education centre left in trust to the people of Ireland in 1974 by the trail-blazing Overend sisters.
It welcomes 300,000 visitors every year to explore the grounds, collect eggs from the hens, watch the Jersey cows being milked, play in Naturescape, and learn about the life and times of the Overend Family, who lived on the estate from the late 1800s to the late 1900s.
As a charitable trust, its mission today is to “inspire and enable people to make better food choices”: better for people, better for planet and better for pocket.
Gráinne is married to Olivier Gaillot, an environmental engineer from France, and has a 15-year-old son, Ronan.
1 I might work on an urban farm today, but I grew up on... a dairy farm in Doonshean, about three miles from Dingle. From an early age I loved the farm, the food it produced, cooking and working on the land, so I guess a career in food was always on the cards.
2 The greatest lesson I learned from my childhood was... an appreciation and empathy for the human effort and natural resources required to produce food. I have the utmost respect for farmers, food producers and food and despair at the fact that households now spend a smaller amount of their budget on food than ever before. I also learned to worry about the things you can change; not the things you have no control over.
3 After school, I decided to study a BA in hotel and catering management because... I loved food, hospitality and tourism. I also wanted to travel abroad and saw this degree as a ticket out of Ireland.
4 I spent my first pay cheque on... a pair of branded jeans and a green jumper in a boutique in Dingle. I couldn’t believe how many hours I had to work for this luxury. I also remember going for a percolated coffee with a slice of homemade apple pie, both served with fresh whipped cream – a food memory that stays with me to this day.
5 My very first job after graduating was at... Disneyland Paris. I had spent a summer in France when I was in college and always wanted to return, so when an offer of a management training programme with Disneyland Paris presented itself, I jumped at the opportunity. With unemployment rates at 15% in 1991, staying in Ireland didn’t look like a great option at the time.
6 At Disneyland... I spent the first year working with site engineers and builders, testing attractions, writing procedures, training newcomers and watching the theme park come together and launch in 1992. I was then promoted to assistant manager in attractions after the park opened and to area manager in food and beverage by 1996.
7 The best thing about working in Disneyland was... the young international team. We worked extremely long hours, but it was great management school. I learned a lot about myself and my natural management style and quickly understood the importance of respect, honesty and authenticity when dealing with people. I also understood what I was good and bad at and always surrounded myself with strong talent to achieve great things!
8 The most surreal thing about working in Disneyland was... a regular day at work meant about 40,000 visitors and the planning, people and organisation it took to make sure every guest had a special day was mind-blowing.
9 I also worked with ARAMARK as... head of property initially and then as VP of food services. The latter was an all-consuming role with 3,500 staff to lead and 300 contracts to manage around the country. It was great to see and understand the workings of a large international corporate and the pace and intensity at which it runs.
10 The main reason I decided to change to the not-for-profit sector was... I am a socialist at heart, but thrive on the cut and thrust of business, so a social enterprise or an organisation with a social purpose that is not focused solely on private profit suits me perfectly. When the opportunity presented itself at Airfield, I couldn’t believe how my professional experience, my upbringing and all the things that I am passionate about were all rolled up into one job so after a lengthy and competitive recruitment process, I landed the role at Airfield and haven’t looked back since.
11 What inspires me most about the Overend sisters is... their no-nonsense approach and the speed at which they identified the social challenges of their time, took action and most importantly made a real difference to the lives of the people they chose to work with.
12 What makes Airfield Estate so unique is…the fact that there is such rural landscape and diverse agricultural activity right next door to Ireland’s largest shopping centre. Having a working farm so close to a capital city is probably unique in the world.
13 The achievement I am most proud of at Airfield Estate is…the past five years have been filled with highlights all brought to life by the highly talented and passionate team at Airfield. From running a number of programmes for people with disabilities and seeing them grow and reach their full potential to seeing families enjoy our autism-friendly Santa experiences to creating breakfast clubs where school children collect eggs, cook breakfast and eat together. Airfield being awarded the Best Food & Beverage Experience in Ireland in 2017 was also a sweet moment and a great recognition for the work of the entire team.
14 When I first took the job as CEO, I did not take a company laptop because… I have a rule for myself; whenever I change jobs, I make it my business to remove the thing that I liked least about the previous role. A laptop made it too easy to carry on working at home in the evenings, so I decided that my work should be done at work and home time was fully committed to family... at least most of the time!
15 My hobbies are… I love art, so I tend to go to lots of exhibitions and when time allows, spend time doing some mixed media art myself. I also love foraging and cooking and dining with friends and family.
16 To switch off, I like to escape to…being from Dingle and my husband from Burgundy, France, our holidays tend to be either one or the other. No complaints with that!
17 The best book I’ve read this year is…First Bite by Bee Wilson.
18 The song I have on repeat at the moment is…Kevin Rowland and Lisa O’Neill’s version of The Curragh of Kildare.
19 The app I use most is... it’s a tossup between Evocco and TFI. Evocco is an app that scans your food shopping receipt and gives you a score based on how healthy and environmentally friendly your purchases are. It also gives you useful tips on how to improve your score. I also use public transport a lot and find the TFI makes using public transport even more attractive.
20 Most people don’t know this about me, but... I played basketball for Kerry, it’s a dream to own a Citroën DS vintage car someday and I had the great honour of meeting chef and author Dan Barber of Blue Hill Stone Barns NY!
For further information, visit www.airfield.ie
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