As a lead, I’m totally energised. I’ve met the most wonderful, wonderful people over the last two days. The participants are extraordinary.” So says Mary B Walsh, a volunteer lead entrepreneur on the ACORNS programme.

The ACORNS programme nurtures female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland and is supported by Department of Agriculture CEDRA funding. There was a call-out recently for participants for the programme, and female entrepreneurs who have recently started a business or who have taken concrete steps towards setting up a business were specifically sought.

Those who were successful in receiving a place on the programme gathered recently for a two-day workshop in Mullingar. This is where participants met their lead entrepreneur: someone who has already established a business in rural Ireland and who invited a certain number of entrepreneurs to join their table at the workshop so they can guide them for the duration of the programme.

After the Mullingar event, participants will meet their lead entrepreneur once a month before another two-day boot camp in April.

Lead entrepreneur Mary B Walsh’s business is Ire Wel Pallets, based near Gorey in Co Wexford. The company was formed in 1990 out of the need multinational companies had for a specific type of packaging.

The business grew rapidly through the 1990s and supplies companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi and Diageo. Mary was recently invited to sit on the executive board of the palleting and packaging association in the UK.

While she believes participants at her table learned from her, she says she certainly learned from them too.

“I know they’re all going to be a great success. They’re all really hardworking, they’re hungry for knowledge and they’re so pleased to network and engage with like-minded people.

“They’ve been lonely probably, in some instances, in that they had nobody to turn to. Where friends and family are very good in your life, sometimes they may not offer the business advice you need,” says Mary.

Irish Country Living profiles three of the entrepreneurs who participated in the Mullingar event and the people behind the programme.

Caveman Grub; Jac Keady

Jac Keady moved from England to Inverin in Connemara 10 years ago. “My family’s from there and I always felt like it was home, so every holiday was spent in Ireland,” says Jac.

She took redundancy from her job as a financial adviser four years ago when she fell pregnant, as she wanted to spend time with her child.

She decided then to make celebration cakes, which went very well and saw her win several awards. But when her weight crept up after having her daughter, Jac embarked on the paleo diet (eating as a cave man would have) and lost four stone and three dress sizes within four months as a result.

But Jac quickly became tired of eating salad and soup.

“I really missed bread. Bread is not on the menu when you’re eating a paleo diet,” says Jac. Soon she decided to put her baking talents to another use.

“I set upon a challenge to make the first paleo bread – basically grain-free bread. It took me 126 attempts over six months, but I wouldn’t let it go.”

Jac describes the finished result as a super clean bread with zero net carbs that is high in protein and is “fabulous for everything”, especially for people with food intolerances.

She says the taste is a cross between a rye bread and a soda bread. Jac’s business is called Caveman Grub, and even though it was only launched in June, it has been given a Free From award for it “no grain-ola” snack bars, while Caveman Grub has also launched a brownie mix that recently won a Great Taste Award.

Caveman Grub is participating in the SuperValu Food Academy, so Jac’s products are currently available in SuperValus in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon as well as in some independent supermarkets.

On the experience at the ACORNS boot camp, Jack says: “I couldn’t even sleep last night for about an hour, because my head was buzzing with so many ideas. I just feel completely energised.”

Whole Food Revolution, Michelle Wallace

The Wholefood Revolution creates healthy, delicious recipe boxes that are delivered to customers’ door after they order them online. “It’s all about making healthy easy,” says founder Michelle Wallace.

“We create really healthy, delicious recipes that are, for the most part, made up of whole foods. We prepare all of the ingredients, so everything is included: from your tablespoon of rice wine vinegar to your spice blends (we make our own) to your chicken or fish or whatever it is you need. All of these ingredients come in a box that is thermally lined.

“Because it’s a subscription service, we create new recipes every week, and our customers get the choice,” explains Michelle.

“So they’ll get an email with four recipes, they’ll pick the two they want to cook that week, and we basically package it all up and deliver it to their door.”

Portion prices start at €6.25 per portion. “If you were to buy the ingredients, you’d never be able to get them all for the price that we pay, so it actually offers great value that way,” says Michelle.

Michelle is very enthusiastic about her experience on the ACORNS programme.

“Honestly, I came down thinking: ‘I’m so busy – how am I actually going to take two days away from the operations?’ And I thought: ‘What am I doing here?’”

Michelle has, however, come out of the boot camp “full of energy, full of positivity, kind of almost tracking back to when I first started, and actually going: ‘Gosh, I had so many amazing ideas that got lost just trying to keep up day-to-day’”.

“Taking this time out, which seemed counterproductive, feels like it’s going to be so productive, because I’m refocused on my original goals. You’re kind of going through the day-to-day [activities] and you feel like you’ve nothing else to give. But when you actually step back and reassess it all, you realise you’ve been focusing on the wrong things.

“It only might be a small change that you need to make, but that can make a massive difference. I felt like I was in a bit of a rut, but now I actually feel: ‘Right we’re going to go for it again. It’s on’!”

Liwu Jewellery, Áine Breen

Áine Breen is a qualified chartered accountant who designs and retails jewellery in her business Liwu Jewellery. (Liwu, if you’re wondering, means gift in Chinese.)

Áine has always had a love of business, and she worked in her local shop growing up. “I had so much respect for the people I worked for and I loved sales,” says Áine.

She went on to do a commerce degree and qualified as an accountant with KPMG, but she never lost touch with retail. “I always asked my boss in KMPG if I could do the retail clients, such as large department stores and jewellery shops,” says Áine.

In fact, Áine was so interested in jewellery that she used to take the week before Christmas off work in KPMG to go work in her local jewellery store, Whitmore Jewellers, in Gorey.

After KPMG, Áine went to work in A-Wear, because she really wanted to learn more about retail but had to leave that job to go to China when her husband got a job there.

Áine found it difficult to get a job as an accountant in China, so she worked for a distribution company. However, she wasn’t fulfilled, so she decided to do a calligraphy course – and she loved it. She was particularly interested in the meanings behind the characters.

“My calligraphy teacher showed me the character for ‘love’. I used to wear a necklace in English that said ‘love’, and I thought: “Wouldn’t it be great if I put the Chinese character for love onto a piece of jewellery?’” That’s when I just started sketching things up and looking into silver-smithing courses. Áine says Liwu Jewellery combines her love of retail, jewellery and design with her business experience from accountancy.

Why ACORNS?

Paula Fitzsimons is founder of Fitzsimons Consulting, the company who developed the ACORNS programme. She believes growth in these businesses is accelerated because ACORNS’ participants are focused on goals and milestones.

A time is specified by which each company’s goals and milestones should be achieved, and participants are checked in on every month.

“So, every time people come round the table, someone is saying: ‘Well, did you get the website up?’ or ‘Did you make contact with that new potential customer?’ So you’re focused all the time on achieving your goals,” explains Paula.

“When people come in, I shake them by the hand,” says Paula. “When they go out I give them a hug, because actually over the two days I find that we really make the connection and everyone has the sense of belonging to a movement or community, and there’s incredible collaboration and a circle of trust.”

For more information, visit www.acorns.ie