LEO Dublin City Women in Business Network

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LEO Dublin City Women in Business Network

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LEO Dublin City Network for women starting and running businesses. The annual membership fee is €50 but some of our events are open to non-members.

While women are setting up businesses in greater numbers than before, women still lag behind men in the percentage involved in early stage and growth businesses. This network is an initiative of Local Enterprise Office Dublin City to encourage and support women who are starting business or are already up and running and to provide easy access to a supportive network, expert speakers, etc., to maximise their success and growth potential. Visit https://www.localenterprise.ie/DublinCity/Start-or-Grow-your-Business/Networking/Women-in-Business/ or email [email protected] for more information.

07/10/2026

Our October event in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin on 6th October featured talks by two of last year's Award Winners, sharing their business stories and plans for the future.
Katharine Deas, founder of OrianaB., the 2025 Rising Start Award Winner, brought us on their impressive six year journey so far, from the initial vision of providing interesting furniture at an accessible price to a growing focus on their own Intellectual Property, both in terms of their design practice as well as their own range of furniture, sold through retailers, their own showroom and a growing number of international designers.
Winner of the 2025 Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award Paola Shanahan, Founder of the travel business H2P Travel which operates lifestyle and niche travel brands such as Intuitive Travel (retreats) and Irish Weddings in Italy, shared her story of starting the business in response to queries and building it to being a well regarded brand that survived the challenges over the years, particularly the Covid travel bans. She attributed their success to focusing on the customer at all times.
Thanks to both Katharine and Paola for taking the time to come back to let us know more about the story behind the award winning business!

Thanks to the six members who took display tables to let us know more about what they do:
Elaine Watters, Elaine Watters Art
Fiona Morris, Follicle Scalp & Hair Clinic
Kate O'Moore, MAKER
Laura Mihai, Onyx House Interiors Ltd
Margaret Farrell , Artist
Sandy Seeber-Quayle, KUBA Pilot

LEO Dublin City Women in Business Network

30/09/2026

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be an Award Winning business? It is always fascinating to hear more of the stories behind successful entrepreneurs and this month we will get the LEO Dublin City Women in Business Network Award winners talk about their stories so far and tips they would share with other women in business. Come for the insights and stay for the networking over w**e, soft drinks and cake. LEODublinCity See https://www.localenterprise.ie/dublincity/start-or-grow-your-business/networking/women-in-business/network-events/6th-october-2026-meet-the-award-winners-and-small-business-big-brand-power-talk.html for details. Look forward to seeing you there!

17/09/2026

A huge thanks to our three speakers last night for their insights into the opportunities but also the risks associated with wider usage of Generative AI, a very hot topic reflected by the full room on the night! Sofia Silva of Aligned Innovation spoke about how you can choose the processes best suited to AI assistance for you and how to get the best results. Belén Delgado spoke about the online risk and safety issues we need to be aware of, particularly those enabled now by AI and shared examples of risks and how to protect ourselves against them. Mary White, Intellectual Property Expert, pointed to the new considerations we need to be aware of due to the prevalence of AI and emphasised the need to be considered and honest in our use of it.

The five members who took Display Tables added greatly to the night - thank you Jen Healy of The Sauna Donabate, Margaret Farrell, Ngozi Murphy, Claire Staunton of Óir & Grace and Camila Alfaro of Nido Latino!

LEODublinCity

09/07/2026

Professor Maura McAdam's Just Grab the Mic talk at last night's Annual Barbecue in the Hyatt Centric Dublin was a call to action for female entrepreneurs to own their ambition as entrepreneurs and Maura discussed practical recommendations for how they can overcome what the research showed are the key barriers. Maura's talk really whet our appetite for the Permission Granted book that Maura published this year which sets out eight Calls to Action for how women can claim their place in the entrepreneurial world. Thanks to Maura for providing three books for a draw!
Thanks to Sandra Reynolds of LEODublinCity for giving a quick overview of their consultancy services such as Green and Lean for Business.

It was great to see over 60 members networking over the barbecue meal after the talk and new connections being made!

11/06/2026

We had a packed room for last night's networking event in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin featuring a talk by Stephanie Brady of StephBe on The Science of Success. Stephanie explained the power of understanding your mindset, how behaviour follows mindset and how you can build a loop that attracts your brain to what you want to move to. Thanks to all the members for the great questions and the lively networking afterwards!
Thanks especially to the five members who took display tables to tell us more about what they do:

Karo Skorwider, DIVINE EVOKE by Karo .skorwider
Anna Kuznetsova, Women Travel WomenTravel.Ireland
Margaret Farrell, Artist Margaret Farrell
Siobhán McCarthy, Póchette /61566920904536/
Samantha Mata, XpressO Espan̈ol

LEODublinCity

13/05/2026

A huge thanks to our Guest Speaker Katie Farrell, Co-Founder of SQUID Loyalty, for telling us about how he came to set up SQUID and the story so far. Katie talked about how important it is to meet with other founders where you can help each other and to pin down messaging that will address possible questions potential customers will have. She also talked about how you need to take steps to maintain the culture you want as the team grows and you also need to be aware of the need to balance your commitment to business success with your own health and wellbeing.

Thanks to the 40 Members and Guests for attending, asking such insightful questions and staying for some very enjoyable networking over a soup/sandwich lunch! Hilton Garden Inn Dublin City Centre LEODublinCity

16/04/2026

We had a great turnout for our April event in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin last night when both Elaine Walsh and Gabriela de Paula brought social media back to the essence of what it takes to get results as a business owner.

Elaine focused on LinkedIn and emphasised the importance of being clear about what you are offering, who your customer is and what value you can bring and communicating this and sharing experiences online.
Gabriella focused on Instagram and TikTok and talked about the importance of the 'hook', understanding your audience's behaviour and building a repeatable series of episodes that will attract the attention of your audience.

Thank you Elaine and Gabriela for sharing your expertise and practical tips!
There was lively networking after the talks, with one group still chatting at the table
Thanks to all the members who added to the night with their display tables: Tugba Fuatoglu of Cholpan, Penny Pu of W.S. Ltd, Margaret Farrell and Samatha Mata. LEODublinCity

Address

Local Enterprise Office Dublin City, Civic Offices, Block 4, Floor 1
Dublin
8

Website

https://www.localenterprise.ie/DublinCity/Start-or-Grow-your-Business/Networking/Enterprise-Network-for-Women/

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