Mayo woman's health battle inspired an innovative business

Kilmaine native Marina Murphy is extremely passionate about helping people to feel better. What sets her apart in this goal is that her passion and drive come from personal experiences. Her qualification is in culinary arts, but that is only a small part of her story.

It is very evident that she is a creative person, who also uses very practical skills to problem solve, and these attributes have led her to her businesses – in the first instance, Boss Baby and now, Balance You Food.

We sit in the office at the Balance You Food Deli in Ballinrobe to chat about her journey to where she is now.

Angelina: Marina, thank you for taking the time to chat with me. Tell me a little about your background.

Marina: I'm from Kilmaine and I went to school here in Ballinrobe. When I finished school, I wanted to be a Garda, but I didn't have the height. So my second choice, which was unusual for a woman at the time, was chefing and culinary arts. 

I went to Galway, studied culinary arts, and I did my training in Park House in Galway. I specialised in pastry. Then I worked around and went off training to Donegal and places like that. I moved back home, I think when I was 25, and I set up my first restaurant here in Ballinrobe. I ran that restaurant for five years, up until 2008. That was quite a learning curve because I was so young, and I had a lot of staff - I think between 20 and 25. The restaurant ceased trading in 2008 when the recession hit, and I ended up moving to Dublin. I worked for a company in Dublin for about two years. Then another premises came up in 2012 in Dublin and I set up my second restaurant with my now husband.

Angelina: In the middle of that though, things changed for you both.

Marina: I was told in my 20s that I wouldn't have children because I suffer from a condition called endometriosis, and that affected my life all through my teens, 20s, and 30s. But at 39, I ended up getting pregnant and my daughter was born in 2015, when we were still living in Dublin. We found it very hard raising a baby in Dublin and running a business. Aidan works as a solicitor, and it just became very difficult in terms of childcare expenses. Rent was rising and we made the decision to sell the restaurant and move out to Drogheda, where Aidan is from. But I had a really tough pregnancy. I didn't sleep for six months, and I also had endometriosis, which actually got worse. I had sciatica on both sides. I suppose this whole story leads me to where I am now.

Angelina: So what happened during that time to lead you into another business?

Marina: When we moved to Drogheda, things started getting worse. I started getting a lot of pain everywhere. I couldn't lift Anna out of the cot. I was changing Anna one morning, and she was sick, and I was in pain with my shoulders and my back. I had to change her nappy three times in one hour. She was lethargic. I was in pain, and it was just a struggle. Every time I changed her nappy, I had to take all her clothes off. But it wasn't necessary because it was only the bottom of the vest that was wet. So I started researching baby vests to see if there was anything more convenient, and there wasn't. I invented the Twosie, the two-part baby vest that comes with one top and two bottom parts. I set up BabyBoss, and that was my journey then from 2017 up until last year. 

But as Anna was getting older, I was having more time to go back into experimenting with food, which is my real passion. I kept saying to myself, God, I do miss the restaurants, the cafes, that kind of interaction with people, and also the creative side of things. But I was still struggling with my medical condition.

Angelina: So what happens when you start feeling unwell again?

Marina: During Covid, you couldn't go to your doctor and my symptoms were getting worse. I was in pain for three weeks out of every month. I started looking into a more holistic approach in terms of food and superfood powders like reishi and ashwagandha - these are really good for supporting the nervous system and gut health. I started doing a lot of research on how food can heal - food is medicine really! 

I started mixing superfood powders and different sets of powders that I think might work. I found six superfood powders that I could feel benefits from, but I found them hard to take in water. Then, as I was feeling better, I started going to the gym. 

I was 45 and I'd never been in the gym in my life. I could never do anything like that because of the endometriosis. I started getting into what I need to feed my body when I'm training or in the gym. I started looking at protein and what I need more of, and I just came up with something I could just put the powders into - that's how I came up with the Balance Her Bites. But while I was doing that, we were also shortlisted for Dragon's Den UK for the Twosie. When we were shortlisted, we were brought down to the last three I think. There were two other baby products and we didn’t make it. So we sold BabyBoss and that's when I really started to focus on developing the bites. I was doing it from home. The whole hormone and gut health is really interesting. So I went back to study hormone health, and so I'm now a qualified hormone and gut health practitioner.

Angelina: So tell us about the products you've created.

Marina: I'll start with Balance Her Bites - they're a 100% natural bite. They're handmade, and they're nutrient-dense and good for your gut health. Your gut and your hormones work in together. When you look after your gut, your gut looks after you. Most people have gut dysbiosis or leaky gut, and that is from people who might be on antibiotics or just too much ultra-processed foods. It's hard to avoid in this day and age, and it's so important to get good food into you every day. 

Then I started researching perimenopause and menopause and created a bite for that. Fertility - I created a bite for that. Pregnancy, created one for that. They're all specialised powders, superfood powders for all women on this journey. They've been launched for about a year and a half now. 

Now I am going to launch the Balance Him range, and that will hopefully come in February or March. We have three types - strength, which is your creatine bite before or after the gym, then our protein bite for recovery (all natural) and we have the defence bit for gut health. Then in the middle of all of this, I saw an opening for a deli coffee shop here in Ballinrobe that offers clean eating, healthy food. Now it's all in moderation. We do all other lovely treats, and I specialise in pastry. It's all about the balance, it's about giving people that choice and also educating people.

Angelina: I'd say there's not much downtime Marina.

Marina: No. Studying is quite intense. I have exams coming up now in two or three weeks and then I'll be finished. Then I'm going on to study culinary medicine because I know that food is medicine. It's busy. It's worth it. I think the value I will bring to women's lives, I have the product to back it up. It's not about pushing the product on people. That's not the case. It's about providing information, providing awareness. My daughter, who's eight, has a seven in ten chance of developing endometriosis because I have it. Again, it's about educating girls at a young age that diet is very important for hormone health. But I know a lot of that can be avoided very early on with proper food and proper diet and education.