'You need to have faith and take the leap'
Lorrain Burnell is pictured with Kim Calvert.
Lorraine Burnell is a powerhouse – a literal pocket rocket. The Belmullet native aspired to be a Garda in her early youth but the height restriction prevented her from following that path.
As she describes it herself, falling into a job at a solicitor’s firm in Galway started a journey for her that has led her to being managing director in a couple of businesses and most recently, to launching her own consultancy, Burnell Consultancy.
We sat down to chat about her journey so far.
Lorraine, thanks for talking to me. Tell me a little bit about yourself?
I'm originally from Belmullet, I always wanted to be a Garda. No one told me there was a height restriction at the time. I did my work experience with the Gardaí. I'd say they thought I was crazy because I was only 5ft 1. I did the initial exam and when I went for the medical they told me I was too small. I was just so tunnel-visioned, all I wanted to be was a Garda. So that put me right back to the start.
I had done a secretarial course after my Leaving Certificate but I hadn't a clue what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. I ended up moving to Galway with a bag full of CVs and I walked the streets with 100 CVs in the bag. I think I was down to my last five CVs when I walked into a solicitor firm called Silk Solicitors. I think he felt sorry for me because I was down to my last few CVs. He said he'd give me a chance. So I started doing admin there.
Long story short, I'd say I was there a week and the lady who looked after finance was going to Australia. So he asked if I'd do the finance for him. I hesitated at first but in the end decided to do it and I started going to GMIT three evenings per week and one Saturday a month and I qualified as an Associated Chartered Accountant.
That's an amazing turnaround Lorraine - you obviously had a great work ethic?
I wanted to be career-driven, I wanted to be mortgage-free, I wanted to have money.
I grew up in a very humble house. My father's a fisherman and my mother had different jobs. She worked in the mushroom factory or cleaning jobs, but I always wanted a career path. I remember walking around in my granny's with a shoebox with a lace tied on the side, telling them at four years of age, it's my briefcase, I'm going to be a businesswoman. I think that came from my parents because they wanted us to do well. To be honest, I didn't want to be an accountant. I fell into it.
I met my husband in the meantime, and he lived in the UK. I was living in Galway, working for a really great firm - they owned the Harbour Hotel and Temple Bar and the Temple Bar Hostel and I was doing the accounts there but then I moved over to the UK and got a finance manager job.
Even in the interview process, I remember saying to the guy who owned the company, "What's your plans?" He said, "I'm turning 40 in a few years and I want to step away from the business." I thought, "That's what I want to be doing." I want to run the business because I was so nosy. I just knew straight away in that interview that I was going to be running the business.
A year and a half later, I became the Finance Operations Director and got shares in the business. When I started there, it was about five million turnover. We grew and grew. After two and a half years, I became the managing director, and he completely stepped away. When I finished there, we were about 22 million turnover.
Oh my God, the challenges, it was 15 years’ experience, but it was like 30 years’ worth because it was so many different scenarios. I had my boys in the middle of that time too. I had Charlie in 2016 and 19 months later, I had Eddie. I wanted the family but also the career.
And you had a turning point then, Lorraine?
It was like something switched inside me. I lost an aunt in the February, when I was eight weeks pregnant with Eddie and I thought, 'I'm ready to go home.' I don't want to actually have to come home because mum and dad are sick.
I remember sitting by my aunt's bed and thinking I am ready. But then it didn't happen. I went back into the mad rush again at work.
Then I lost an uncle in August the same year, at 52 years of age, both with cancer, and I thought, that's it. I made my mind up. I went in and told my boss that I was leaving, and I had to work out my notice, obviously. But we put the house on the market on the Wednesday evening, by Friday morning it was gone. We had no choice, we were moving home.
Then my husband went online and he basically saw a house on Daft, and it was across the road from mum and dad, so it was pure alignment to come home. We sold the house, moved over and then I suppose I felt like I had to reinvent myself again because I had this big, powerful career in the UK where I was the only female MD in our industry in the whole West Midlands and we had a board of directors where it was all men, so I knew how to handle myself. But I didn’t know what I’d do here.
So what did you do when you came home?
I did a six-month contract in Mayo County Council as Head of Operations and I loved it. I brought my experience from the UK into it. But then another job came up in Joseph Murphy Ballina - it was Head of Operations again, but I knew there was something about it, something really called to me. It was such a family, homely place to be.
Long story short, a week and a half later after starting the job, the MD had resigned and I got the role as Managing Director.
"It was an old business, they were founded in 1916. I remember joining there and saying we're going to just rip everything down to the foundations, knock the walls, rebuild the business back up again and add more strings to our bow. And we did. And it was so amazing. I was there for five years running the company. We grew our own portfolio of products.
"At the time when I started there, we had started bringing our own brands in, but we completely expanded that. We had our own water fittings and wheelbarrows, ladders, ironmongery. We had a massive range of agriculture and gardening products. We got exclusivity with two massive companies, one in Finland, one in the US.
But about three years ago I sat down with my boss, and I said, 'I really want to do my own consultancy work. I love my job here. I want to stay here to do three days a week and maybe do my own thing on the side'.
But then Brexit, Suez Canal, Covid - the whole lot kicked in, and I just never got the opportunity to be able to do it at that time.
"Fast forward to earlier this year and I knew that the owner's son Kenneth was in the business since I started and I knew he was ready and I was too and it was the perfect time to move on. I'd done absolutely everything that was on my wishlist when I started. I finished on August 30th and the phone started ringing on September and I'll be honest, I haven't had a chance to launch my business. It's Burnell Consultancy.
So tell me what you do, Lorraine?
Within the consultancy, I sit down with clients and I strategise with them - I find out what their goals and aspirations for the business are. Is it an exit strategy, is it growing the business? I just have this massive belief, and I've been trained on this, that if you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hands. It's about sitting down, mapping out that roadmap to get there.
"I work a lot with clients on their cash flow management. A lot of companies don't have that cash flow forecast to prevent them pulling their hair out at the end of the month when it comes to wages and suppliers, but it's about managing that.
"A credit control procedure is a big thing as well because a lot of companies are not getting paid on time and that's the knock-on effect, and then how much does that cost them for not being paid on time? Is the right person in the right role or is there cross-training that's needed or development?
I say this to them when I start, 'I'm going to knock your business down, but we're going to build it back up stronger'. I help them implement the right procedures as well to make sure that those procedures are correct.
And you recently got some very exciting news?
I've worked with Kim Calvert, who was Bob Proctor's top global consultant for three years. Bob Proctor was behind the motivational book, . She's offered me a position within the team at Dynamite Lifestyle, adding in the services I'm already doing. I'm going to be working with her and her team to get her programme into mass market globally. She's already dealing with clients all over the world. I'll be more on the corporate side, business side and individuals as well. I've seen people's lives just transform under her mentorship. So it's a very exciting opportunity and I will relish that challenge.
What advice would you give someone who is thinking about taking a jump into starting their own business?
I would say take the leap of faith. My path might not always have been linear but by following my gut, it has led me to where I am now. I am a big believer in striking a work-life balance, so I very much want to focus on doing that, while being a successful career person. And I believe you can have it all. But you do need to have faith in yourself and take the leap.
