UPEOPLE1

Looking for some life inspo? Then look no future than this trio of exceptional
women, each of whom won an award at our recent 30 Under 30 Awards
in association with Boots. Serious life goals right here...

Bláthnaid: Floral dress, €59.99, New Look | Earrings, €7.99, H&M
Doireann: Blazer dress, €23, Penneys | Earrings, €22, Bow and Pearl

L o u i s e : E mb r o i d e r e d d r e s s , € 2 9 . 9 9 , N e w L o o k

Photography: Lili Forberg Styling: Clementine MacNeice Makeup: Kate O’Reilly for Rimmel Hair: Trudy Hayes for Raven App

Bláthnaid Treacy

Winner of our TV Presenter of the Year Award in association with Perfectil, Bláthnaid Treacy has
been in front of the camera for most of her life, but don’t mistakenly think she sits back and takes it
for granted. With a ferocious work ethic and a realistic attitude to securing her next gig, Bláthnaid is

somebody we want to go for pints with and let her reignite our belief that anything is possible

“I’ve literally never won anything before, amazing woman and really inspirational. She’s
career-wise, so winning this award is amazing, done so many amazing things.
but you always have to be looking forward and
working harder. Plus, the other thing you have It’s an honour to have anyone see you as a role
to learn is to stop and go, ‘That’s unreal, cool, model. It does feel really weird saying that but I
I’m delighted with that.’ I am thrilled, but what’s have learnt an awful lot in the career that I’ve
the next thing? I’m always looking ahead and had so far ­- mainly a huge amount about mental
figuring out ideas. health and just taking care of yourself. That’s the
most important thing. If you’re not happy but
TV is a funny business because when you’re you have this amazing job, what’s the point?
not on screen, people are like, ‘What are you If you’re content on the inside, that’s the most
doing?’ You do have come up with ideas and important thing.”
knock on doors. I’ve been working in TV for six
or seven years now and you know, there’s no
point in stressing. There will be another job, so it’s
quite good to enjoy that quiet time. You can freak
yourself out thinking about where the next gig
is going to come from, you’re working freelance
essentially, but I’m lucky that I have my radio show
(The National Chart Show on 2FM) and the Lotto.

If you want to work in TV you need to get
experience, you need to get in front of the
camera and look at yourself and say, ‘Okay, that’s
crap, you’re not doing that right.’ You need to be
able to criticise yourself, you can’t just think ‘Oh,
I’m amazing.’ You need to always be working and
training, and be able for critique because at the
end of the day you need to able to hear from a
producer, ‘I’m not sure that I like the way you’re
doing that,’ and you need to be like ‘Okay, I’ll try
it differently,’ rather than going ‘How dare you?’

There are some days you feel really confident,
other days you don’t, but actually the best thing
to do is just not to give a shit. Just don’t give a
shit, just go for it and just do it. Do it with a big
smile on your face and wing it.

I’ve learnt to just chill out and calm down
because everything will be cool. It’s fine,
everything is fine and it will work itself out. So not
to stress is the best thing I have learnt. Actually
Stephen Byrne, my best mate who was also on
TwoTube, he just doesn’t stress and I learnt that
from him. It’s about not putting so much pressure
on yourself but also I like to visualise stuff. I like
to visualise success and I like to make lists about
what I want to achieve this month or in the next
two months. So I write down exactly what I want
and more often than not, I get it.

I love Davina McCall. She’s my all-time
favourite presenter. I love her, because she’s
just not trying, she’s just totally being herself
and her Big Brother days were just incredible.
I think TV was just a different ball game
back then as well but she’s just an absolutely

E a r r i n g s , € 1 6 , T a y l o r a n d R o s e @ T a y l o r a n d r o s e . i e | R u ff l e s l e e v e j u mp e r , € 2 7 . 9 9 , H & M | S k i r t , € 4 0 ,
River Island | Dress, €465, Needle & Thread @ BT2

“I can’t believe how fast everything has radio or TV? I still don’t really know, I
happened. This time last year I definitely want to try everything and I don’t want
was trying to make waves in radio to rule anything out. I enjoy them all so
and was working as an entertainment I might as well try them all and keep all
reporter in Spin1038 after working on AA the balls in the air.
Roadwatch. I suppose the whole Snapchat
thing is massive part of how that all came If you want to be on air then get a demo
together. it was only in November last done - obviously I don’t have a passion
year that I did my first string of blogger for the M50, but when I did that job the
impressions and it went viral. reaction from most people was, ‘That’s so
random, how did you get into that?’ and
I never thought about radio as a career, I wanted to shout, 'It’s hardly because I
I wanted to act so I did drama in Trinity love traffic and breakdowns - it’s a step to
and I auditioned away for a few months something'. I think that’s the big thing in all
after I graduated but I just didn’t have careers: you have to be willing to do, not
a thick enough skin for it. You might be the shitty jobs, but the jobs that will lead to
too brunette or too tall and I just couldn’t something. It’s all about remaining positive
leave my life in the hands of somebody while you’re doing it.
else, a casting director or whatever so I
needed to do something different, and The main thing in the media is to just be
then Aoibhín heard about the Today FM sound. If you’re not sound you’re caught
School of Radio, which is a ten-week radio out so easily. And don’t get notions. That's
course, and she said, 'Doireann I think where I’m really lucky with my family. I
you’d be really good at it,' so I said, 'Feck have sisters who would say, 'Doireann cop
it I’ll give it a go'. So I did it and got bitten yourself on', and so would my dad and
by the bug. my mom. She always says it’s nice to be
important but it’s important to be nice.
If you want to work in the media it’s
all about attitude. A good chunk of it is I love Muireann O’Connell on the
who you know, but a massive percent radio but for the comedy stuff and the
of it is talent and ambition. I think I am impressions there just aren’t that many
super ambitious, and a lot of people are females doing it so I’ve looked up to
asking me lately what avenue I want to Mario Rosenstock for ages, I’d love to do
go down, do I want to do comedy or something like that - a sketch style show.”

Doireann Garrihy

Winner of our Rising Star Award in association
with Boots, Doireann Garrihy was actually

at our 2016 awards, albeit in a supporting role to
celebrate her sister Aoibhín’s win. Fast

forward 12 months and she’s co-presenting
The Zoo Crew on Spin1038 and has become a
Snapchat sensation with her hilarious impressions
of Irish bloggers. Doireann is proof perfect that
when you combine hard work and ambition with

talent there is no limit to your success

C a t e a r s , € 7 . 9 9 | J u mp e r , € 1 2 . 9 9 , b o t h N e w L o o k | S h o e s , € 2 2 ,
Penneys | Dress, €650, Valentino Red @ BT2

Louise O’Reilly

Winner of our Style Icon of the Year award in association with Penneys, Louise O’Reilly
is one of Ireland’s most successful international models as well as the blogger behind Style Me Curvy,

a website dedicated to fashion for all sizes. Committed to promoting body positivity, Louise
consistently shows that confidence and style aren’t dependent on size and makes all those she comes

in contact with feel better about themselves

These awards are quite overwhelming. weight fluctuated. It went up and down
The fact that anyone would consider me and at that time she was the only person
for something like this takes my breath I could identify with.
away, especially when you consider that
starting out wasn’t an easy road, for me. I never see myself as a role model,
When I started Style Me Curvy people I just see myself as me, and even when
told me nobody would want to read it people come up to me on the street and
and that I was mad even trying, I spent talk about my Snaps I’ve forgotten what
a long time consistently explaining what I spoke about, because I talk to people
it was about, that there's more to it than on Snapchat the way I talk to my friends.
curvy fashion and it's about fashion for I’ll talk about certain things and I’m very
all shapes. There’s more to my blog and open, but I’ve never considered myself a
my style than you might think, and it’s so role model - I do still feel pressure because
personal. It goes back and forth to when I never want to let anybody down.”
I was growing up and didn’t have any
options and never wanting anybody to
feel that way again.

If you want to do modelling, whether
it’s as a regular size or a curvy girl, my
advice is the same: never, ever give up
your education over modelling. A lot
of girls still go to university and work. I
have a degree in international relations,
that was one of the things my family
really wanted to make sure I did. It’s also
important to be dedicated and learn to
have a thick skin.

There are a lot of hours involved in
blogging and it’s much harder than it
was before. If you want to blog you
really need to prove yourself. You need
to have a unique selling point but the
most important thing is that if you’re
doing it because you want free product
and you want to go to the pretty events
then it won’t work. That’s not a reason to
do it. You need to dedicate your life and
soul to it and you need to do it for your
readers. The free stuff is lovely and is a
perk, but it’s not what it’s about. I always
get back to my readers, be it with a last
minute fashion emergency or something
a little more serious, I never want to let
them down - and that's why my blog
has been successful.

When I was growing up I was a lot
heavier than I am now so I didn’t have a
huge amount of people to look up to,
being the size I was, so I really struggled
to find a role model. Oprah Winfrey
was somebody I always looked up to
because, even though she was a much
older woman, she was so intelligent and
interesting, I thought she glowed, and her

Necklace, €27, M&S | Kimono, €29.99 | Top, €14.99, both New Look | Jeans, €27, M&S
| Earrings, €9.99, H&M | Dress, €140, Coasts