Hello and welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where women in the public service talk about how their passion and their intuition led them to interesting and exciting career paths. We'll hear about the fears and challenges that could have held them back and about the internal and external supports that enabled them to take their next step. I'm Lily Murphy and I'm speaking to women whose stories will, I believe, inspire you to wonder what stepping stones would help you to take your next step. Rosaleen Wallace, I'm just delighted that you're here with us today on Her Next Step podcast with Susie McCally in her studio on Wine Street in Sligo. Rosaleen I've wanted to talk to you about your career for quite a while because when I first met you, you were the station manager in Westport, Irish Rail station manager and I suppose it's a shame on me but I was a bit surprised that there was a woman in such a role. I would have always considered it very much a male role. So I'm just fascinated by how you ended up in that career number one and I know that you're now in corporate communications office of Air and Road Air and so we're going to talk a little bit about the highs and lows of your career and some of the supports that you've used to get you through any of the challenges that you faced and some of the amazing upsides of being on the journey that you've been on. So thank you very much for joining us here today.

Hello and welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where women in the public service talk about how their passion and their intuition led them to interesting and exciting career paths. We'll hear about the fears and challenges that could have held them back and about the internal and external supports that enabled them to take their next step. I'm Lily Murphy and I'm speaking to women whose stories will, I believe, inspire you to wonder what stepping stones would help you to take your next step. Well Sinead Fallon, I'm absolutely delighted to have this opportunity to sit here with you in Susie McCanley's studio in Sligo and to talk about your career, some of the ups and downs and just have an opportunity to think about what are to hear, the journey you've been on and some of the challenges you've faced and indeed some of the ways that you've learned to cope with that. What I really want to say for our listeners is the reason I am so looking forward to this conversation is that I don't believe I've ever met anybody as passionate about bringing about change in the health services and particularly in relation to mental health services as you. What's impressed me so much is that it was never just about the passion. When I first met you you were all about trying to develop the skills and harness your own innate talents and of which there were many to ensure that you were always going to be effective in the role of bringing about change. So for that reason I'm really looking forward to this chat today and thank you for joining us here at our next step. Thank you very much. So I'm going to start where I always start with the question if somebody said to your peer group in National School and to your family somebody here will be on the team, she will be the lead for service improvement in the HSE nationally with a focus on community services. Would they have all looked around the room and said oh that'll be Shannaid.

Welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where we delve into the inspiring stories of women in the public service and explore the steps they took to progress their careers. I'm your host Lily Murphy and today we've a special episode dedicated to reflections. We'll be discussing some key themes and insights from previous episodes and highlighting interesting and sometimes challenging journeys of our guests and the lessons we can all learn from their experience. Today, Suzy McCanny, a member of her Next Step team, is joining me in conversation about some of the key themes that have emerged in the first series.Suzy joined the team when Clodagh and I decided that her Next Step should be professionally recorded and videoed to do justice to the subject matter and to the interviewees. Suzy McCanny runs a content creation company, creating videos and visual media for businesses and is based in Sligo. Her company is Verver Visual Limited. Check out her website for information about how you could work with her. She's an extraordinary. Having recorded and edited all the podcasts, Suzy is intimately connected to the stories of the interviewees and therefore I expect our conversation will be very rich. Thank you, Lily, for welcoming us back to the show. I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible work you've done in creating this podcast. Your dedication to sharing the stories of remarkable women in the public service is truly inspiring. Through this platform, you're making a difference in the lives of viewers, helping them find their way forward to their Next Step. Your commitment to empowering others is commendable and I'm really grateful to be part of this journey. What prompted you to do this podcast about women in the public service?

Hello and welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where women in the public service talk about how their passion and their intuition led them to interesting and exciting career paths. We'll hear about the fears and challenges that could have held them back and about the internal and external supports that enabled them to take their next step. I'm Lily Murphy and I'm speaking to women whose stories will, I believe, inspire you to wonder what stepping stones would help you to take your next step. Catherine Kennedy is the apprenticeship manager at ATU Sligo for the insurance industry. Catherine could have had a career as a chef or a baker but for the intervention of her grandmother and she's here today to tell the story of the steps that she has taken that led to her current career. She's also gone to offer some advice for students and for leaders and managers in the public sector. Catherine Kennedy and you're very welcome to Her Next Step podcast. Delighted to have this opportunity to have a chat with you about your career and I suppose for our listeners it's very interesting for them to hear some of the choices that you've made, some of the unexpected twists that your career may have taken over the over your time to date. So thank you for joining us. Catherine if I were to have met your family when you were young and your peer group in National School in Achill I believe and said one person here will end up as the manager for the insurance apprenticeships in a national university would they have automatically assumed it would be you?

Hello and welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where women in the public service talk about how their passion and their intuition led them to interesting and exciting career paths. We'll hear about the fears and challenges that could have held them back and about the internal and external supports that enabled them to take their next step. I'm Lily Murphy and I'm speaking to women whose stories will, I believe, inspire you to wonder what stepping stones would help you to take your next step. My guest on the show today is Dr. Jean McGowan. Jean is passionate about creating the conditions where children can thrive in a challenging school environment. Jean's career path from teacher to school principal to her current role as postgraduate researcher and school placement supervisor in the School of Inclusive and Special Education in Dublin City University has not been without its challenges. We'll explore some of these challenges and the passions and motivations that enabled Jean to continually take her next step. Jean, I'm delighted to have you here for Her Next Step. I'm curious to know if I'd stood in front of a group of your peers in National School, Secondary School or your family and said somebody here will have a PhD in Educational Research. Would they have looked at you? No, no. And we wouldn't have looked at anybody in our group because that isn't what it was like. You know, you got a job after school. You either maybe became a teacher or a nurse or you got into the bank or the civil service and that was well, that was as far as it seemed to go. But even in primary school, I always had an inkling that I'd love to be a teacher because way back in those days, and this was kind of the late 70s, when we were in fifth and sixth class, you know, if the infant teacher and in those days it was infants first and possibly even second some years, if that teacher was out, the principal would just pick one or two of the fifth and sixth to go in and mind the class, teach the class. We'd hear their reading, you know, when I think of it, we wouldn't do anything like that nowadays. But we didn't think anything of it. We just loved going into the younger children and playing teacher. Yes, that's what we would do.

Hello and welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where women in the public service talk about how their passion and their intuition led them to interesting and exciting career paths. We'll hear about the fears and challenges that could have held them back and about the internal and external supports that enabled them to take their next step. I'm Lily Murphy and I'm speaking to women whose stories will, I believe, inspire you to wonder what stepping stones would help you to take your next step. Today my guest on the show is Una Parsons, head of the Faculty of Engineering and Design at ATU Sligo campus and head of college. Una has a fascinating story to tell about how her career went from studying toolmaking to becoming the head of engineering faculty and being an acclaimed member of the Academy of Engineers Ireland. We didn't even get to talk about Una's interest in gardening but because she has so many more interests and I'm sure you will enjoy listening to her story. Una, I'm delighted to have you here today to talk about your career and some of the choices that you've made and indeed some of the challenges you've faced over the years. You're welcome. Hello Lily, delighted to be here. I'm always really curious about people like us, people who started their career, you know, a number of years ago but what were you like as a child and so I'm curious about if I were to stand in front of your family or your peer group in National School and say somebody here will become the head of engineering and design in a national university, would they have looked to Una and said, oh she's the one? No way, no way. We had no ambitions, I had no ambitions and I'm sure they didn't think that of me. I was one of nine children living in the heart of Dublin in Finglas so next to nobody went to college so there was no real ambitions. To get a job was probably the top priority. And what kind of job might you have expected to get or did you even think about it? Well when I was in secondary school, you know, a job in the bank, going to teaching or nursing, they were kind of the areas people were, if they were interested in going to college, may have been interested in going to. What did you do when you left school? Did you did your leave-in cert at time? I did my leaving cert. Unfortunately I didn't get the points that I originally thought I'd go for architecture, I was interested in creativity buildings and so on and so forth so I didn't get the points. So I initially started doing interior design in the College of Marketing in Parnell Square but very soon after the first few weeks there I realized that wasn't for me.

Hello and welcome to Her Next Step, the podcast where women in the public service talk about how their passion and their intuition led them to interesting and exciting career paths. We'll hear about the fears and challenges that could have held them back and about the internal and external supports that enabled them to take their next step. I'm Lily Murphy and I'm speaking to women whose stories will, I believe, inspire you to wonder what stepping stones would help you to take your next step. My guest on the show is Dr. Edel McSharry. Idel has many passions, amongst them the desire to continually improve nurse education and to impact the future of health service delivery. Edel's career path has taken her from general to critical care nurse to nurse tutor lecturer, program director on the undergraduate and postgraduate health care programs, most recently head of school in nursing health science and disability studies with a recent period of acting president of St. Angeles College. Pursuing the move from practitioner to lecturer to senior management has challenged Idel personally and professionally and today we'll explore how she overcame those challenges and what enabled her to continually look for and take her next step. So Dr. Edel McSharry, you're welcome to her next step podcast. I'd love to start by asking you a question. If I stood in front of your peer group in your national school and then in your secondary school and also in front of your family when you were younger and said somebody you know is going to become a doctor of education will lead up the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and Disability in St. Angeles College and will become the acting president of St. Angeles College would they have automatically looked in your direction?

Women in public service are often undervalued for their skills and competencies and for the brave career decisions that enable them to pursue meaningful and impactful leadership roles.In this podcast, Her Next Step, Lily Murphy, Leadership Coach, interviews smart, ambitious, passionate women, who share their stories about what motivated and drove their ambitions, who championed them and what gave them the confidence and courage to pursue ambitious and impactful roles. We explore how organisations and  managers can harness the skills and passions of women with leadership potential Our goal is that listeners will gain confidence and inspiration to fully embrace their leadership ambitions and forge a career path that aligns with their passion and their talents.